The Official Madrasas of Soviet Uzbekistan

Abstract

SADUM , the muftiate of the Soviet Central Asian republics, operated three Islamic educational establishments at various times in the half century following World War II . This article argues that, far from being rubber-stamp bodies imparting official propaganda, these madrasas benefited from significant influence from three constituencies in the religious sphere: the state, SADUM , and influential unregistered ʿulamā beyond the reach of both. As institutions at the intersection of “official” and “unofficial” Islam, they offer historians of Soviet Central Asia a rare glimpse into debates about Islamic education under communism.