Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
From 1932 to 1936 Stalin mounted a concerted anti-religious cam-
paign in Central Asia, a 'Movement of the Godless', in which mosques
were closed and destroyed, and mullahs arrested and executed as sabo-
teurs or spies. Control of the surviving places of worship and teaching
was given to the Union of Atheists, which transformed most of them into
museums, dance halls, warehouses or factories.
During WWII things improved marginally as Moscow sought domes-
tic and international Muslim support for the war effort. In 1943 four
Muslim Religious Boards or 'spiritual directorates', each with a
mufti
(spiritual leader), took over the administration of Soviet Muslims, includ-
ing one in Tashkent for all of Central Asia (in 1990 another was estab-
lished for Kazakhstan). Some mosques were reopened and a handful of
carefully screened religious leaders were allowed to make the
haj
in 1947.
But beneath the surface little changed. Any religious activity outside
the official mosques was strictly forbidden. By the early 1960s, under
Khrushchev's 'back to Lenin' policies, another 1000 mosques were
closed. By the beginning of the Gorbachev era, the number of mosques
in Central Asia was down to between 150 and 250, and only two medres-
sas were open - Mir-i-Arab in Bukhara and the Imam Ismail al-Bukhari
Islamic Institute in Tashkent.
Perhaps the most amazing thing though, after 70 years of concerted
Soviet repression, is that so much faith remains intact. Credit for any
continuity from pre-Soviet times goes largely to 'underground Islam', in
the form of the clandestine Sufi brotherhoods, which preserved some
practices and education - and grew in power and influence in Central
Asia as a result.
The percentage
of practising
Muslims in the
ex-Soviet repub-
lics ranges
from 47% in
Kazakhstan
to 75% in
Kyrgyzstan, 85%
in Tajikistan, 88%
in Uzbekistan and
89% in
Turkmenistan.
By 1940, after
Stalin's attacks
on religion,
only 1000 of
Central Asia's
30,000 mosques
remained stand-
ing and all 14,500
Islamic schools
were closed.
Suism
The original Sufis were simply purists, unhappy with the worldliness of
the early caliphates and seeking knowledge of God through direct per-
sonal experience, under the guidance of a teacher or master, variously
called a sheikh
,
pir, ishan, murshid
or
ustad
. There never was a single
Sufi movement; there are manifestations within all branches of Islam.
For many adherents music, dance or poetry were routes to a trance-like
moment of revelation and direct union with God. Secret recitations,
known as
zikr,
and an annual 40-day retreat, known as the
chilla,
re-
main cornerstones of Sufic practice. This mystical side of Islam parallels
similar traditions in other faiths.
Sufis were singularly successful as missionaries, perhaps because of
their tolerance of other creeds. It was largely Sufis, not Arab armies, who
planted Islam firmly in Central Asia. The personal focus of Sufism was
most compatible with the nomadic lifestyle of the Kazakh and Kyrgyz in
particular. Although abhorred nowadays in the orthodox Islamic states
PRE-ISLAMIC BELIEFS IN CENTRAL ASIAN ISLAM
The Central Asian brand of Islam is riddled with pre-Islamic inluences - jut go to any
important holy site and notice the kissing, rubbing and circumambulation of venerated
objects, women crawling under holy tones to boot their fertility, the shamanic 'wishing
trees' tied with bits of coloured rag, the cult of
pirs
(saints) and the Mongol-tyle poles
with horse-hair tassels set over the graves of revered igures.
Candles and lames are often burned at shrines and graves, and both the Tajiks and
Turkmen jump over a ire during wedding celebrations or the Qurban (Eid al-Azha) feti-
val, traditions that hark back to ire-worshipping Zoroatrian times. The Turkmen place
particular tock in amulets and charms. At Konye-Urgench, Turkmen women even roll en
masse down a hillside in an age-old fertility rite.
