Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan

The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan , abbreviated as SADUM (САДУМ) was the official governing body for Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic activities in the five Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

n republics of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Under strict state control, SADUM was charged with training clergy and publishing spiritual materials, among other tasks. The organization was headquartered in Tashkent

Tashkent

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...

(in modern-day Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

). Established in 1943, SADUM existed for nearly 50 years. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...

, the five newly independent republics reformed their respective branches of SADUM into their own national Islamic institutions.

Background

The first spiritual assembly in the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

was established in 1788 in Orenberg. Like SADUM, the Orenburg Muslim Spiritual Assembly

Orenburg Muslim Spiritual Assembly

The Orenburg Muslim Spiritual Assembly was an state-controlled religious administration in Imperial Russia that had jurisdiction over certain aspects of Islamic activity in Siberia, the Volga-Ural region, and parts of Central Asia, including the Kazakh steppe...

was governed by a supreme mufti, and oversaw the appointment of imams and management of mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

s throughout the empire.

Russian administrators had been involved in the religious hierarchy of Central Asia

Russian Turkestan

Russian Turkestan was the western part of Turkestan within the Russian Empire , comprising the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh steppes, but not the protectorates of the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Khiva.-History:-Establishment:Although Russia had been pushing south into the...

since the initial conquest in the 1860s, though the level of government interference varied throughout the region. Some district chiefs were directly responsible for the appointment of instructors at the local madrasah

Madrasah

Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...

s, as well as naming the overseers of religious endowments (waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...

s). Other chiefs retained oversight privileges, but allowed the local community to run affairs autonomously, stepping in only when disputes arose.

The official attitude towards religion changed drastically under the Soviets

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Initially the Soviets supported religious activity, specifically that of the Jadid

Jadid

The Jadids were Muslim modernist reformers within the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. They normally referred to themselves by the Turkic terms Taraqqiparvarlar , Ziyalilar , or simply Yäşlär/Yoshlar...

s, young Muslim reformers who sought to "modernize" Islam - a goal which fit nicely into Soviet ideals. In 1922 the Soviets even allowed the creation of local religious boards throughout Central Asia. These boards had many of the same functions which SADUM would inherit (though on a more limited scale) in the 1940s. The boards also were charged to be "the link between the government and the people, to conduct the reform of religious affairs and to struggle with very unnecessary superstructures of Islam and the incorrect interpretations of Islam."

By the mid 1920s, however, the situation had changed. Having consolidated their power in the region, the Soviets began to show their true attitude towards religion. Over the next several years hundreds of mosques were closed or destroyed. The year 1927 saw the initiation of the hujum
Hujum
Hujum was a series of policies and actions taken by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, initiated by Joseph Stalin, to try to have women in the Muslim majority areas of the Soviet Union remove their veils...

, an effort to forcibly remove Muslim women's veils. By 1927 all madrasahs were shut down, and 1928 saw the elimination of waqf

Waqf

A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...

s. A 1929 law against religious practices effectively ended open religious activity in the country. Many Islamic leaders, including many Jadids, were "liquidated" during Stalin's Great Purge

Great Purge

The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...

Creation of SADUM

The creation of SADUM occurred in the mist of the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

(known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War

Great Patriotic War (term)

The term Great Patriotic War , Velíkaya Otéchestvennaya voyná,) is used in Russia and some other states of the former Soviet Union to describe the portion of World War II from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945, against Nazi Germany and its allies in the many fronts of Soviet-German war.-History:The term...

). The Soviet government, fighting for its survival and requiring the support of all its citizens, relaxed restrictions against religion. As religious persecution subsided and mosques began to re-open, the Central Asian ulema

Ulema

Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...

saw an opportunity to push for concessions.

In June 1943, several prominent members of the ulema petitioned Mikhail Kalinin

Mikhail Kalinin

Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin , known familiarly by Soviet citizens as "Kalinych," was a Bolshevik revolutionary and the nominal head of state of Russia and later of the Soviet Union, from 1919 to 1946...

, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was a Soviet governmental institution – a permanent body of the Supreme Soviets . This body was of the all-Union level , as well as in all Soviet republics and autonomous republics...

, to permit a conference of the Central Asian religious elite in Tashkent. At this conference they planned to lay the foundations for a central Islamic organization. The ulema argued that this organization would allow them to better organize the regional war effort. Desiring to shore up Muslim support for the war, the Presidium approved a plan for the creation of the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, to be headquartered in Tashkent. The organization was formally established on October 20, 1943.

SADUM moved quickly after its founding to re-open local Islamic institutions and re-establish ties with the wider Muslim world

Muslim world

The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...

. In 1945 a meeting was held with the Saudi

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

king Abdul Aziz ibn Saud

Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia

King Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia was the first monarch of the Third Saudi State known as Saudi Arabia. He was commonly referred to as Ibn Saud....

, after which Soviet Muslims were allowed to participate in the Hajj

Hajj

The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...

. The following year, 1946, saw the reopening of the Mir-i-Arab madrasah in Bukhara

Bukhara

Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...

.

