ON THE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN THE CONCEPT OF "SUPERFICIAL ISLAM" AND THE DATA FROM TRADITIONAL ORAL HISTORY (BASED ON MATERIALS OF STEPPE REGIONS OF KAZAKHSTAN IN THE 19TH-EARLY20-TH CENTURIES)

Abstract

The current state of Kazakh Islamology (the study of Islam in the context of Kazakh culture and history) allows us to raise the problem of theoretically rethinking the Islamic factor in Kazakh  History and Culture. For a long period of its history (18th-20th centuries) Kazakh ethnic community was deprived of the opportunity to present its own narrative of religiosity and cultural self-identification based on a "common memory." Like other Eastern peoples, Kazakhs were forced to accept the representation of their cultural identity by colonial "orientalist" constructs, in particular, the artificial concept of a "superficial Islam" of Nomads (conditioned by the Russian policy of suppression of Islamic identity). At the same time, it is possible that Kazakhs concealed many aspects of their inner lives from imperial administrators, which also contributed to confusion. Finally, it is important to acknowledge that not all Russian and European authors shared the view that Islam was weak among Kazakhs, and not all contemporary Russian authors deny the elements of "Orientalism" in the works of their predecessors.

The article reveals the contradiction between the dominant in Soviet historiography idea of "weak Islam" and stereotype about Steppe Kazakhs`s indifference towards Islam, on the one hand, and alternative data of Oral Traditional History of Middle Zhuz Kazakhs, on the other hand. The latter, on the contrary, demonstrate a full-fledged Islamic identity of this community, manifested in a mass fascination with religious "kissa" (poems), Muslim standards of education and religiosity, in the craving for the Hajj to Mecca (despite its difficulties and high mortality among pilgrims), etc. The information of Oral History from the manuscripts of M. Kopeev and other sources, as well as the author's field research on religious personalities, are used. It is proposed to study the stereotype «nomadism without Islam» in line with postcolonial studies. Without downplaying the contribution of  Russian and European scholars, however it's necessary  simultaneously recognizing the more objective concept of `Kazakh Muslim community` and the central role of Islam and Sufism in the national religious tradition.