| The Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has its own unique brand of Islam. Now, it has opened its doors to more fundamentalist strains of the religion. But will it help defuse social tensions, or lead to radicalization and the erosion of freedoms? The spectacle of tens of thousands of Kyrgyz men praying in the capital's central square, just underneath the Vladimir Lenin monument, says much about Kyrgyzstan. Even in its heyday, Communist ideology was never able to mobilize as many people as Islam does nowadays. But the unity of Muslims at prayer masks the vast differences in theology and lifestyle that exist among various branches of Islam in Kyrgyzstan. Over the past decade, the country has become a testing ground for Islamic missionaries of all kinds. Some of them have less in common with each other than they do with Jews or Christians. Kyrgyz people converted to Islam in the 17th century but they were never over-zealous about their faith. Mixed with shamanism and nomadic customs, the Kyrgyz version of Islam has long been more of a moral code than a religious doctrine. It has helped shape a society where women are just as active and ambitious as men, and where religiosity went hand in hand with a good education. Now, though, that is starting to change. "After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan has seen a very fast growth of Islam. Some of it is domestically driven -- poverty, poor education, corruption, mistrust of authorities -- all of that is prodding people ... |
