Privratsky's book is a good ethnographic survey of contemporary Islamic practice among Kazakhs in Turkistan, Kazakhstan. It discusses, among other things, Sufism, lines of ancestry traced to the first century of Islam, observance (or non-observance) of the five pillars of Islam, shrine visitations like that of the Yasawi Mausoleum, veneration of ancestors, and healing arts. There are interesting discussions about pre-Islamic influences of contemporary religious practices and what are true Islamic practices.
Contents: Maps and Illustrations; Preface; Abbreviations; Transliteration; The Problem of Kazak Religion; Kiyeli Jer: Muslim Landscapes and Kazak Ethnicity; Taza Jol: The Pure Way of Islam Among the Kazaks; Aruaq: Remembering the Ancestors; Auliye: Remembering the Saints; Emshi: The Kazak Healer; Kazak Religion and Collective Memory; Religion as Culture and Spirit; Appendix: Principal Informants; References Cited; Glossary; Index
Comments: 2/16/10
On page 91, Privratsky states: "Oshanov does not reject the Five Pillars but asks one of the five to serve in place of the others. The Short confession, 'Praise be to God, I am a Muslim,' is proposed as a substitute for all of the Five Pillars!" Recently, when I asked an Uzbek in an interview if he was Muslim he said, "al-hamdulilah musilmanman" ("Praise be to God, I am Muslim"). This phrase was also stated by someone in Tajikistan in the following news article by Saidazimova (2005):
Are you a Muslim? Most Central Asians, when asked this question, give one answer: "Al-hamdulillah, I am." The use of the Arabic phrase for "praise be to Allah" emphasizes the strength of their faith. ... "I have no special knowledge of Islam, but Al-hamdulillah, I am a Muslim," said one man in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.Cross References: Canfield 1993; Fathi 1997; Hanks 1999; Frank 2005; Saidazimova 2005; Archnet.
Descriptors: 2000s, ACTORS, ancestors, anthropology, book, diversity, ethnography, healers, identity, Kazakhs, Kazakhstan, P, post-Soviet, saints, SHRINES, Sufism, Turkistan, Yasawi Mausoleum; syncretism, pluralism-textual/popular.
