GREAT UNIVERSITY OF TERRORISM! Or what is the threat to Tajik youth studying in it?

On December 8, 2020, the US Department of State announced that it had imposed sanctions on one of the largest universities in Iran Jamaat-ul-Mustafa al-olamiyya as a center for cooperation with terrorist forces. The sanction was imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department by Resolution 10590000383. The statement said that the university has direct ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in particular its foreign branch Quds, which was recognized two years ago international terrorist organization and is engaged in the recruitment of extremist missionaries and spies for the Iranian intelligence services around the world.

Due to the fact that in recent years dozens of young Tajiks, including children of former members of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party, have been educated at this “university” and continue to study, its activities cannot be indifferent to Tajiks and Tajikistan.

Therefore, it is very important that the citizens of Tajikistan also have some information about this major center of extremism and propaganda and keep themselves and their children away from it.

 Including:

Jamaat-ul-Mustafa al-olamiyya University (translated from Arabic: Mustafa International University) has never been a university and never will be! With the aim of deceiving foreign citizens and their country, it assigns seemingly secular bachelor's, master's and doctor's degrees to his graduates, who are actually very fanatical, teachers, who are mostly extremists, have doctoral degrees, the title of “professor”, etc.

Countries of the world accept graduates as specialists with a university diploma and hire them in their departmental systems or do not persecute them. This mask allows the graduates of these “university” to be distributed throughout the world and to fulfill their special mission.

Mission or main task of Jamaat-ul-Mustafa al-olamiyya, which center is located in the city of Qom of Iran, training propagandists or fanatical missionaries, and through them carry out propaganda of extremism. That is, it is one of the main instruments for implementing the policy of “exporting the Islamic revolution” and Iran's intervention in the situation abroad.

According to information on the website of the “university”, more than 52,000 (!) students from 122 (!!) countries are currently being brainwashed. The former head of the university Alireza Arafi claims that to date more than 50,000 (!!!) missionaries have been trained and sent to countries around the world, through which about 50,000,000 (!!!!) people have been preaching. Of course, these 50,000 missionaries trained here operate under the guise of university specialists and with fake bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.

Additionally, the university today has opened branches in 60 countries around the world, including in European and African countries, and is preparing new missionaries. For example, in its Afghanistan office alone, about 4,000 students are currently studying, including 2,000 in the Kabul branch. His office in the African country of Ghana, which is home to Sunni Muslims, has over 1,000 students. Even in Paris, a representative office of this “university” was opened, with an area of ​​2.5 hectares.

A more serious issue, which became the reason for the application of sanctions against the “university” as a terrorist organization by the United States, is the special espionage and intelligence purpose of this institution. First of all, among students from different countries, this institution attracts spies for Iran by the IRGC and the Ministry of Information. The next step for these spies is to create a network of Iranian agents in their countries at the expense of local missionaries. These networks not only propagate anti-confessional ideology, but also spy for the Iranian special services and collect information in various fields. In recent years, offices of this institution have been closed in a number of countries around the world, and its agents have been arrested.

 In particular, last year in Bosnia and Herzegovina such a center was closed at the representative office of the “university”, information about its details was published in the media.

One of the most terrifying acts of the university is that it is in collaboration with the Quds forces for the religious war in Syria at the expense of migrants from Afghanistan is  being created the Lashkari Fotimiyon (Fotimiyon Army) militant group in Iran, which is currently being transformed into a contentious issue between Iran and Afghanistan.

Last month, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in an interview with TOLOnews TV named the number of Afghan militants fighting in Syria on the Iranian side at 5,000, but TV correspondent Najafzoda announced the number was 25,000.

From a management point of view, this institution operates directly under the leadership of the Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei, and its chairman is also appointed by the Leader. The Iranian Ministry of Higher Education and other government agencies have no right to interfere with the activities and educational standards of this “university”, but this ministry is forced to officially recognize and approve the unrealistic documents of this “university”. Its curriculum does not pass Iranian government accreditation, it is an integral part of Qom district and is considered an institution that promotes fanaticism. The Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Iran’s embassies in foreign countries also do not have the right to exercise control over the external activities of this “university”.

It is obvious that such a particularly wide propaganda (missionary) activity and a large spy network need large funding. Therefore, the budget of the Jamaat-ul-Mustafa al-olamiyya is also huge. In fact, this is a state within a state.

According to Iranian and foreign experts, the annual budget of this university ranges from 450 to 500 million, that is, approximately half a billion US dollars. This amount is provided from four sources:

1. At the expense of official state budget of Iran.

2. At the expense of the budget of Bayti Rahbari (special fund of the Supreme Leader of Iran);

3. At the expense of khums (20% - Shiite tax), which the population pays to the akhoonds (spiritual ministers).

4. At the expense of compulsory charity collected from firms, manufacturing enterprises and large entrepreneurs.

Consequently, only the amount from the state budget of Iran allocated for this “university” is known, funds from three other sources have remained in the same volume, are kept secret, or, as the akhoonds say, “innumerable.”

For example, in the Iran’s state budget for 1398 (2019), 308 billion tomans were allocated to this university, and in addition, in the event of an increase in oil prices, it should be increased to 400 billion tomans. This amount is about $ 75,000,000, and in case of growth, over $ 100,000,000.

