Southern Kyrgyzstan’s clerics use Ramadan to reconcile Kyrgyz, Uzbeks

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OSH –In the aftermath of the June riots, the Kyrgyz and Uzbeks are using Ramadan, the month of forgiveness, to try to rebuild relations.

Prior to Ramadan, the kazy (municipal and district spiritual leaders under the muftiate) announced they would try to organise activities to mitigate lingering bitterness from the June clashes. They suggested holding joint Kyrgyz-Uzbek iftars after sundown.

Dzhalal-Abad’s Central Mosque hosted the first of these, which was arranged for Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbayev’s trip to the city. Muslims of various ethnicities attended.

Abdumomun Aliyev, a retiree who attended the iftar, said his district mosque’s imam invited him.

Some Uzbeks and Kyrgyz are organising joint iftars on their own.

Kyrgyz Koshali Usenov and his Uzbek neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, have lived side by side for more than 20 years. They always have iftars with other Muslims of various ethnicities, they said.

“There is nothing to divide us. True Islam knows no ethnicities,” Usenov said.

Some disapprove of joint iftars, his neighbour said. “In our communities, some can condemn us for these joint iftars. There are too few real Muslims. If all who prayed were true Muslims, the June tragedy might not have happened.”

Usenov and his neighbour refuse to let the riots sunder their friendship. After a joint iftar, they head to the mosque to pray under cover of darkness. They take different streets so nobody sees them together. They don’t meet until they reach the mosque, where everyone is equal before God.

“Religious rites could be effective as reconciliatory activities if they were held not for the elderly but for the youth,” Islamic scholar Kadyr Malikov said.

Today’s fractured society needs joint iftars, hudoyas (wedding rites) and other ceremonies and words of wisdom from elders, Centre for Islamic Education in Dzhalal-Abad Director Dilmurod-adzhi Orozov said.

Kyrgyzstan’s Muftiate is also working to reconcile the two peoples. On August 27, Mufti Chubak-adzhi Dzhalilov of Osh held Friday prayers in the Imam Bukhari Mosque, afterward appealing for Muslim unity.

The muftiate plans to offer courses in Islam for youth to explain the importance of peace and brotherhood, Orzobek Kasumov, a representative of the Bishkek Muftiate, said.

“The people themselves understand this very well,” Kasumov said. “The people have other problems right now, like how to rebuild their homes and find work. … (but) the Kyrgyz and Uzbeks are going to try to support and help each other.”

“Not long ago, I visited the south. And there, an elderly man … said that the two people had supported … each other for many years. Common sense will prevail now too,” he said.