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| Islam In Kyrgyzstan |
| The picture to the right shows a recently opened mosque in Batken, Kyrgyzstan. A local businessman provided the vast majority of the funding for this mosque, and this photograph was taken the day the mosque opened. The rugs on the ground were provided by local residents, and there was a festival atmosphere right outside the mosque as people sat and drank tea together. This picture is from 2004 This is a newly-constructed mosque outside the main airport in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. The geometric design on the dome of this mosque is typical in Kyrgyzstan; there are extremely few smooth mosque domes, although most tend to be silver and not painted as this one is. This photo is from 2006. Babur's house on Suleiman's mountain in Osh. Local legend has it that a horseshoe-shaped imprint on the top of the mountain was made by the horse of the Prophet Mohammed as his he ascended to heaven. The location of the fourth hoofprint is a source of debate within the Islamic world - the other three hoofprints are in Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem/al-Quds. This is a mosque built by Babur, a ruler of Central Asia in the early 16th century and later the founder of India's Mogul dynasty. Because of the connection with South Asia, the last time Pakistani President Pervez Mussaraf visited Kyrgyzstan he stopped at this shrine. Although shut down during the Soviet era, the mosque was reopened during perestroika and is attended by a series of imams. The imam here, who was on duty during a visit in 2006, is holding a traditional set of Muslim prayer beads. This set likely includes 99 beads for the 99 names of Allah according to Islamic tradition. The photo to the right is a madrasa (Islamic school) in Jalalabat, Kyrgyzstan. This photograph is from 2005 and shows several young Uzbek children learning to read namaz (the local name for Islamic prayers) and how to pray. Although the Kyrgyz have a brim on their hats, the traditional Uzbek hats, called tyupetekas, do not. In fact, brims on hats were extremely uncommon in the Islamic world until recently, as during prayers Muslims are supposed to have their heads covered and are supposed to touch their foreheads to the ground. Back to Bill's Homepage Back to Main Photos Page Back to Lordofthechaos |
| Although generally secular, Kyrgyzstan, and particularly southern Kyrgyzstan, is historically part of the Islamic heartland. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been a spate of new mosque construction, attendence at religious services, and interest in religion. Prior to the Russian occupation of the country in the 1800s, Kyrgyz were primarily Sunni Hanafi Muslims. However, because most Kyrgyz were nomads, they were one of the few long-standing Islamic societies not to veil their women. Uzbeks, who are primarily in the southern part of the country, tend to be more religious. In fact, prior to Russian occupation the Uzbek//Tajik cities of Bukhara, Samarqand, Khiva and Isfara were centers of Islamic learning and the source of significant trends in Islamic theology that spread from North Africa to East Asia. The below pictures show several scenes from Islam in Kyrgyzstan. |