e-Book Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba Tükles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition (Hermeneutics) download

In Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde (1994), DeWeese makes two central points. First, he argues against the idea that the conversion to Islam in Central Asia was superficial phenomenon, and that nomadic society was ill-equipped to handle the civilizing force of Islam. By examining the way that the conversion to Islam transformed Central Asian society and adopted to native customs, DeWeese argues that the narrative of ‘superficial’ conversion misses key points about the role of conversion in Islam, and further, the relation of the community to the individual in the conversion process. A second point made by DeWeese is that conversion narratives, and the transformation of the Sufi saint Baba Tükles into a mythical ancestor, played an important role in group formation and mobilization, and serves as a fundamental element in the creation of tribal, ethnic, and group identities. One of the reasons that Islamic conversion in Central Asia has been so misunderstood, argues DeWeese, is the propensity of Euro-American scholars to approach conversion as a matter of individual belief. DeWeese argues that the community, and the relation of the individual to the community is essential to understanding the process of Islamization in Central Asia. For the individual in Central Asia, conversion was not so much a matter of belief (what DeWeese calls a ‘change in heart’) as a matter of status. What we might call ‘native’ religion – and DeWeese is fully aware of the limitations of this term – played an important role in communal conversion in pre-Islamic Central Asia. By focusing not so much on the shaman (or native religious specialist or whatever we chose to call them), but the role that they served within a larger community, DeWeese identifies the importance of familial and communal ancestors: “the origin of, and ritual celebration of, the familial and communal group that is the religious focus of Inner Asian domestic cults . . . is one of the central elements of Inner Asian religious life” (38). The source for DeWeese’s study is Ötemish Haiji’s narrative of the conversion of Özbek Khan of the Golden Khorde, the Tarikhi-i Dust Sultan. DeWeese’s approaches the document not as a record of what actually happened during the conversion, but as a text reflecting what people thought about the conversion. In evaluating what people thought about the conversion to Islam, DeWeese finds that Baba Tükles is an essential figure. DeWeese argues that the narrative of Baba Tükles shares important structural and functional similarities of to other Inner Asian origin myths that account for its perduring character (516).

In this book, Devin Deweese states that his overall mission is to uncover and revise current views on the Islamization of Central Asia through examining what meaning and function a Muslim conversion narrative had for the people that lived there at the time. This is largely uncharted territory for Central Asian studies, and Deweese's book represents a significant achievement in this area.
This text is monumental and meticulously researched, yet it's premises are simple. Deweese examines the historical context of a conversion narrative, both in its Islamic missionization aspects and the history of pre-Islamic Central Asia geography and religious practice. Then he proceeds to analyze two separate narratives-the conversion of Ozbek Khan to Islam and the different narrative versions of this conversion that circulated at different times and in different geographies in the local region. The meat of the book begins, though, with the telling of the earliest recorded version of the coming of the Sufi shakya Baba Tukles and his trial by ordeal, proving Islam the one "true" religion." The rest of the book is concerned with analyzing this myth, which was so central to the dominance and persistance of Islam in the region.

Deweese is careful to note that in popular and academic discourse, the idea persists that Islam has a policy of forced conversion or death for conquered peoples, and also that Islamization often does not graft itself onto populations at a deep level, since "belief" or faith is not emphasized over ritual action. He believes both notions are false, and I agree that the historical evidence is in his favor.
Deweese clearly demonstrates that within an Islamic worldview, the production of "eventually" correct ritual behavior can be a gateway for the grace of Allah to produce correct belief, so there need not be such an emphasis on early zeal for a convert. In other words, you didn't have to understand everything right away to be a good Muslim. Significantly, although Deweese criticizes the common image of Islam as a religion of the sword, he does note that up until the Islamization of Central Asia the main motif of conversion narratives within Islam was that of the "holy war." Deweese understands this as a metaphor for the internal struggle of the individual to submit to Allah. Indeed, this is by far the more common meaning of "jihad" outside of the overt militancy that the American media has a fascination for.

This brings us to the rich exposition Deweese has of the Tukles narrative. He finds that the motif of the traveling founder or progenitor is common in Central Asia mythic motifs. Thus the development of the Tukles conversion narrative is evidence of a syncretic production between the structure of Muslim narrative and the structure of indigenous Central Asian motifs. In other words, conversion stories are the result of what the potential convert brings to the experience, just as much as the party that advocates for conversion.
The most interesting section to me was the section that expounded on the mythic meaning and function of the image of the "crucible" as part of the conversion narrative. Deweese contends that this constitutes a mythic identification with the shamanic figure-a common motif of the transformed individual through sacred disassembly and ritual reassembly. Instead of following early work on this too closely, Deweese asserts that this should be understood not only as the creation of a new individual, but the ritual founding of a new progenitor/First Man and also a sacred Muslim community at the same time.
It's difficult to say anything bad about this book. Deweese, in the Introduction, tells you explicitly what his project is...a analysis of a conversion narrative -- and its different versions and motifs relating to a particular community. About the only thing that one could accuse him of is perhaps viewing the religious community in Central Asia as monolithic, and not exploring the different political functions of the myth to legitimate internal power.
But then again, this is a huge book, and this is only a small omission given the grand scope of the book.