Islam after communism : religion and politics in Central Asia / Adeeb Khalid.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Khalid, Adeeb, 1964-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Islam--Asia, Central.

Islam.

Islamic renewal--Asia, Central.

Islamic renewal.

Islam and politics--Asia, Central.

Islam and politics.

Religion and politics--Asia, Central.

Religion and politics.

Asia, Central--Politics and government.

Asia, Central.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 241 pages) : illustrations, maps

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Adeeb Khalid combines insights from the study of both Islam and Soviet history in this sophisticated analysis of the ways that Muslim societies in Central Asia have been transformed by the Soviet presence in the region. Arguing that the utopian Bolshevik project of remaking the world featured a sustained assault on Islam that destroyed patterns of Islamic learning and thoroughly de-Islamized public life, Khalid demonstrates that Islam became synonymous with tradition and was subordinated to powerful ethnonational identities that crystallized during the Soviet period. He shows how this legacy endures today and how, for the vast majority of the population, a return to Islam means the recovery of traditions destroyed under Communism. Islam after Communism reasons that the fear of a rampant radical Islam that dominates both Western thought and many of Central Asia's governments should be tempered by an understanding of the politics of antiterrorism, which allows governments to justify their own authoritarian policies by casting all opposition as extremist. Comparing the secularization of Islam in Central Asia to experiences in Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, and other secular Muslim states, the author lays the groundwork for a nuanced and well-informed discussion of the forces at work in this crucial region.

Contents:

Islam in Central Asia

Empire and the challenge of modernity

The Soviet assault on Islam

Islam as national heritage

The revival of Islam

Islam in opposition

The politics of antiterrorism

Conclusion: Andijan and beyond.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-520-94010-5

1-282-35864-2

9786612358647

1-4337-0005-0

OCLC:

77834261