Independent Islam in Central Asia: Reasons Behind Independent Islamic Leaders’ Resistance Towards the State Control of Religion in Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

Despite the vast amount of research conducted by scholars from different disciplines on Islam in Central Asia, reasons behind the emergence of independent Islamic leaders have remained a largely untapped source for studying reasons for tension between state and religion in secular countries. Scholars have focused on radical and political manifestation of Islam. This thesis provides a different perspective on Islam in Central by exploring factors for official imams to pledge loyalty to the state and reasons for independent imams to contest the state control and definition of Islam in Kyrgyzstan. It reveals how and why Islamic religious leaders either cooperate with the state or resist the control it exerts over Muslim population. The case studies of two imams from Kara Suu are explored in the study. The analysis of their stories focuses on their education, life experiences, features of the town they lived and worked in, political and economic situation in the country, retaining of material assets, and their personalities. The study’s results show that independent imams’ resistance is conditioned by political and economic liberalization. Their decisions are also reinforced by educational and life experiences, the environment they operate in, and personality. The results illustrate that material reward is the most significant explanatory factor for imams to cooperate with the state. My interdisciplinary study contributes to the existing debate by exploring the interplay between political and economic liberalization and the emergence of mild form of political Islam.