Islam in Central Asia and the Caucasus since the Fall of the Soviet Union

Recently published in the CERI series in Comparative Politics and International Studies with Hurst & Co and Oxford University Press, the book Islam in Central Asia and the Caucasus since the Fall of the Soviet Union by Bayram Balci offers a tour d’horizon of the role Islam plays in politics and the private sphere in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Interview with the author.

You assert that the new Central Asian republics have claimed membership of the Islamic civilization, as early as 1991, while being very determined to preserve the secularism inherited from the Soviet experience. How were such double claims made possible? Have these republics been in search of a “new” identity to which to adhere, or have they been expressing an identity that has been denied throughout the Soviet period?

There is something paradoxical about how the ruling elites managed the transition from the Soviet era to a new political system. All the elites in power at the end of the USSR suddenly turned into vehement critics of this system, a behavior that was even more visible in the religious sphere. Though management of religion by the Soviet power could seem tolerant, it did not make Islam an element of the identity of peoples. The Soviet system glorified Soviet nationalism as a cement of society.

When the new republics broke with the failed model, all that remained was nationalism in a region where democratic traditions had always been weak, if not simply non-existent. In this region of the world as in others indeed, nationalism is tinged with religion. Religion therefore needed to be rehabilitated. It is, however, a cultural and patrimonial form of religion, whichever the religion, free from all forms of politics and accepting submission to a secular political power.

In your book, you evoke an "evil Islam" that the republics of the post-Soviet space denigrate. Can you tell us more about this Islam?

In Russia, the Caucasus and the five Central Asian republics, the political and religious authorities who run Islam on a daily basis oppose what they call a “bad Islam”. By this expression, they designate an understanding of Islam that neither accepts nor submits to the orders of a state seeking to impose its own vision of what should be the place of religion within society and the nature of the links between state and religion.

This so-called bad Islam can take many forms. Above all a political Islam, it was represented by the Islamic Renaissance Party founded in Central Asia in the early 1990s. The Party was founded in the last hours of the Soviet era to better maintain the unity of Muslims throughout the Soviet space.

Then, there is radical and violent Islam, which has not had much strength in Central Asia because of its early “transfer” to Afghanistan, where it has become a component of Afghan jihadism.
In Central Asia, this “bad Islam” also often designates Wahhabism, i.e. one of the forms of Salafism and political Islam that advocates the fall of the ruling political regime, deemed impious and disbeliever. In other words, and in the minds of the leaders, this “bad Islam” is a foreign Islam, antithetical to what they consider true Islam, benevolent, traditional and local.
What is seen as true Islam is encouraged everywhere. It is Sunni Islam, the Hainfite school in its version of the Maturridiyya, in connection with Abul Mansûr Al Mâturîdî, a Muslim theologian native of Samarkand, whose teaching is meant to promote moderate Islam and build harmonious relationships between the faithful and the political authorities.

In recent years, all the official services related to the “management” of Islam have tried to promote Maturidiyya by dedicating him various conferences and even teaching it in all the religious schools.

How does the state, through its public policies, manage religion in the republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia?

Yet it claims to be secular, the state has never ceased to interfere in religious affairs. In each of the countries of the area, there are two instruments whose very existence and raison d'être testify to the will of the state to shape the religious field. It is first of all the Spiritual affairs directorates, which have replaced a former similar structure in each country and that officially monitored the little Islam the Soviet power actually tolerated. Led by a mufti or a national sheikh elected by his peers with the tacit approval of political authorities, this direction is responsible for spreading an Islam dubbed by the state. The khutba—Friday sermons read in all the mosques of the country—are written and distributed by the Directorate of Spiritual Affairs from the capital in each state. This Directorate is also in charge of appointing imams.

The post-Soviet states have also adopted another instrument: the State Committees for Religious Affairs. These are directed by senior officials who do not always have religious training, who can come from security services, and who are close to them in any case. These committees’ mission is to ensure that radical Islam and what they consider harmful influences do not develop in the country.

How has Islam become a factor of integration of Central Asian and Caucasian countries into the international system?

The end of the USSR that led the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus to position themselves with regards to Islam has indeed offered them new prospects for cooperation with the Muslim world.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, these countries were virtually absent from major international Islamic bodies such as the Arab League or the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Their independence has allowed them to become actors that count for these pan-Islamic organizations. Apart from Kyrgyzstan, all the predominantly Muslim republics of the former USSR are now members of the OIC, which today promotes Muslim places and personalities from these countries. Great figures, monuments—in fact all the tangible and intangible heritage of these countries—are promoted by the OIC through its subsidiary for arts and culture, ISESCO (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), an organization that promotes the contribution of Central Asia to Islamic civilization, and hence to universal civilization.

Interview by Miriam Périer, CERI