Synthesis of Traditional and Islamic Values in Kazakhstan (original) (raw)
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The Main Reasons for the Revival of Islam in Independent Kazakhstan
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In the modern world history, we notice such phenomena as; globalization, digitalization, value pluralism, mass migration, terrorism, post-secularity, etc., which characterize the current nature of human civilization. Recently, among these trends, the phenomenon of the "revival of Islam" has emerged. Therefore, the systematic discussion relating to the phenomenon of Islam in the socio-cultural processes of the society has prevalent in religious studies. This topic has gained considerable attention by Kazakh researchers have also paid attention to this topic. The society of Kazakhstan has closely related to Islam in aspects of culture, history, personality, and morality. Since the collapse of the United Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR), Kazakhstan has gradually been becoming one of the fastest growing countries in Central Asia, focusing on modernization processes. Even though it follows secular nature of constitution, it has not only allowed the reentrance of traditional religious presence, but scholars have also noticed features of religious revival. Purpose of the article analyze the main factors that activated the mass-revival of Islam within the Kazakh society after the country's independence. Leading methods − conceptual analysis, structural analysis, and comparative analysis. Thanks to a systematic generalization of domestic and foreign researchers' views, as well as sociological data, it became possible to form common knowledge about the causes of the revival of Islam in Kazakhstan.
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There are a number of either simplistic and stereotypic views about the Islamness doctrinal or theoretical Islam, formed by „ijtihads‟ („Ijtihad‟ means independent, based on reasoning, interpretation of the issues were not openly covered in the primary sources of Islam) and Muslimness (embodiment of doctrinal Islam or Islamness in a particular identity) of Kazakhs, historically a major Central Asian Muslim nomadic group. This paper, first, tries to shed light on a fact that Kazakh religious perceptions and identity are in line with core Sunni Islamic doctrinal understandings characterized by spirituality, xenophile and being depoliticized. Second, this paper searches for a nexus between inclusiveness of Kazakh Muslimness and historical and civilizational foundations of Kazakhness. Although the Muslimness of Kazakhs, like all post-Soviet ethnic groups bears heavy stain of Soviet period, the historical and civilizational Islamic heritage of Kazakhs could not be totally erased and tran...
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The modern global landscape is experiencing a novel revival that seeks to grow into a global trend. Brexit, the Trump administration, and the leftist governments of Eastern Europe are just a few examples of how countries have claimed their outstanding position and compete for special status. Kazakhstan is not an exception, and while striving for its “entry into the thirty most developed countries of the world”, it has affirmed its unique nature through the renowned Strategy Kazakhstan- 2050. It focuses on a “new Kazakhstan patriotism”, and “Kazakhstan democracy”, a unique economic course and principles of social life supported by official addresses and public declarations. For example, in the field of state-religion relations, the authorities have boasted of developing a specific synergy that will allow this Central Asian country to position itself simultaneously as a secular entity and a presiding power in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Due to historical and cultural stereotypes, Kazakhstan is often ranked among Muslim countries, with the majority of the population supposedly professing Islam and adhering to an Islamic lifestyle. However, the reality is not so simple.
Modern Muslim Movements and Groups in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan: Certain Aspects
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This article examines the basic trends in Islam at the present stage, such as traditionalism, secularism, liberal Islam, Salafism, modernism, and neo-revivalism, and also how they are represented, or not represented, in Kazakhstan. It also analyzes and compares their approach to the women's problem and certain economic aspects of our time. This work compares similarities and differences between the modern trends of Islam and analyzes the factors influencing Islamic traditions and their development. Apart from traditional Islam, the article attempts to determine and characterize such Islamic trends in Kazakhstan as secularism, modernism and Salafism, analyze their formation, development and prospects, using modern methodology. There are six main trends in Islam at present: traditionalism, secularism, Salafism, liberal Islam, Islamic modernism and "neorevivalism." If we try to characterize, if briefly, these trends 1 we shall single out the following canonic and socio-political characteristics, beginning from traditional Islam (traditionalism): Belief in the need to follow one of the classical Madh'habs and, accordingly, the traditional interpretations of the Koran and Sunna; Islam is ideal and does not require modernization, and the trends of the classical period of Islam are prevalent; Trend to growing piety as opposed to political activity; Trend to obey the existing state power;
The Concept of 'Islam' in Kazakh Mindset: Description of Linguistic and Cognitive Experiment
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The composition of the Kazakh ethnic group in the Republic of Kazakhstan is linguistically heterogeneous: more than 70% of the Kazakhs are bilinguals with the second Russian language. The Russian-speaking Kazakhs are mostly located in Russian bordering regions, as well as most of them is an urban population. Level of Russian speaking Kazakhs is different, which suggests the presence of different types of bilingualism depending on social, historical and geographical aspects. This fact has caused features of modern Kazakh world. However, the factor de ning the unity of the ethnic group and its viability, a traditional culture that despite decades of civilizational in uences has not lost its identity. That identity permeates the everyday life of modern Kazakhs, appearing in the system of traditional education, and the ritual practices and religious consciousness of Kazakhs. Traditional ethical culture of the Kazakhs is inextricably linked to the Muslim culture. Purpose. The article a...
Islam in the Context of Political Processes in Modern Kazakhstan
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering, 2012
Religion revival including Islam in Kazakhstan represents reaction, first of all on internal social and political change, events after disintegration of the USSR. Process of revival of Kazakhstan Islam was accompanied as positive, so by negative tendencies. Old mosques were restored, were under construction new, Islamic schools and high schools were created, was widely studied religious the dogmatic person, the corresponding literature was published, expanded contacts with foreign Muslim brothers in the faith, the centers of the Arab-Muslim culture extended. At the same time in Kazakhstan, there are religious-political parties and movements, pursuing radical goals down to change the spiritual and cultural identity of Muslims of Kazakhstan by the forcible introduction of non-traditional religious and political, ethnic and cultural values.
