International Fund of al-Imam al-Bukhari Friedrich Ebert Foundation

parties and organisations steadily increases due to the socio-
economical problems and weakness of democratic institutions in these
countries – problems that are typical for transitional periods.
In this way, by the beginning of the 1990s, an urgent need for
restoring the harmony of religious and secular values, without any
exaggeration, became one of the decisive and fateful factors in the
life of our country. Since the first days of independence, the leadership
of the Republic of Uzbekistan has faced the need for a distinct and
principled formulation of its approach to the religion. Convincing
argumentation for the new attitude of the state towards religion has
been provided by President Islam Karimov as follows: “The fact of
the stable existence of religion, including Islam, through the centuries
is testimony to the fact that it has deep roots in human nature and
fulfils a number of inherent functions. Religion, being above all a sphere
of the spiritual life of society, group and individual, has absorbed and
reflected universal human moral norms, transforming them into
generally obligatory rules of behaviour, has substantially influenced
culture, and has contributed and continues to contribute to overcoming
man’s isolation and his alienation from the other people.”
1
 The task
of forming a new relationship between secular and religious values,
responding to general national interests, has become one of the main
elements in the process of the revival of the national values in
Uzbekistan in the course of building a newly independent state. The
evolution and content of this process have been defined by the
combined effect of a whole range of objective and subjective factors.
We can point out the main ones:

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The search for rational balance between religiosity and secularity
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The restoring of the genuine role of religion in spiritual and
social life as a result of the fundamental change of the state’s attitude
toward religion. This factor has manifested itself in the sharp increase
in the number of mosques and religious educational institutions, state
support for Muslims in organising hajj and ‘umra, and the official
recognition of religious feasts, which before were categorically
forbidden.
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The unprecedented burst of activity of radical religious activists
and the nationalistic forces behind them. The politicization of their
activity became apparent as early as the beginning of 1990s, when
militarised organisations began to emerge, shrouded beneath the masks
of Islam and humanity (“Islam lashkarlari” – “Warriors of Islam”,
“‘Adalat” – “Justice”, “Adamiylik va-insaniylik” – “Humanness and
humanity” etc.).
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The noticeable activisation of different foreign religious
ideological centres towards all of Central Asia, particularly
Uzbekistan. This has been reflected particularly in the attempts of the