Bringing the mosque home and talking politics: women, domestic space, and the state in the Ferghana Valley (Uzbekistan)

Ritual prayer(s) performed five times a day (Uz. Namoz and Ar. salat) is one of “the five pillars” of Islam.

In my experience the term was used in the Valley in reference to those who (1) wanted to purify, to different degrees, existing religious practices from innovations; (2) were reported by the mass media (reflecting such government sources as the national security service [former KGB]) to desire an Islamic state by overthrowing existing government; and (3) to those in agreement with certain principles outlined in the Kitab at-Tawhid by Abd al-Wahhab (reported by one interlocutor to be available in the Valley since late 1970s). The term was also used to slander one’s opponents and to justify the state’s authoritarianism by politicians and political commentators. Louw (2007:30–33) has a useful discussion about the state’s use of the term. Those referred to as “Wahhabists” were not, to my knowledge, the supporters or representatives of the Hanbali school (of jurisprudence) of Sunni Islam widespread in Saudi Arabia. For a detailed discussion of Wahhabism see Algar (2002).

My research was conducted in the part of the Ferghana Valley that belongs to Uzbekistan. The Valley is shared among Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In light of the on-going persecution of devout and born-again Muslims in Uzbekistan, the names of the interlocutors have been changed. When quoting individuals I omit references to a particular city or village.

On the theory of oppression and violence perpetuated by states, see Rashid Omar’s dissertation “Religion, Violence & the State: A Dialogical Encounter between Activists and Scholars.” Doctoral Dissertation in Religious Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa (December 2005).

For women it is usually a scarf that covers one’s hair and neck (two scarves for some) and a long, loose dress.

These descriptive adjectives refer to various feelings about and ways of expressing in words and acting out one’s religiosity.

The definition I use is a direct translation of the local women’s definition of these occasions. By hosting such ceremony a household (not just its individual members) gains religious merit and blessing. Similar ceremonial occasions based on individuals sponsoring feasts in their homes or at the sacred sites take place in other Muslim communities. For instance, in Malaysia, Bosnia, and Ajaria these occasions have been analyzed as a way of establishing and solidifying interpersonal connections and networks (see Bringa 1995, Being Muslim the Bosnian way: identity and community in a central Bosnian village. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, and Neuburger 2004, The Orient within: Muslim minorities and the negotiation of nationhood in modern Bulgaria, Cornell University Press). In Turkish villages Mevlud celebrations have similar elements (see Tapper and Tapper 1987, The Birth of the Prophet: ritual and gender in Turkish Islam. Man 22(1):69–92). Abramson and Karimov (2007) translate ihson as “pilgrimage” (p. 320).

Although McGlinchey (2007) suggests that there are limits to the Uzbek state’s control of local mosques, during my research Ferghana and Margilan cities’ mosques were not only patrolled by the local militsia (police) but also were talked about as “unsafe” spaces where the government’s informants abound.

There are numerous sources documenting the government’s persecution of the religious and political leaders and civilians, who by hearsay might be sympathizers or silent supporters of religious or political opposition (see http://​www.​eurasianet.​org/​resource/​uzbekistan/​links/​uzrt916.​html, accessed May 6, 2008; http://​hrw.​org/​english/​docs/​2007/​11/​07/​uzbeki17229.​htm, accessed May 6, 2008; http://​hrw.​org/​reports/​2007/​uzbekistan1107/​, accessed May 6, 2008). The US Department of State refers to Uzbekistan as an authoritarian state in its annual report on human rights practices (2007). Citing a lack of reliable data as the main reason this report is ambivalent about certain human rights abuses. The report recognize arbitrary on-going political and religious persecution by citing several court cases (see http://​www.​state.​gov/​g/​drl/​rls/​hrrpt/​2007/​100623.​htm, accessed May 6, 2008)

In the summer 2001 my research was carried out in Uzbekistan’s villages of Oltariq, Rishtan, Yasyavan, Okhunboboyev rayon, and in the cities of Ferghana, Andijon, Namangan, Kokand, and Margilan. During my research in 2002–2003 in the Valley I attended about ten ihsons (ceremonial gatherings to honor God and to made special requests), three bushik toi (a celebration of the birth of one’s child), one sunnat toi (a celebration of the boy’s circumcision), about ten iftors (breaking of the fast during the month of fasting Ramazan [Ar. Ramadan]), five weddings (kelin toi), six maraka (commemorating the deceased), about fifteen classes at the local home-schools, one taborak (ceremony before marriage), various gap and other meropryatia (social occasions) that included birthdays and social outings at the local restaurants and individual homes.

