Religion
Today
November
4 -10, 2001
In
Central Asia, as in many parts of the Islamic world, religious practices
permeate life. Descriptions of Islam usually focus on the "five
pillars": the confession of faith, five daily prayers, fasting in
Ramadan, the giving of charity, and the pilgrimage to Mecca. But for ordinary
people in Uzbekistan, a country on the northern border of Afghanistan, many
other practices and rituals establish community and family identity with
Islam. I'll describe some activities I have observed during my research. These
are the ordinary practices of Central Asian Muslims, including those in
Afghanistan, and provide a better picture of Islam as it is practiced than the
rules proposed by the Taliban.
While
many Uzbek Muslims do not say all five daily prayers, prayer happens
throughout the day. Meals with the family are ended with a short du'o (a
voluntary prayer) and an Omin (amen). Gatherings with friends, and even many
business meetings also end with this sort of prayer, which asks good wishes
and blessings for those present.
In
any Uzbek neighborhood, one is occasionally awakened early in the morning by
the sounds of a circumcision feast. For such an event, the neighborhood
committee sets up tables and chairs, a performance platform and large iron
pots for cooking, all in an open courtyard. The men of the neighborhood, at
least one from each family, come to congratulate the boy and his family and to
eat plov, a rice and lamb dish. The gathering lasts for an hour or two, during
which there are recitations from the Qur'an, and musicians (all men) perform
traditional religious music. The boy who will be circumcised is the guest of
honor; he wears a velvet robe and is brought in riding a horse that has an
equally decorative saddle. There is a similar feast for a groom on his wedding
day.
Uzbek
women sometimes attend their own religious, social events. These include
celebrating Mavlud (the birth of the Prophet Muhammad), attending a session
with a religious teacher, or seeking guidance in times of difficulty. The
person who leads these gatherings is a woman, an otin, who has training as a
religious teacher, Qur'an reciter and prayer leader. Gatherings with an otin
are social as well as spiritual, and like men's gatherings, include food.
During
the second major Islamic holiday of the year, the Feast of the Sacrifice,
Uzbek families remember those who died within the past three years. Family
members and friends are invited to the home. Men and women sit in separate
rooms, where they eat, reminisce, recite the Qur'an and say prayers. While
some families may invite a mullah or an otin to recite, often these rituals
are simply led by the senior family members.
While
Muslims from all over the world aspire to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at
least once in a lifetime, expense has always made the Hajj impossible for
many. In Central Asia, pilgrimages to local shrines are an important part of
Islamic practice. Shah-I Zinda, which is the tomb of the Prophet's companion,
Kutham ibn Abbas, in Samarkand, is one of the most famous and beautiful of
these shrines. The saint's tomb itself is built half way up a hill, and its
blue-tiled dome is visible from far off. Tourists and pilgrims both go to
Shah-I Zinda and other shrines in Uzbekistan, but for the pilgrim, the visit
begins and ends with prayer, and includes opportunities for communal prayer
and religious learning, as well as personal discussion and instruction.
These
practices make Islam a part of every day life for Central Asians, linking the
seriousness of prayer and Qur'an recitation to the joys of family and
community.
Kamp,
specializing in the modern Middle East, is a faculty member in the UW
Department of History.