The main intention of this article is to analyze the role of Islam in post-Soviet Kazakhstan and its utilization in the nation-building and state-building processes. It is argued that Islam in post-Soviet Kazakhstan is a cultural phenomenon rather than a religious one and is an important marker of national identity despite the competition of radical movements in the " religious field. " A situation of anomie became visible in Kazakhstan beginning in the Gorbachev period and increasingly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which necessitated a search for a new social order. Anomie, which was to a large extent the result of being in interaction with the dominant Russian culture and the oppressive Soviet regime, involved a feeling of despair that offered the opportunity of re-establishing the values and traditions of the past and new networks. Following independence, this feeling of despair, caused by the ethnocentric attitude of Russians who defined Kazak culture and nomadism as 'primitive' and wanted to replace it with a more 'civilized' modern Russian culture, was carefully elaborated by the Kazak elite aiming at building the Kazak nation. It is within this atmosphere of anomie that the cultural revival project has been launched. The revival of Islam is expected to play a significant role in this project and Islam is being used as one of the basic elements of culture that will contribute to the integration of the new Kazak national identity. Islam, in this context, is also used as a tool in the struggle against the Russian and Soviet heritage and is expected to play an integra-tive role. This integrative function is perceived as necessary for the construction of Kazak national identity. The cultural revival project in general and the revival of Islam in specific emerged as a reaction against the dominant Russian/Soviet culture and to a more limited extent the non-Kazaks, who are mainly Russians living in Kazakhstan. This reaction is in reality a nationalist reaction rather than a religious one. Religion in this case forms one of the basic elements of the cultural material that is going to be used to fill the content of the boundary of national identity. It is important to underline that the parallel revival of religion and nationalism is not a phenomenon specific to
Islamic Consolidation in Kazakhstan: Success Story and Challenges of the Future
SHAHIH: Journal of Islamicate Multidisciplinary, 2018
This article attempts to explain the process of Islamic consolidation in Kazakhstan, a young Muslim-majority state in Central Asia, which became independent following the demise of the Soviet Union. This paper begins with a view that the demise of communism had opened a door for Islamin identity to reemerge. Unlike its turbulent regional neighbors, the reintroduction of Islam in Kazakhstan has virtually been quite stable. Therefore, it is interesting to examine why such occurence happen, making its success an interesting case to discuss. Using the consolidation and securitisation concept, this paper examines how the rise of Islam is facilitated after the demise of the Soviet Union. There are three findings observed by this paper regarding Islamic consolidation in Kazakhstan: first, as a background, Kazakhstan benefits from the assimilation of Islam with the local traditions; second, the paper finds that a bi-faceted stance toward Islam is another contributing factor; third, research shows that the state has been responsive enough by securitising Islamic radicalism as its agenda. Those findings are relevant in order to portray the current condition in Kazakhstan amidst the threat of Islamic radicalism. This paper concludes with giving some reflections on the future of Islam and the political stability in Kazakhstan. Abstrak Artikel ini berupaya menjelaskan proses konsolidasi Islam di Kazakhstan, sebuah negara mayoritas Islam di Asia Tengah yang berdiri menyusul runtuhnya Uni Soviet. Makalah ini ebrangkat dari pandangan bahwa runtuhnya komunisme telah memberi jalan pada identitas Islam untuk muncul kembali. Namun demikian, berbeda dari negara-negara sekitarnya, kembalinya identitas Islam di Kazakhstan terlihat lebih stabil. Sehingga, menarik bagi kita untuk mengamati mengapa hal tersebut terjadi. Menggunakan konsep konsolidasi dan sekuritisasi, makalah ini mencoba melihat bagaimana Islam difasilitasi kembali setelah runtuhnya Uni Soviet. Ada tiga temuan makalah ini mengenai konsolidasi Islam di Kazakhstan: pertama, sebagai latar belakang, Kazakhstan diuntungkan oleh terasimilasinya nilai-nilai lokal dan Islam; kedua, sikap negara terhadap Islam yang memiliki dua wajah juga merupakan faktor penunjang lain; ketiga, penelitian menemukan bahwa negara telah cukup responsif dengan melakukan sekuritisasi terhadap isu Islam radikal. Temuan-temuan tersebut penting sebagai potret awal melihat kondisi Kazakhstan di tengah ancaman radikalisme Islam kontemporer. Menutup makalah ini, penulis menyajikan refleksi terhadap masa depan Islam dan stabilitas politik di Kazakhstan.
In Search of ‘Traditional Islam’ in Tatarstan: Between National Project and Universalist Theories, 2019
After the communist ideology collapsed at the end of the last century, it began to be replaced gradually in most countries of the former Socialist Bloc by Islamic values. In response, secular communities have developed the concept of ‘traditional’ (good) Islam. The authorities of Russia and Tatarstan have kept up with this global trend. Official religious structures have historically taken the form of spiritual administrations of Muslims (muftiates) in the Russian Federation. They are trying to flesh out the idea of ‘traditional Islam’ at the behest of state authorities by suggesting domestic ‘Islamic traditions’ for each region to be preserved and others to be dispensed with. This article traces the evolution of how the phenomenon of ‘traditional Islam’ has been interpreted from the 1990s to 2018 in the Republic of Tatarstan, using a wide range of sources in Tatar and Russian, including personal interviews by the authors with leaders of the Tatar Muslim community, as well as field research in the districts and cities of the Republic.