RELIGION AND STATE POLICY IN CENTRAL ASIA

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Notes

1. A longer version of this research will later be published by the UNRCCA, the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy, in Ashgabad Turkmenistan, whose support is gratefully acknowledged.

2. The term “Wahhabist” or “Wahhabi” after Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, an 18^th century Arabian theologian, has been routinely, but incorrectly, used in Central Asia and in Russia to describe those advocating “purer” or more fundamentalist forms of Islam. The “Wahabbists” frequently are critics of what they term the “excessive” or “pagan” or atavistic rituals that they say are contrary to Islam. Salafists make similar allegations, and both groups condemn what they see as the corruption of many traditional Hanafi clerics who take large fees or valuable gifts in return for performing these services.

3. See http://www.astana-piramida.kz/.

Additional information

Martha Brill Olcott is a Visiting Professor at James Madison College of Michigan State University and a senior fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement. She is also Professor Emerita at Colgate University, where she served on the faculty from 1975 to 2002. A prolific author, Olcott has been studying religion, identity, and politics in Central Asia and in other Muslim-majority regions for over 40 years. Her books include In the Whirlwind of Jihad (Brookings, 2012).