ABSTRACT
Russian Central Asia consists of two main parts, distinguished from each other by historic tradition, culture, and topography: the northern half, the steppe region, and the southern half, Turkestan. The main criteria used in investigating the cultural tendencies of Central Asian Muslim were five: religion, customs, language, ethnic identity, and the character and trends of the native intelligentsia. Islam in the Soviet Union has to operate under extremely difficult conditions, due in part to the specific repressive measures undertaken by the regime against religion, and in part to the general conditions of Soviet life. With the exception of the Tajiks, virtually all the Muslims of Central Asia speak local dialects of one and the same Turki language group. The importance of language for national consciousness is self-evident: language represents the most ready means of national identification, available alike to the literate and illiterate.
