Kyrgyzstan ‘Secular’ Institute Teaches Islam
“We will apply scientific methods to study Islamic issues in Kyrgyzstan, the process of proselytization and radicalization of certain groups, the popularization of alien religious ideas and views amongst us, and the change of traditional spiritual values in the context of the challenges facing our society,” Mametbek Myrzabayev, director of the Scientific Research Institute for the Study of Islam, told Central Asia Online on Wednesday, June 4.
Opened in Bishkek last May, the “secular” Islamic research institute aims to offer academic teaching of Islam.
At the opening ceremony, attendants and speakers have praised the project as conveying the true image of Islam.
“Unfortunately, we preserved an ... archaic form of Islam,” said Nazira Kurbanova, a historian and member of the new Islamic institute's scholarly council.
“Now that we have begun reviving Muslim values, we've learned that we're stuck somewhere in the 18th century.
“We need to give Islam a new push so that it truly becomes a 21st-century religion ... that plays a unifying and progressive role.”
Bashkir's secular Islamic institution is not the first initiative to establish an Islamic research institution in the country.
The nation's first theology university was founded in 1993 by the Turkish religious foundation.
Yet, the university was closed in 1998.
Muslims make up 75 percent of Kyrgyzstan's 5-million population.
Around 50,000 people are evangelical Christians and many others are Orthodox Christians.
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Along with combating misconceptions surrounding Islam, Kyrgyzstan's first “secular” institution for Islamic studies aims to fight "radicalization".
“We don't have enough of a scholarly basis for our work and for our fight against ... extremism,” Emil Zheenbekov, director of the 10th Main Directorate (an intelligence wing) of the Interior Ministry, said.
“But now, with the help of the institute's experts, our personnel will be able to fight ... extremism and terrorism more effectively.”
The new think tank was also hailed by law enforcement officials.
“Law enforcement agencies are unable to research these kinds of issues, and the State Commission for Religious Affairs is generally occupied with registering religious organisations,” Bakyt Dubanayev, a spokesman for the CIS Anti-Terrorism Centre in Kyrgyzstan, said.
“The Muftiate has its own concerns. ... The situation in this field has been simply catastrophic.”
Out of 10 Islamic universities in Kyrgyzstan, one is moderated by country's Muslims, while the other nine are sponsored by Gulf Muslim countries.
The Islamic universities are not registered as research institution; they only provide courses on Islam.
The right to religious freedom has recently come under attack in Kyrgyzstan, according to domestic and international rights activists.
In 2009, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed a law banning proselytism, private religious education and the import or dissemination of religious literature.
The law also requires all religious communities to register with the state.
Source: On Islam
