Paul
Goble
Staunton, July 18 – Sufism by virtue
of its syncretic nature and of its focus on things not of this world is far better
suited than any government agency to provide a bulwark against the spread of
Islamist radicalism, according to Marat Smagulov, a specialist on Islam at
Kazakhstan’s Foundation for the Support of Islamic Culture and Education.
He points out that the Hanafi trend
within Sunni Islam followed by most Muslims in Kazakhstan is less well
positioned to defend its followers from the appeals of politicized Muslim
leaders unless they are influenced as well by Sufism which helped spread of
Islam among Kazakhs (camonitor.kz/24366-islam-v-kazahstane-i-sufizm-istoriya-i-perspektiva.html).
Unfortunately,
he says, the government of Kazakhstan like many of the other post-Soviet states
has not come up with “specific and effective measures” to oppose “the ideology
of Wahhabism.” Instead, these regimes
have focused “on the consequences rather than the causes” of this phenomenon.”
Thus,
the struggle so far has been “senseless,” and in Smagulov’s view, “only by
opposition the ideology of Sufism against Wahhabism will there be a positive
result.”
Sufism,
he continues, is “a doctrine not only about who an individual is but also about
how he should be.” It arose in the earliest period of the Muslim era as “a
science about morality” and one might call it “the spiritual-intellectual school
of Islam” from which all Muslims interested in their faith can draw.
“One
of the specific aspects of Sufism,” he continues, is its willingness and
ability to adapt rapidly to local conditions rather than demand that local
values be rejected and overthrown. “This
aspect too has helped preserve pre-Islamic faiths and traditions in the popular
Islam of Kazakhstan.”
According
to Smagulov, “the process of the Islamization of the Kazakhs developed as a
result of the significant impact and influence of Sufi ideas” precisely because
Kazakhs were not forced to choose between them and the Islam offered by some
other trends and by politicized Islam at all times.
Sufism
appeared in what is now Kazakhstan at the time of the Golden Horde. It grew in
importance when Tatar, Bashkir and Caucasian Sufis who fought for Emelyan
Pugachev against the tsarist regime came to the Kazakh steppe after his defeat.
And Sufi sheikhs helped keep Islam alive during Soviet repressions.
In
considering how to use Sufism to oppose Islamist fundamentalism, Smagulov
continues, “it isn’t necessary to reinvent the wheel. The Naqshbandia tariqat,
which just like the Kazakhs is part of the Hanafi rite,” stands ready and able
to oppose those who exploit Islam for political purposes.
One
should note, the Kazakh expert says, that “attempts to destroy Sufism or
minimize its influence on Muslims always have been one of the main tasks of
those who are unhappy with the existence of Islam on earth” and who want to
reduce the faith to “a primitive social-political ideology in favor of some
mercantile interest or other.”
“Unfortunately,
Sufism in Kazakhstan has not yet been studied sufficiently,” and that gap is
being used by “pseudo-Sufi movements” to undermine its influence. They are
assisted in this by “pseudo-Salafis who are only concerned with discrediting
Sufism when they speak out on its behalf.
Sufism
can be especially effective in opposing Islamist radicalism in Kazakhstan
because Sufism and the Kazakh people share so many values: respect for the dead
and family, support for popular traditions, and promotion of the arts, all
things the Islamist radicals oppose, Smagulov argues.
And
he concludes by saying that those countries where the governments support
Sufism as Turkey does the Naqshbandia order rely on it as “an effective barrier
against the ideology of terrorism,” a set of ideas that promotes “stability and
peace.” Kazakhstan could benefit by
doing the same.
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