For the purposes of the article I accept the commonly used terms referring to the post-Soviet countries in Central Asia, although locally and officially they are referred to in different terms, e.g. Kyrgyz Respubllikasy, or Uzbekiston.

Following An-Na’im (2002), I take Shariat (Ar. al-Shari’ah) to mean “the general normative system of Islam as historically understood and developed by Muslim jurists… [which] includes a much broader set of principles and norms than legal subject matter as such” (p. 1).

Kamp (2006) states that maktabs and madrasas in pre-Soviet Turkistan were also “supported and regulated by the state and religious foundations (waqfs)” (p. 79). In this sense the state has always controlled formalized religious practice and education.

Musil'mon bulib yashash in Uzbek means “Islamic or Muslim way of life.” This phrase was used by several interlocutors during the research, while others used the Russian phrases zhit’ po-Islamski and Islamaskij or Islamskaya as adjectives to describe their lives in general, some objects in particular such as various forms of covered dress.

Khamidov (2008) also points out women’s active participation in the protests.

Asad (1986) defines Islam as a “discursive tradition”. The adherents of this tradition are actively engaged in production of orthodoxy—“the establishment of a dominant version of religious tradition in specific historical conjunctions through a discursive process that extends in time and space” (Makris, 2007: 38). In the process of production of “orthodoxy” a range of opinions addressed gendering of space. Some interpreted sacred sources (the Qur’an and Hadith literature [Ar. ahadith -- reports about sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions]) as neither precluding nor fostering women’s participation in the mosque’s activities. Others insist that a house, not the mosque, is the most appropriate place for women’s religious observances. [Here I am referring to the Sunni positions, as many devout and born-again Muslims claimed to follow the Hanafi mashab (Ar. madhab) one of the schools of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam.] These differing positions are historically contingent and are inhabited variously by devout individuals.

In the Valley both men and women visit local shrines.

I was told that in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, a very small number of women did attend one of the mosques. Imamkhodjaeva (2005) refers to the prohibition on women’s attendance of the mosques in the past tense. My feeling is that her data is gathered in the capital and also at the time when the regime was toying with the idea of “safe” Islam (1991–1995). During my research in the 2001-2003 this prohibition, both overt and covert, was still in action. Even if women in the Valley were to be explicitly encouraged to go to the mosques, in my opinion, it would be a long term process until they decide to do so in great numbers.

The word “Imam” here is used probably as honorific, referring to important and influential individual and religious leader. In general it means a prayer leader and a scholar. I take it to be a reference to Al-Imam al-A’zam, Nu’man bin Thabit bin Zuta bin Mahan, known as Abu Ḥanīfah (699—767 CE), the founder of the Sunni Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence.

There are women who challenge gendering of leadership at the mosques in other socio-cultural contexts, such as Amina Wadud’s leadership during a gender-mixed prayer in New York City (USA) in 2005.

Although the interlocutors did not provide a particular Qur’anic reference addressing the importance of congregational prayer, surah (chapter) Al-Baqarah (Calf or the Cow) speaks about it in the ayat (verse) 23. There are also ahadith addressing this in the collections of Bukhari, Muslim, and Tirmidhi.

Many of these women taught religious and ceremonial knowledge to the students at their home-schools.

As pointed by one of the anonymous reviewers, pataha maybe is a dialectal form of fatiha, i.e. al-Fatiha (the Opening) surah (chapter) of the Qur’an. In this case it can mean both a blessing and a prayer.

I was told later that the Uzbek press insisted that the false news of Karimov’s death was produced by the Russian authorities because of the president’s support of the pending American invasion of Iraq (2003).