ABSTRACT
Independence has made it plain that during the seven decades of Soviet domination most of the people of Central Asia continued to observe important Islamic holidays and rites of passage, even if they called these ‘national’ rather than religious customs, and observed them mostly in the privacy of their homes. The wide-scale return by most Central Asians to some form of Islamic worship might best be called a general return to Islam, as large numbers of people attempt to incorporate Islamic practices into lives which remain essentially secular. The wide-scale return by most Central Asians to some form of Islamic worship might best be called a general return to Islam, as large numbers of people attempt to incorporate Islamic practices into lives which remain essentially secular. It is in Uzbekistan that the potential conflicts between official Islam and the secular government have become most obvious.
