Religion's Gap‪.‬

Abstract: Since the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the Islamic factor in Central Asian politics and society has become the object of lively, and at times lurid, speculation. The outbreak of civil war in Tajikistan in 1992 seemed to be proof that a wave of rampant Islamic fundamentalism had been unleashed in the region. A closer examination of the situation soon revealed that Islam was only an aggravating feature in a struggle for national supremacy among the regions within Tajikistan. There are huge regional disparities in the historical experience of Islam, as well as in contemporary socioeconomic indicators. It is nevertheless possible to identify several common trends which, though they vary significantly in scope and intensity by region, can be separated into 3 general categories: 1. traditional Islam, 2. government-sponsored Islam, and 3. purist Islam.