Women, Islam, and politics in Samarkand (1991–2021)

This article is devoted to the analysis of the following issues: state policy in Uzbekistan in the field of Islam and gender, the modern understanding of local Muslim societies‘ traditions, the spread of the hijab in Samarkand, and discourses around the hijab. There are various interpretations of religious practices in which women are involved. Some of these rituals are considered non-Islamic by the official Muslim clergy. We argue that the various discourses that existed around the Muslim societies‘ tradition contributed to the emergence of different motivations for wearing the hijab. In different eras, various symbolic meanings were attached to the hijab, with religiosity, modesty, backwardness, traditions, etc. If in the 1990s the hijab meant a return to pre-Soviet gender traditions for certain groups of women in certain regions of Uzbekistan, now it is perceived as part of modernity, which is understood differently by Muslims of Uzbekistan. For every one of these women, the hijab has its own personal meaning and there are various reasons for wearing it such as to consider it related to Islam or a symbol associated with Islam and the symbolization of moral categories of the spiritual purity and good manners.