Islamic identity as a multi-aspect construct of the socio-cultural realities of Kazakhstan

Abstract

The present article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of Islamic identity as a multi-aspect component of social, cultural, political life. The novelty of the study lies in the interdisciplinary disclosure of the
polysemantic nature of Islamic identity from the standpoint of various branches of scientific knowledge: philosophy, psychology, theology, sociology, cultural anthropology, history through the use of appropriate methodological tools. In addition, in a comparative vein, the features of the history and manifestations of Islamic identity in Kazakhstan and the countries of the Islamic World are considered in order to identify common and different and deeper understanding of the nature of Islamic identity in our country. The authors come to the conclusion that, firstly, Islamic identity has two semantic dimensions — spiritual (content plan) and physical  (expression plan), which determine internal intentions, worldview, actions, behavior of representatives of the Muslim ummah; secondly, that the Kazakhstani model of Islamic identity should be based on the priority of civic identity, allowing Islamic identity to fit into the national identity of a multi-confessional, multicultural society.