Islamic revivalism, radicalism and the paradoxical governance of Islam in Uzbekistan

Prior to Soviet control of Central Asia, Islam was a matrix which produced socio-political culture. The Soviet government, however, viewed religion as a threat to its ideology. During seven decades of Soviet rule in Uzbekistan, Islamic texts were destroyed, religious practices suspended, mosques and learning centres demolished, Islamic legal systems abolished, and Islamic leaders persecuted (Khalid, 2007). The gradual weakening and ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union coincided with the revival of Islam in Central Asia. In the early 1990s, socialism’s hostility towards religion was replaced by paradoxical models of religious governance in Uzbekistan. On one hand, Islam became central to national identity and was embraced by the majority of Uzbeks; on the other hand, the transition away from socialism coincided with the establishment of an anti-Islamic authoritarian regime. Islamic revivalism is a complex phenomenon. It refers to diverse forms of movements, that seek renewed commitment to Islam by promoting Islamic education, practices, values, and principles in society. For this dissertation, I conducted multi-method qualitative research to study Islamic revivalism and the relationship between the secular state and Islam in Uzbekistan from various perspectives. Building on recent work in critical secular studies (Mahmood, 2017; Gole, 2015; Kosmin, & Keysar, 2007), I studied different religious and political engagements; how they perpetuate inequality, intolerance, and destruction while intersecting with power dynamics; how the labels ‘extremist’, ‘radical’, and ‘terrorist’ aided the government in seizing and securing power; and how the social construction of “adashganlar” – Muslims on “the wrong path” – served the government of Uzbekistan to strengthen its grip on society and justify persecution of innocent Muslims. I examined the re-establishment of official Islam and reformation of underground unofficial Islam, the repertoire of exchanges between these two forms of Islam and the secular state. I combined relational and dialectical approaches to frame the progression of radicalization between the state and Islam, which I called dialectical radicalization. The advancement of social media and internet technologies also played a significant role in the rigorous revival of Islam by creating new virtual spaces for easy interaction (Helland, 2000).Arts and Social Sciences, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)Graduat