The Ismaili Centre,

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

(, ), is one of six

Ismaili Centre The Ismaili Centres are symbolic markers of the permanent presence of the Nizari Ismailis in the countries and regions in which they are established, characterised by the Aga Khan IV as 'ambassadorial buildings'. Each building is architecturally u ...

s worldwide and an

Ismaili Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept ...

jamatkhana Jamatkhana or Jamat Khana (from , literally "congregational place") is an amalgamation derived from the Arabic word ''jama‘a'' (gathering) and the Persian word ''khana'' (house, place). It is a term used by some Muslim communities around the w ...

. It was the fifth purpose-built Ismaili Centre, and the first in Central Asia.

Background

Dushanbe is the capital of

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, a country characterised by an unusually extensive Ismaili population for over a thousand years. The region of

Badakhshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising the Wakhan Corridor in northeast Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic ...

, which spills over northeastern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, eastern

and North Pakistan, is the only part of the world where Ismailis make up the majority of the population. Under Soviet rule, the religion was discouraged, but since 1991 has increased its public prominence, and the Personal Representative of the Ismaili imamate has been granted full diplomatic status. In May 1995,

Aga Khan IV Prince Karim al-Husseini (13 December 1936 – 4 February 2025), known as the Aga Khan IV, was the 49th Imamah, imam of Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Nizari Isma'ilism from 1957 until his death in 2025. He inherited the Imamate in Nizari doctrine ...

became the first Aga Khan known to have visited the region, invited by the governments of Tajikistan and

Kyrgyz Republic Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the capital and largest city. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to t ...

.Zubaidullo Ubaidulloev,
The Revival of Islam in Post-Soviet Independent Tajikistan
, pp. 10-11.

Function

The Centre is both representational of traditional architecture within the region, and ambassadorial through the social and educational programming offered. Following extensive development work for Ismaili people in Tajikistan, the Centre was inaugurated on 12 October 2009 by the Aga Khan and the Tajikistani president,

Emomali Rahmon Emomali Rahmon ( ; born 5 October 1952), born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmanov, is a Tajik politician who has served as the President of Tajikistan since 1994, having previously led the country as Chairman of the Supreme Assembly (Tajikistan), Su ...

(though as of 2013 not all of its planned functionality had been implemented).Larisa Dodkhudoeva, Rustam Mukimov, and Katherine Hughes, 'Tajik Art: A Century of New Traditions', in ''The Shaping of Persian Art: Collections and Interpretations of the Art of Islamic Iran and Central Asia'', ed. by Yuka Kadoi and Iván Szántó (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), pp. 276-97. The Centre has given the traditionally peripheral Ismailis a prominent architectural focus in the capital city, while retaining the Ismaili Centres' customary sense of seclusion for those within the building, and is a mark of the increasing integration of Tajik Ismailis into the global Ismaili community. The Centre was designed 'to become part of the fabric of the civil life of the area', with the ambition of spiritual and intellectual advancement, and accordingly includes not only facilities for worship, but also for conferences, lectures and cultural performances (including translation booths, enabling simultaneous multilingual delivery of events) to encourage reciprocity in learning.

Architecture

The site of the Centre is located on Ismoili Somoni Avenue, named in honour of Tajikistan’s national hero and founder of the early 10th century Samanid dynasty. Designed by the Canadian architect Farouk Noormohamed, and like various post-independence Tajik buildings, the Ismaili Centre evokes Samanid architecture, its brickwork particularly evoking the Ismaili

Samanid Mausoleum The Samanid Mausoleum is a mausoleum located in the northwestern part of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, just outside its historic center. It was built in the 10th century CE as the resting place of the powerful and influential Islamic Samanid dynasty that ...

. The sandstone baked brick has been combined with woodcarvings, plaster work and visually prominent clay tiles accented in blue and turquoise glaze as an homage to the vernaculars of the 10th century mausoleum of the Samanids as well as the grand courtyards of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. The floors are mostly characterized with patterned granite, and are made of beech, wenge and cherry wood. The design of the Centre embeds the aesthetic styles of the 12th century Karakhanid Mausoleum at Uzgen and 14th century Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi Mausoleum in Turkestan. The building is set within gardens featuring fountains and Persian silk trees. The Centre is also notable for some of its

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

features, such as earthquake-resistance and the use of an innovative water-source heating and cooling system. With Tajikistan being located in a highly seismic region, an elastic wood roof diaphragm has been installed to absorb structural stress. Water-source pumps and a heat recovery wheel have been installed for energy efficiency.

References

Islamic organizations based in Tajikistan

Background

Function

Architecture

References

External links