Full Description
The introduction of Islam ushered in an era of social and cultural change to the region. Some pre-Islamic sacred places have been transformed into Islamic ones, and the cult of saints absorbed elements of both local and Arab mythology. This volume which is a project initiated by the Balkan History Association, focuses on Islamic culture, traditions, and pre-Islamic beliefs in Central Asia. The chapters emphasize the importance of religious life, the significance of certain "sacred places," and their role in the socio-spiritual life. The volume includes research spanning a period from antiquity to the Post-Soviet era to explore how landscapes of religious places and practices were interpreted and reinterpreted through time.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Religious Landscapes of Central Asia throughout History
Mihai Dragnea, Dorina Dragnea, Antonio Alonso Marcos, and Elissa Bullion
Soviet Religious Legislation
Chapter 1: Communist Atheism Overrides Islam: The Soviet Movement for Religious Control in Central Asia (1930s-1960s)
Rui Kai Xue
Chapter 2: Interpretation of the "Soviet Past" in Historical Policy Newly Independent States of Central Asia
Viachaslau Menkouski
Chapter 3: Impact of Communal Identity on the Notion of States in Soviet Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
Shambhavi Thite
Political Islam and Islamic Social and Cultural Reformation
Chapter 4: Hizb ut Tahrir (HT) in Central Asia Since 2000: A Political Party, a Terrorist Group or a Social Movement?
Antonio Alonso Marcos
Chapter 5: Islam in Central Asia: Why Jadidism is 'Out' and Why Salafism is 'In'
Dareg Zabarah-Chulak
Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Material Culture
Chapter 6: Ancient Religions and Beliefs: Pre-Islamic Cult Architecture of the Ancient States of Central Asia
Shoira Nurmukhamedova and Feruzjon Subkhonov
Chapter 7: Heads or Altars: An Analysis of Religious Culture in Early Islamic Numismatics
Jonathan Ouellet
Sacred Spaces and Religious Mobility
Chapter 8: Islamic Shrines and pilgrimage in Samarkand (1992-2022)
Azim Malikov
Chapter 9: The Impact of the Seven Pir Shrines in the Bukhara Province on the Social-Spiritual Life of the Muslims in Uzbekistan
Fahri Türk and Dolunay Yusuf Baltürk
Language and Ethnic Identity
Chapter 10: The Semantic Analysis of Mythological Conceptual Units in Religious Discourse: A Case Study of the Karakalpak Language
Gulzira Kdirbaeva
Chapter 11: Beliefs of the Semi-Nomadic Turkic-speaking Ethnic Group in Iran, the Qashqais
Venera Mustafayeva
About the Contributors
