Soviet Policy Against Sacred Places: The Example of Ahmad al-Yasawī Tomb

SOVYETLER’İN KUTSAL YERLERE KARŞI POLİTİKASI: AHMET YESEVİ TÜRBESİ ÖRNEĞİ
Zholdassuly T. Baizhanova G.
2022 Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University

Turk Kulturu ve Haci Bektas Veli - Arastirma Dergisi
2022 #2022 Issue 102 193 - 210 pp.

This article briefly explains the attitude and actions of the Soviet state towards the holy places in the example of Khoja Ahmad al-Yasawī Tomb. Adhering to the ideology of atheism, the Soviets encountered the biggest obstacles in building a new Soviet society. It was the religion and customs of the local people in the Soviet Central Asia. For a long time, people in Turkestan had a tradition of considering and visiting the tombs of the saints as holy. One of the largest holy places in the Turkestan region was the Khoja Ahmad al-Yasawī Tomb. The Yasawī Tomb is sacred to the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Muslims from all over the Soviet Union visited it. This religious tradition and holy place became a great obstacle for the Bolsheviks who wanted to destroy the religion. In this wise, the Soviets fought against the local Muslims’ holy places and the tradition of visiting holy places. Both actual attacks and propaganda were made against the holy places. The Bolsheviks tried to prove that the holy places were not holy at all. Propaganda was not made only against Yasawī ‘s Tomb, but also against his own name. The local Soviet Islamic Religious Administration published a fatwā (legal opinion) against the holy places with the decision of the Communist Party. In this study the research was conducted based on Kazakhstan archival sources.

Central Asia , Kazakhstan , Khoja Ahmad al-Yasawī Tomb , Sacred Places , The Soviet Union

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Korkut Ata Kızılorda Üniversitesi, Tarih Bölümü, Turkey
Korkut Ata Kızılorda Üniversitesi, Yabancı Diller ve Tercüme Bölümü, Kazakhstan

Korkut Ata Kızılorda Üniversitesi
Korkut Ata Kızılorda Üniversitesi

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