International Fund of al-Imam al-Bukhari Friedrich Ebert Foundation Islam and the Secular State Edited by Z.I. Munavvarov and W. Schneider-Deters Tashkent 2003 Munavvarov Z.I., Schneider-Deters W. (editors) Islam and the Secular State (based on materials from the International Symposium “Islam and the Secular State”, 5-6 June 2002, in the Memorial Complex of al-Imam al- Bukhari, Republic of Uzbekistan) Translators and Editors: Abbasova A., Aimak F., Danilov V., Inomkhojaev R., Jabbarov N., Krumm P., Muminov A., Rezyapova N., Shardan Sh., Shmatov O., Yusuf A. Computer design: Smirnov A.Y. ISBN 5-8244-2027-0 © International Fund of Imam al-Bukhari © Friedrich Ebert Foundation Contents Address of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov to the participants of the International Scientific Symposium “Islam and the Secular State” ................................ 155 The Foreword ............................................................................. 157 I. ON THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF THE SECULAR STATE Nagel T. The Development of the Secular State in Latin Europe163 Hasanov A. The First Muslim Community: the Transition from Religiosity to Secularity..................................................................... 171 Prozorov S. On the Issue of Supreme Authority in Islam ........... 176 Nagel T. Religion and State in Islam since the 11th Century....... 180 Fourniau V. On the Issue of the Relationship between Islam and the State in the Countries of the West .............................................. 189 II. THE PROBLEM OF RELIGIOSITY AND SECULARITY IN TRADITIONAL MUSLIM SOCIETY Krämer G. “Islam is Religion and State”: on the Relationship among Religion, Law and Politics in Islam ................................................... 191 Wielandt R. Is the Unity of Religion and State a Sine Qua Non Condition in Islam? ........................................................................... 202 Sykiäinen L. Muslim Legal Culture and the Secular State (in the Case of Russia and the Central Asian States)............................................ 213 Muminov A. The Secular and the Religious in the Interpretation of ‘Ulama’ in Medieval Central Asia ..................................................... 219 Ershahin S. The Jadidist Political Parties of Turkistan on the Secular State (1917-1920) .............................................................. 224 Mustafa H. Political Islam: Remarks on the Political Islamic Model ............................................................................................... 230 III. THE SEARCH FOR A RATIONAL BALANCE BETWEEN RELIGIOSITY AND SECULARITY IN THE POST- SOVIET MUSLIM STATES Akiner Sh. Islam in Post-Soviet Central Asia ............................ 235 Schneider-Deters W. The Secular State and the Renaissance of Islam in Post-Soviet Central Asia – Political Consequences............ 249 Munavvarov Z. The Formation of a New Balance between Secularity and Religiosity in the Republic of Uzbekistan .................. 254 Mukhametshin R. Islam in Post-Soviet Tatarstan .................... 262 Minavarov Sh. On the Issue of the Religious Educational System in Uzbekistan (Experience, Problems, Proposals) ............................... 266 Appeal of the Participants of the International Scientific Symposium “Islam and the Secular State” to the People of Uzbekistan....................................................................................... 270 Recommendations adopted by the International Symposium “Islam and the Secular State” held on 5-6 June, 2002 in the Memorial Complex of al-Imam al-Bukhari (Samarkand province, Republic of Uzbekistan) ................................................................ 271 To the participants of the International Scientific Symposium “Islam and the Secular State” Esteemed guests! Dear friends! It gives me great pleasure to greet you in ancient Samarkand, on gorgeous and fertile Uzbek soil, in one of the centres of world civilisation, where over the centuries the representatives of different nations and religions have lived in peace and harmony. Above all, I would like to note that this symposium, in which Islamic scholars of different countries of the world are participating, is dedicated to studying the relationship between Islam and the secular state, which is of utmost importance. Nowadays, when the representatives of various religions, nations and populations, cultures and civilisations are entering into dialogue for the sake of maintaining life on Earth and providing peace, freedom and wealth for all people, developing the relationship between religion and the secular state becomes an important condition for establishing the spirit of cooperation and solidarity among all nations. Today we have all witnessed how setting religious values against such concepts as progress and secular society, how wrong ideas over the role and meaning of religion can lead to tragic consequences, particularly as religion directly affects the minds of millions and millions of people. In particular, such negative trends as the politicization of the holy Islamic religion, its manipulation in egotistic objectives, and its use as an ideological weapon in the struggle for power, demonstrate the gravity and solidity of the questions put on the agenda of this symposium. The search for answers to such complex and pressing issues, which have arisen through the passage of time, 155 Islam and Secular State is becoming an urgent necessity. I believe that in this sense this international symposium, which is being held on Uzbek soil, with its rich history and experience in building relations between the state and religion and its application of this experience in present conditions based upon national human values, will be an important step to an even deeper revelation of the true essence of Islam, its positive and humanistic ideas. Greeting you once more, I wish you well-being, new achievements in your scientific work and success in the activity of the symposium. Islam KARIMOV, President of the Republic Uzbekistan 156 Foreword The Foreword Undoubtedly, the relationship between the religious and the temporal spheres of life has been of vital importance in the functioning of states throughout man’s history. This applies equally to all communities, for the intrinsic values of any human society are largely based on some religious outlook. Reaching a rational consensus on these two major components of human life is therefore of paramount importance. This consensus or balance becomes the standard against which the adequacy of any community’s current condition and prospects for progress must be measured. Any imbalance produces painful effects on society, tending to hinder its advance and sometimes even resulting in disastrous consequences. In all times there have existed some forces asserting the primordial authority of religion to intervene in every aspect of a community’s life, and others demanding that religion be confined to the realm of the spiritual. Occasionally the relations between the two opposing forces became so antagonistic that whole countries were plunged into an abyss of chaos and obscurity. Let us recall, for instance, the times of the Great Inquisition, when Europe witnessed burnings and horrendous tortures, the victims of which included some of the greatest minds, whose ideas continue even today to serve as a guiding light for mankind. The fate of Siger De Brabant, who was convicted for his development of Ibn Rushd’s ideas, the lot of Giordano Bruno, Nicolaus Copernicus, Nicholas of Cusa and many other thinkers who suffered for their beliefs, bear eloquent testimony to the hardships that accompany the process of shaping a natural interrelation between the religious and the secular life in society. This process displayed no less tragic manifestations in the life of the Muslim East. To put it in modern terms, one may say that the process of separating secular power from religious authority developed along lines that proved not dissimilar to those of the Christian West. Abu Mansur al-Hallaj, a great Sufi, was burned to death for his original views on the perception of God’s essence. Such giants of Muslim scholarship, philosophy and art as Ibn Sina, Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, Abu-l-‘Ala’ al-Ma‘arri, ‘Umar Khayyam and many others were all mercilessly persecuted and ostracized for their convictions. The best minds in both Europe and the Orient became increasingly 157 Islam and Secular State aware of the dangers that the domination of religious thinking involved for universal progress, and constantly searched for a solution to this most crucial problem. After some time these efforts resulted in the emergence of a scientific and philosophical school that figured prominently among a wide range of scientific theories dealing with problems of humanitarian development. Our current knowledge demonstrates the considerable progress attained by European science and practice in the research into, and the development of, the question of the separation of church and state. History shows that this advance was largely due to the fact that the predominance of religion in the life of medieval European society became so unbearable and assumed such monstrous proportions that it mobilised people of reason to seek a solution. In today’s world the concept of separating religion (church) from the state is seen to vary from one social group to another and, more importantly, from one country to another. This is borne out, in the first place, by the experience