Author ORCID Identifier
Abstract
This article investigates the role of Syr Darya poets as mediators of Islamic ethical and religious discourse in the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Kazakh steppe. The analysis demonstrates that these poets occupied an intermediary position between broader Islamic traditions and local communities, translating ethical teachings, theological ideas, spiritual reflection, and social criticism into culturally accessible forms of oral expression. Their influence extended beyond literary activity, functioning as a socially recognized mode of religious mediation within a decentralized religious environment. The study argues that oral poetic performance constituted an important mechanism through which Islamic knowledge, moral norms, and religious values were interpreted, localized, and reproduced among geographically dispersed populations with uneven access to formal religious institutions. By foregrounding the contribution of non-clerical cultural actors, the article advances scholarly discussions on oral religious mediation, vernacular Islam, and the diverse ways in which religious discourse is produced and sustained in Central Asian Muslim societies.
Recommended Citation
Darkulov, Nurzhan
(2026)
"Oral Religious Mediation and Transmission of Islamic Discourse in the Kazakh Steppe: Case of Syrdarya Poets,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 46
:
Iss.
7
, Article 10.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2229.2867
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol46/iss7/10