Competition and Cooperation between Politics and Religion, the Case of Uzbekistan Islam during the Post-Soviet Period

Abstract

Islam has long-standing traditions in Central Asia which have influenced the regional cultures and ways of living. Through the course of secularization in the Soviet period, the collapse of the USSR, and the formation of the nation-state, Islam has undergone various transformations in Uzbekistan. At first, while the nation-state was establishing itself, the new regime succeeding the Communist dictatorship made use of Islam to forge national consciousness and to fill up the ideological vacuum, but following the incursion of Islamic movements and the growing influence of Islamists, conflicts arose between the secular government and Islamists. As global anti-terrorist movements increased, anti-Islamic extremism became the focus of Central Asian and global anti-terrorist activities.

伊斯蘭在中亞地區有悠久的傳統，形塑了中亞地區文化和人民生活模式。經歷了蘇聯時期的去宗教化和世俗化後，並隨著蘇聯瓦解和民族國家的建立，伊斯蘭在中亞地區經歷了不同的轉變過程。首先，中亞地區民族國家建立的同時，由共黨專政轉換的新興政權利用伊斯蘭來凝聚國家共識，並填補意識形態的真空。然而，隨著境外伊斯蘭運動思潮的進入以及伊斯蘭影響力的加大，造成世俗政府與伊斯蘭份子之間的緊張對抗關係。而在全球反恐趨勢下，反伊斯蘭極端主義遂成為中亞和全球反恐的焦點。