Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality,
and to see the links to virtual rooms.
Log in
Accepted Paper:
Islamic Practices in Soviet Kyrgyzstan
Daniyar Karabaev
(American University of Central Asia)
Islam and its everyday practices were severely limited during the Soviet period in Kyrgyzstan. This paper presents the results of a oral history research project where elderly people shared their individual testimonies and stories of practicing Islam during the Stalinist period. The paper argues that everyday religious practices were performed in various ‘hidden’ and ‘new surviving’ forms in different parts of Soviet Kyrgyzstan. Those family members that continued to practice religion in this period had developed practical, skillful, and often creative coping strategies for continuing their Islam practices in hidden ways.