Uzbekistan

With a population of 27 million, Uzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country. Bordered by [Page 1334]Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan, Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked, arid country, rich in natural gas but lacking the water supply needed to sustainably support the extensive cotton farming. Ethnically homogeneous, 80% of the population is Uzbek, and almost 90% self-identify as Sunnī (Hanafi) Muslims. Russians who did not emigrate postindependence in 1991 live primarily in the capital, Tashkent, and religiously identify with Russian Orthodox Christianity. The once sizable Jewish population, concentrated in Bukhara, has dwindled, with most Jews having emigrated to Israel or the United States.

The territory of contemporary Uzbekistan consisted of a number of khanates that were centers of trade and periodic conflict. The Bukharan Khanate was a center of Islamic learning since the ninth century and home to Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, compiler of the most authoritative Hadith collection. Other important Muslim figures from Bukhara include Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari, namesake of the Naqshabandi Sufi order, and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). During this period, the khan was the supreme leader, whose rule was seen as Islamic because he afforded the ulema an elite status. The khanates, however, were not considered Islamic states in the contemporary sense of the term; Islam was an unquestioned part of life, and disputes were often resolved within a milieu characterized as custom and tradition.

As the various khanates came under Russian control in the mid-to late 19th century, Uzbek autonomy gave way to colonial rule, and the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was established in 1924. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Jadids sought to reform Islam through encouraging modernist approaches to education and religion, which resulted in clashes with traditionalist Muslim leaders. Both groups, however, resisted colonial rule and had conflicts first with the Russian and later with the Soviet authorities. In 1943, the Muslim Spiritual Directorates were established both to integrate socialist teachings and to control the propagation of Islamic learning. In the final assessment, the Soviet apparatus was successful in disrupting formal religious educational training.

In 1991, Uzbekistan gained independence and began promoting Islam as part of developing a national identity. This included the rehabilitation of shrines as historic sites associated with Uzbek heritage and the encouragement of a secular Islam perceived as unthreatening to the government. Under President Islam Karimov, however, there has been a general sense of religious restriction and persecution of orthodox and orthopraxic Muslims. Thus, the vast percentage of the population that embraces Islam faces the challenge of balancing its religious interests with the threat of persecution and dissatisfaction with the state.