The costs of these huge funds are under the jurisdiction of the akhoonds of the university leadership (composition of the ulema) and are spent in the following areas:

- provision of departmental and educational activities;

-provision of food, residence and annual travel for more than 50,000 foreign students;

- ensuring the activities of branches in 60 countries of the world;

- financing the activities of graduates in their countries (in this regard, in accordance with the official order of Ayatollah Khamenei, other religious organizations in Iran, including the Organization for the Propagation of Islam and the Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly, each with its own large budgets, should cooperate with this “university”;

- financing the spy network at the expense of graduates and protecting communications with them (in this sector, the Guard Corps cooperates with a budget of tens of billions of dollars);

The brief information presented fully proves that the so-called Jamaat-ul-Mustafa al-olamiyya  is the largest center for the training of missionaries and a spy network. It can be concluded that, indeed, this center is a great threat to regional security, especially to Tajiks and Tajikistan.

According to the verified information of the state authorities of Tajikistan, in recent years (from the 90s to the present day), about 900 citizens of Tajikistan studied at the largest regional terrorist university. Their main part consists of the children of former renaissance members, some of whom are still studying and living there (details about them will be published separately). At the call of Tajikistan, today hundreds have returned from terrorist universities in this country, but accurate information indicates that currently about 380 Tajiks are studying at called Jamaat-ul-Mustafa al-olamiyya and other special centers in this country. The authorities of this country constantly create obstacles for the meetings of representatives of the Embassy of Tajikistan with these Tajik citizens.

Today, many responsible persons of the ideological sector of the extremist organizations of the Islamic renaissance and the National Alliance of Tajikistan, who work in European countries, are graduates of this major terrorist university and staff of specialized educational institutions of this country. In particular, board member and chief ideologist of the National Alliance of Tajikistan (NAT) Burhonov Saidyunus Abbosovich (Saidyunusi Istaravshani) studied with his family and brothers at this terrorist institution in the city of Qom for more than ten years and is still supported by him.

This member of the NAT board and the founder of the fake organization “Association of Freethinkers of Tajikistan”, one of the founders of the NAT, was sent to Lebanon by the Guard Corps for several years for ideological preparation and sabotage as part of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah.

Istaravshani is the head of the Tajik websites “Risolat” and “Kimiyoi Saodat”, created by the IRGC, engaged in propaganda and anti-government activities in Tajikistan.

It should be noted that in the past month these bases, as propaganda units of the IRGC, were declared and blocked by the US government as terrorist targets.

The same international sanction on a member of the Board of the extremist organization of the National Alliance of Tajikistan applies to the organization itself.

It should be noted that even after the closure of the “Risolat” and “Kimiyoi Saodat” websites as terrorist websites for the army and the Renaissance Party, Istaravshani, a member of the NAT board, continues to spread anti-Tajik propaganda on his Facebook page.

Also deputy chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party Shohnaim Kuzov, member of the IRP board, son of the former leader of the party S. A. Nuri - Saidov Muhammadjon Abdulloevich, head of the public relations department of the TEO IRP, nephew and personal assistant of the chairman of the IRP Muhiddin Kabirov - Muhammadjon Kabirov, official representative of the IRP board Kayumov Bobojon Tagoyevich (Bobojon Kayumzod), member of the TEO IRP board Vahhobov Azimjon Azizovich, TEO IRP member Saidov Islamjon Asomuddinovich, brother of Istaravshani Burhanov Abbos and others, who now present themselves in European countries as “democrats” and “human rights defenders”, have been trained in these special schools in Iran and in the IRGC.

Most of the middle-level IRP activists in Europe have also received ideological and specialized training in specialized centers in Iran.

 According to updated information, Kuzov is responsible for military relations and terrorist operations of the TEO IRP with the IRGC, and Muhammadjon Kabirov is responsible for the political and espionage relations of the TEO IRP with the Ministry of Security and the IRGC.

In addition to fighting the Tajik state, one of its tasks is to participate in European conferences and clubs as a “defender of human rights” and to collect information about the opponents of Iran for the relevant authorities of this country.

These circumstances show that the international sanction on recognizing the Jamaat-ul-Mustafa al-olamiyya as terrorist organization fully applies to the leaders and activists of NAT and TEO IRP, who are direct graduates of this organization.

This means that hundreds of missionaries and secret service spies are being trained against Tajikistan under the guise of a “university”. Undoubtedly, this army poses a serious threat to our country.

Finally, we want to appeal to the citizens of the country, dear parents. Each of us must remain politically vigilant and aware of the activities of such spy networks so that we and our children do not fall into the trap of these missionaries. Dear parents, never allow your children to study in such “universities” abroad, in fact, in terrorist centers, because we must openly say that in the future there will be no place for them in Tajikistan. We ask parents whose children or relatives are still attending this major terrorism university or undergoing sabotage training to call their children back so they do not become enemies of their nation.

It should be noted that after the official recognition of Jamaat-ul-Mustafa al-olamiyya as the extremist and terrorist organization by the United States, the Taliban and its graduates are also considered graduates of terrorist and extremist courses, and not only in Tajikistan, but throughout the world, are subject to judicial and criminal prosecution.

Therefore, we must not be deceived by this great trap of ignorance and protect ourselves and our children from troubles and betrayals!

Karimov Inoyatullo Rahimovich,

Lecturer at the Department of Quran and Hadith

 of the Islamic Institute of Tajikistan

named after Imam Abu Hanifa Numan ibn Thabit