Programme de bourses "Echanges Universitaires"

The Knowledge of Islam and Religious Authorities in Rural Southern Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan, a country in Central Asia, is one of the 15 member states of the former Soviet Union and gained its independence in August 1991. The population of the country is estimated to be ca. 5 million people. The largest ethnic minority in the country is Uzbeks which comprise 14.5% of the whole population. The other ethnic minorities are Russians, Tajiks, Uighurs, Koreans, Dungan, etc. 64% of Kyrgyz people affiliate themselves with Sunni branch of Islam (The Hanafite School).

The first contacts and spread of Islam reached Central Asia between 8th and 10th centuries through Arabic invasions of the region. There are no reliable sources about the times of the invasions which is a result of a limited knowledge of islamization of Central Asia. Till Mostowlansky writes in his Master’s thesis work that the talk about present-day Kyrgyz people dates back to the 18th century. According to him, there are some notes of Tatar and Uzbek traders about Islam in the region of that time.

The Soviet regime with its atheistic ideology in terms of religion suppressed Islam (at least at public and institutional levels): during the Soviet times there were only 40 officially registered mosques. Today their number increased up to 1650 mosques and 80% of them are located in the south of the country. Since there exists limited and often only formal knowledge of Islam in Kyrgyzstan, my aim in this study is to answer the following research questions:

• The meaning of religion, religiosity and their change: what is the role of Islam for local population? How did Islam change in the late times? Where the village residents get their knowledge about Islam from?
• The transmission of religious knowledge to religious authorities and their students: where the religious authorities get their knowledge about Islam from? What kind of knowledge do they transmit? Whom do they transmit this knowledge to? How do they transmit it? Do they speak fluent Arabic and can they read Koran in Arabic or do they have to deal with translations?
• The role of religious authorities in the society: what is the meaning of being a religious authority in the community? How do people view and evaluate the role of the authorities? Is it difficult to earn such a position as a religious authority? Do they have contacts to other religious authorities? What effects does the transmission of religious knowledge have on lives of authorities?
• The socialization in families: which role do Islamic norms and values play in raising a child in the village? Do parents prefer rather a religious or secular way of raising a child? Are the opinions of family members the same concerning Islam or are there any disagreements within a family? In a dispute situation, who makes a decision how a child should be brought up?

The research is focused on local Kyrgyz people in the village, especially religious authorities. There are several categories of people who will be interviewed: 1) new religious authorities; 2) old religious authorities; 3) males and females; 4) children; 5) needy as well as wealthy people; 6) educated people.

Duration of the research amounts to 2 months (July-August 2009). In the 1st phase of the research informal talks will be conducted with village residents in order to establish first contacts and gain their trust. In the 2nd phase semi-structured interviews will be conducted. In the 3rd phase group discussions will be conducted. It is also of vital importance to make a participant observation in the everyday life of the villagers. These two methods (interviews and observation) should enable to get a deeper understanding about people’s religious lives. The data analyses, interpretation and writing up of the Master’s thesis work will take place in Switzerland under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Anke von Kügelgen, the academic supervisor of the MA work from the IINOPh at the University of Bern.

Mostowlansky, Till. Islam und Kirgisen on Tour. Die Rezeption “nomadischer Religion” und ihre Wirkung. Wiesbaden 2007.               

Contact

Baktygul Karimova                                    
Lerchenrain 19                                                                                             
8046 Zurich                                                                                                
Switzerland                                                                                                    

Tel: 0041-787392650                                                                         
E-Mail: baktugul_karimova@yahoo.de   

                           
Partner Institutions:
Prof. Dr. A. v. Kügelgen 
Falkenplatz 11   
CH-3012  Bern  Switzerland      

Tel. +41 (0)31- 631 32 21           
E-Mail: vonkuegelgen@islam.unibe.ch

Dr. A. Mirzakhmetov   
Kyrgyzstanstr. 91  
714000 Osh
Kyrgyzstan 

E-Mail: suzak65@mail.ru