Dr. Daniel Beben – Nazarbayev University – March 24, 2016 – 4 PM – Rice University, Dean of Humanities Conference Room
The practice of Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia has often been characterized in western scholarship as either a superficial phenomenon, lightly imposed upon and ill at ease with native religious and cultural traditions, or, alternatively, as a breeding ground for radicalism and fanaticism.
These dualist characterizations continue to inform many of the discussions concerning the place of Islam in the region today.
In this presentation I will offer an alternative perspective and will explore the critical role that conceptions of tolerance and inclusivity have performed in the history of Islam in Central Asia.
From an early period, the spread of Islam in Central Asia was facilitated by a consensus among religious scholars and officials concerning a broad and inclusive set of criteria for membership within the Muslim community which emphasized the primacy of communal affiliation over orthopraxy. While this history has often been mischaracterized as reflecting a superficial attachment to Islam among Central Asian peoples, I argue in contrast that this approach enabled the enduring presence of Islam in a region that is culturally, linguistically and geographically far removed from the Arab “core” of the Muslim world. I will examine how this emphasis is expressed in early theological writings produced within Central Asia on the topic of conversion, as well as in various hagiographical and “popular” conversion narratives that reflect broader social values concerning the question of membership in the Muslim community.
Finally, this talk will explore the ways in which developments in the region in recent centuries have challenged this older and more inclusive tradition, and will ask how this history of inclusiveness may offer a precedent for ecumenicalism within the Muslim world today.
About:
Daniel Beben’s research focuses on the religious and social history of Central Asia in the early-modern era.
His dissertation explores the history and hagiographical literature of the Ismaili Shia Muslim community of the Badakhshan district of eastern Tajikistan. More.
Source: 2016_0324_CentralAsianIslam : Rice University | Boniuk Institute
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