Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

Islam in Contemporary Central Asia 1 4 3Muslims praying at a government-sponsored mosque in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, July 2, 2002.(Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)aries of “Muslimness” (Schoeberlein-Engel 1994, 222–244). Indeed, the rh e t o-ric of Muslimness did not exclude the possibility of antagonism with other“peoples” of Central Asia, let alone with Muslims abroad. While Muslimnessdistinguished locals from outsiders in the Soviet context, most Central Asiansdid not see being Muslim as counterposed to being Soviet. The Soviet governmentpresented Tashkent to the Third World, especially the Muslim world, as ashowpiece of Soviet achievements in overcoming underdevelopment. It was acommon destination for large numbers of foreign students, many of themMuslim. Yet there was little love lost between these foreign Muslim studentsand their hosts precisely because their common Muslimness meant little to thehosts. Indeed, most Central Asians at that time took great pride in being citizensof a superpower and of a state that stood against colonialism and oppression.Similarly, when Central Asians went abroad, especially to other Muslimcountries, they went as Soviet citizens proud of being “more advanced” thanother Muslims. Central Asians also served in large numbers in the Soviet forcesin the war in Afghanistan.Not only was Islam localized and “nationalized,” it now existed in a radicallyde-Islamized public space. As we have seen, the official rhetoric of the Sovietregime was framed in terms of universal human progress, defined in entirelynonreligious terms. Religion was seen as a human construct corresponding