In Kazakhstan, participants of discussions often turn to religion for arguments when discussing clothing, behaviour and similar phenomena either tabooed or allowed by religion. They say that traditional religious views of their ancestors allowed this and did not allow that, and descendants must follow the same path.
What does traditional religion mean for the state-forming ethnicity of Kazakhstan? CABAR.asia asked Zhaksylyk Sabitov, historian, PhD, to tell about it.
– What religion dominated in the territory of modern Kazakhstan before the spread of Islam?
– There was no common, dominating religion. There were different religious movements.
– How and when did Islam spread to the territory of Kazakhstan?
– The spread of Islam is related to the Arab expansion. When the Arabs conquered Central Asia, they first clashed with the Turgesh (the Turkic people living in Semirechye – Editor’s note), who gave them strong resistance. One of the leaders of the Turgesh was called ‘Abu Muzakhim’, which means ‘apt to gore’, i.e. a person who is able to resist. The geopolitical change took place when the war began between the Arabs and the Tang dynasty for influence. It all resulted in the battle of Talas in the middle of the 8th century. The Karluks (the Turkic people living in Semirechye – Editor’s note) were on the Chinese side, and then took sides with the Arabs, and the Arabs eventually won the fight.
The Karluks were main beneficiaries of the fight. They agreed to support the Arabs and then, one hundred years later, the ruler of the Karluks declared himself the chagan (the head of state of ancient Turkic peoples – Author’s note) in 840. Back then, the Islam spread in the territory of Kazakhstan. Later on, it gradually spread among the tribes that populated the territory of modern Kazakhstan; all those who were next to the Karluks, e.g. the Oghuz, began to convert to Islam. The Karluks adopted Islam as the state religion back in 960.
– Why could Islam remain in those areas?
– It was due to the fact that back then Islam was very important in terms of transfer of knowledge, was a leading culture. If you wanted to touch the world culture, you could do it via Islam. You could learn about Greek authors via it. The rest happened by inertia.
For example, there was the war between the Muslims and Buddhists at the end of the 13th century in the Golden Horde. The Buddhists won initially, but the Muslims won back in 10-15 years, and the Buddhists were forced out. However, it is worth mentioning that many religions have been in the territory of Kazakhstan: Buddhists, Nestorian Christians, Manicheans.
– Why did Islam survive among all other movements in its current form?
– I should say that the Hanafi madhab in Islam is the most liberal compared to other schools (Hanafi Islam is officially recognised in Kazakhstan; this madhab is mentioned in the law “On religious activity” – Editor’s note). If some schools find something as haram (a sinful act), the Hanafi madhab does not recognise it as haram.
The school was the most tolerant to newcomers. As we know, some other madhabs do not recognise any new things, and absolutely reject everything. Clearly, such things would not be accepted by the Kazakhs. That is why the Hanafi madhab was accepted in our territory and spread so fast.
– Why do supporters of the so-called non-traditional Islam, which usually means supporters having more radical views, emerge so fast?
– The non-traditional Islam takes place when there is no national ideology. If we take countries with good historical memory policy, and single nation development, you will not see any religious bigots there. For example, Russia has its own ideology. And all bigots are either Russian or other nationalists. Thus, there are no extremist Orthodox groups there.
There is a vacuum in a society with no strong ideology. It can be filled up with people who give simple answers to very complex questions. It is quite easy to make extremist nationalists out of religious extremists because they have extremism ‘in their blood’. But the form of extremism depends on the institutions available in the society. If there is a pride for one’s origin that is reported and designed by the state, it is likely to turn into nationalism.
– What can you tell about the Tengrism? How traditional is it for Kazakhs, in your opinion?
– There are many myths about early religions of Kazakhs, including Islam. One of such myths is about the so-called ‘Tengrism’. In fact, there is no such a religion as Tengrism, as it is understood now, it’s a remake. Religions of the Xiongnu, Turkic peoples, Mongols have been different from each other and have never been unified. For example, Umai (goddess of fertility), Erlik, Ulgen. Have you ever seen them mentioned together among the Mongols, Xiongnu, Turkic peoples, or later-medieval non-Muslim nomads? No, you haven’t.
Tengrism now means everything that is not Islam. They say, “What is West? West is West. What is East? East is not West. So, everything that is not West is East’. So, it’s the same here. For example, the tradition of alastau (purification by fire) could be taken from Zoroastrianism.
Tengrism is a set of different faiths and practices, which have never been a single whole. In fact, we do not know what Tengrism was, as there are no normal sources that can make us assert something with certainty. However, the fact is that religions of the Xiongnu, Mongols, Turkic peoples and later-medieval non-Muslim nomads are different. It proves that there had never been a single religion before Islam.
– Why do some people follow Tengrism now?
– This is a regular practice of rebirth of neopaganism, which is practised in the West, e.g. popular Celtic gods, Odin and Thor, in Russia – Rodnovery. Why should not we have it? Once it is common for the rest of the world, we will have it too as we belong to the world.
Our Tengrians are very romantic people who are in love with the Turkic history and culture. They have it in their mind that Islam mainly means hijab and all the bad things, so we do not belong to Islam.
– What can you tell about the statement that Tengrism is the project of foreign powers?
– I think it is foolish to look for the long arm of the West or some other countries. It is the same as to say that all people here who stand for the freedom of speech are financed by the West, or China, or Russia. It is labelling. People practise it, and it is their right, if they want to be Tengrians, let them be.