ABSTRACT
When examining the role of Islam in Central Asia, it is necessary to be aware of the ideological environment in which research has been conducted. During the Cold War, very little information was available in the West from the ‘Muslim belt’ of the Soviet Union, and the information that did emerge was assessed within the ideological and political framework of the time. The assumption that Islam was a political force in Central Asia, born in an era of marked hostility between East and West, was nurtured for many years by both sides.
