According to statistics, young people under 30 make up almost 70% of the population of Tajikistan. Therefore, when we say "society", we mainly mean young people, and when we say "problems of youth", we mean, first of all, the problems of the entire society of Tajikistan.

It is said that today, on average, more than 80% of the members of extremist groups are young people, and given the development of modern technologies and the vulnerability of the information space, more than 90% of young people have become the object of potential participation in extremist groups. This is actually an alarming and disturbing figure for the international community.

Of course, experts' positions on the factors and reasons for youth joining extremist groups vary. Among the most common reasons for the rapid involvement of youth in extremist groups in the discussions of domestic and foreign experts are the following:

- Unemployment;

- poverty and financial problems;

- lack of religious and secular literacy of a certain stratum of society;

- exclusion of the younger generation from education;

- instability of families;

- neutrality of social activists;

- poor functioning of social, cultural and educational institutions....

One of the reasons for the propensity of young people to join extremist parties and movements is their distance from culture and civilization, lack of knowledge about the origins of religion and rituals. Researchers and experts are of the opinion that it is young people's detachment from reading books that motivates them to take action.

But in modern society, "extremism", especially in the few decades of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century, has become very widespread. Extremist religious movements and extremist groups have become very active in these years, such banned organizations include the Taliban, Al-Qoida, Hizbut-Tahrir and the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq. These are extremist and terrorist organizations that also revolve around Tajikistan. Unfortunately, one of the negative characteristics of extremist organizations is that they use religious slogans and speak in the name of Islam.

Some researchers emphasize that members of extremist groups have specific symptoms and young people need to recognize them. These include changing insults and clothing, prayer, choice of music, seclusion, constant reading of ideological books, relationships with the opposite sex, virtual relationships, etc.

In fact, according to experts, the term "jihad", which has been heard a lot, loudly and confidently among the religious community of Tajikistan in the last decade, was inappropriate. Sociologists are of the opinion that it was considered too hasty and somewhat dangerous to speak about it or to order it to famous people in a society that had been under the influence of Soviet anti-religious ideology for more than 70 years and, moreover, had gone back in time. It is said that the historically Muslim Tajik people, who moved away from Islam as a result of this policy and this shameful war, were not prepared to deal with such complex and very sensitive topics, but could and did bring about the opposite result. Officials claim that as a result of the misinterpretation of the term "jihad" by poorly educated clerics and those who secretly collaborated with extremist groups, misconceptions about the term were formed in the minds of the young, illiterate and unemployed generation.

It follows from these statements of the Head of State that one of the main ways to prevent the influence of extremist groups is national unity, unity and solidarity of all people.

At the same time, in order to familiarize society with the basic pillars of Islam, the book Quran has been translated and disseminated into the Tajik language on the initiative of President Emomali Rahmon. In this regard, public activists need to work among people, especially young people, to explain to them the reality of religious values and their attitude to worldly values.

In conclusion, based on the words of the Leader of the nation his excellency Emomali Rahmon, I would like to say: "The barbarism that has engulfed humanity in some Muslim countries today has no precedent in history. The brutal actions of extremists, especially the terrorist organization ISIS, which does not spare children, women, the elderly and the young, have caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people. The sight of the brutal killings, displacement and refugees of innocent people, including mothers and children, makes the human heart tremble."

Khurshed Andamov

researcher at the Institute of studying state issues of

Asia and Europe AS Republic of Tajikistan,

PhD in Philology

republished from TodaysNews

translated Ismoilov R.