Abstract

This study examines the history of the Jadid movement starting from socio-cultural conditions to the emergence of the jadid movement in Central Asia between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. In order to reach the conclusion about the Jadid movement that it has been formed as the religious-cultural and anti-colonial movement against the Soviet regime, this paper analyses the contest between the traditional Islam scholars and reform-minded intellectuals on the reform ideas. While Khalid argues that the Jadid movement emerged as a cultural and political movement, this paper by examining the Jadidist movement in Central Asia, suggests by adding to the argument of Khalid, that it was formed as a religious-cultural movement. This is because Islam was embedded in the socio-cultural and political life of Central Asian Muslims, and Islam played an integral part in the national identity matter which is inseparable. In other words, Islam was a key marker of Central Asian Muslims' identity. The argument proposed in the study asserts that the Jadid movement, despite its inclination toward secularism and high emphasis on the secular subjects, never detached from the idea of Islam; that is, the Jadids attempted to merge Islam with science and achieve the bygone Islamic civilization and culture of the Golden Age. Thus, throughout the study, it is continually demonstrated that while striving for progress and achievement in the economic and social domains, the Jadids always attempted to preserve Islamic values.

Keywords: Jadidism, Central Asia, Modernity, Qadimism, Islam