A second center of Islamic learning, the Imam al-Bukhari Islamic Institute, was founded in Tashkent in 1971.

Fracture of SADUM

In 1990 Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

removed its qaziyat from SADUM and established an independent Muftiate for the Muslims of Kazakhstan. This new organization was renamed the Religious Administration of Kazakhstan's Muslims . A kurultai

Kurultai

Kurultai is a political and military council of ancient Mongol and Turkic chiefs and khans. The root of the word "Khural" means political "meeting" or "assembly" in the Mongolian language, it is also a verb for "to be established"...

(or meeting) of the Muslims of Kazakhstan was held in January 1990, at which time Ratbek hadji Nysanbayev

Ratbek hadji Nysanbayev

Ratbek hadji Nysanbayev was the first Supreme Mufti of Kazakhstan, controversially appointed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. He served as mufti from February 1990 to 2000.-External links:...

, the top SADUM figure in Kazakhstan, was appointed Kazakhstan's new mufti. The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev

Nursultan Nazarbayev

Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the nation received its independence in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union...

, also opened an Islamic institute in Almaty

Almaty

Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...

to train mullahs.

Upon independence in 1991, Uzbekistan's branch of SADUM was renamed the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan. It was placed within the responsibilities of the Committee on Religious Affairs, which is under the Cabinet of Ministers.

Structure

SADUM oversaw the Islamic activities in the five Soviet republics of Central Asia. The headquarters of SADUM was located in Tashkent, where the chairman of SADUM (known as the mufti) held office. The mufti was elected at a gathering of all the regional Islamic clergy, which was called a kurultai

Kurultai

. At the kurultai a presidium was also elected, which was known as the Council of the Ulama.

SADUM was a strict hierarchical organization. Each republic had a SADUM representative office, which was headed by a qazi

Qadi

Qadi is a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law appointed by the ruler of a Muslim country. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...

(except Uzbekistan, which was headed by the mufti himself). Every qazi was appointed by and subordinate to the mufti in Tashkent, and within each republic all religious personal (such as imam

Imam

An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...

s and muezzin

Muezzin

A muezzin , or muzim, is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the mosque's minarets; in most modern mosques, electronic amplification aids the muezzin in his task.The professional muezzin is chosen for his...

s) were subordinate to their respective qazis. The four qaziyats were transformed into independent spiritual boards after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Major theological questions were considered by the mufti and the Council of the Ulama, whose decisions were then related to the people through local mosques.

The directorate's economic department managed the organization's finances. It also saw to the management and upkeep of all mosques and Islamic architectural monuments of Islam.

SADUM's center in Tashkent also included a library. It was founded by Ishan Babakhan, the first mufti of SADUM, shortly after the organization's creation. He donated over 2,000 of his own books to the library, and by 1980 the library had more than 30,000 works, including 2,000 manuscripts. Notable works in the collection include the first word-by-word translation of the Qur'an from Arabic to Persian, completed in 1267, and an original draft of a collection of hadith

Hadith

The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

s from the 10th century.

As the Soviet Union was an officially atheist state, SADUM had no official ties to the Soviet government.

Muftis of SADUM

The mufti

Mufti

A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...

of SADUM was the leader of the organization. Since SADUM was responsible for more Muslims than any other Muslim directorate in the USSR, their mufti was often referred to as the Supreme Mufti, or Grand Mufti. The Babakhan family held this role for three generations, spanning nearly the entire length of SADUM's existence. In March 1989 an internal coup was organized against the last Babakhan mufti by Muhammad-Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf, a foreign-educated imam from Andijon. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the fracture of SADUM into independent state-run organizations, Muhammad Yusuf became the first mufti of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

, but was removed from office in 1993.

List of Muftis

Ishan Babakhan (1861–1957, as mufti 1943-1957)
Ziyauddin Babakhan (1908–1982, as mufti 1957-1982)
Shamsuddin Babakhan (as mufti 1982-1989)
Muhammad-Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf (born 1952, as mufti 1989-1993)

Publications

SADUM included a special publishing department which printed and distributed a variety of literature. A journal, Muslims of the Soviet East was consistently published in four languages (Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, and Uzbek

Uzbek language

Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 25.5 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia...

) starting in 1969. The Council of the Ulama acted as the journal's editorial board.

SADUM also supported several printings of the Qur'an

Qur'an

The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

. The first printing was in 1957, while a second printing based on an Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian model, was published in 1960. From 1969 and 1970 another version, based on a local 1913 Qur'an written in the naskh script

Naskh (script)

Naskh is a specific calligraphic style for writing in the Arabic alphabet, thought to be invented by the Iranian calligrapher Ibn Muqlah Shirazi . The root of this Arabic term means "to copy". It either refers to the fact that it replaced its predecessor, Kufic script, or that this style allows...

, was published. A fourth round of Qur'ans were published in 1977.

Publications by SADUM include:

Historical Monuments of Islam in the USSR (1962)
al-Adab al-Mufrad (1970)
as-Sahih al-Bukhari (1974)
Thulathiyyat al-Bukhari (1974)