ABSTRACT
The history of Islam in Central Asia goes back to the early eighth century and the invasions of the Muslim armies under Qutayba bin Muslim. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the people of Central Asia display a wide range of religious identity. Many people in the countryside mostly maintained their Islamic identity throughout the Soviet era, but in a very private way that allowed them outwardly to conform to government dictates. According to Mark Saroyan, the Soviet government displayed an orientalist approach to Islam by assuming that Central Asian Islam was defined by the Qur'an and Hadith and was therefore unchanging. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the people of Central Asia display a wide range of religious identity. The term cultural Muslim is used today primarily by those people who will circumcise their sons, marry with the blessing of the clergy and be buried with Islamic rites.
