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Abstract

The relationship between Islam and nationalism represents one of the most enduring and complex dynamics in the political and cultural development in Muslim societies. While the content of nationalism is often manifested through secularized modernity, Islam provides a transnational moral and spiritual framework that both intersects with and contests national boundaries. The coexistence, collaboration, and conflict between these ideologies have shaped regional and global discourses on identity and legitimacy. Islam and nationalism have become the main ideological forces within the nation-building in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. The reinterpretation or reimagining of national identity has been the main source of tension between the Kazakh state, nationalists, and the increasingly pious Muslim population. Although (folk) Islam has been an indispensable part of the Kazakh national identity, increased adherence to piety movement since socialism receded, has brought some contesting narratives of being Muslim and being Kazakh.

This paper examines the evolving interplay between Islam and nationalism in Kazakhstan through historical and contemporary analysis. It explores how these forces have co-developed in response to colonial legacies, state-building policies, and the pressures of globalization and identity politics. The study aims to identify recurring patterns, ideological frictions, and possible avenues for synthesis between Islamic values and nationalist discourses.