Religion in Uzbekistan: Islam, Sufism, and the country's minority faiths

Roughly 88 per cent of Uzbeks identify as Muslim, almost all of the Sunni Hanafi school. The Hanafi legal tradition — one of the four major Sunni schools of jurisprudence — is historically the most flexible on matters like ijtihad (independent reasoning) and has been dominant in Central Asia since the 9th century. In practice, most urban Uzbeks are moderate practising Muslims: Ramadan fasting is widely observed, alcohol is widely consumed, women's dress is varied.

The constitution declares Uzbekistan a secular state. Religious organisations must register with the state, and religious activity in schools, workplaces, and political parties is restricted. The government's Committee for Religious Affairs oversees the mosque network. There is a state-appointed Grand Mufti; the country's principal religious institution is the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan produced several of the founding figures of Sunni Islam. Imam al-Bukhari (810–870), whose Sahih al-Bukhari is the most authoritative collection of hadith in Sunni Islam, was born in Bukhara — the collection is named for the city. His mausoleum near Samarkand is one of the country's most-visited pilgrimage sites for Muslim travellers.

Imam al-Maturidi (853–944), founder of one of the two dominant schools of Sunni theology, is buried in Samarkand. The Naqshbandi Sufi order — arguably the most influential Sufi lineage in the Islamic world — was founded in Bukhara by Baha-ud-Din Naqshband (1318–1389), whose shrine complex outside Bukhara remains an active pilgrimage centre.

Sufism — the mystical, devotional current within Islam — is deeply woven into Uzbek religion. The Naqshbandi order stresses silent dhikr (remembrance of God), sobriety, and engagement in ordinary work as a spiritual discipline; it has been the dominant order in Uzbekistan for six centuries.

The main pilgrimage sites travellers may visit or hear about include: the Naqshband shrine complex outside Bukhara; the mausoleum of Baha-ud-Din's successor Khoja Ahrar in Samarkand; the mausoleum of Imam al-Bukhari at Hartang, 30 km outside Samarkand; the shrine of the Naqshbandi saint Khoja Zaynuddin in Bukhara's old town; and the Sufi shrines of Termez in the south.

Russian Orthodox Christianity is the largest non-Muslim faith, accounting for roughly 9 per cent of the population. Congregations are concentrated in Tashkent, Samarkand, and the eastern cities. The Cathedral of the Assumption in Tashkent is the seat of the Central Asian eparchy.

Bukharan Jews are one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in the world — arriving in Central Asia by the 8th century and thought to descend from Persian Jewish populations. They developed a distinctive Judeo-Persian tradition, with liturgical and folk music that has been preserved even after most of the community emigrated to Israel and the US in the late 20th century. A few hundred remain in Bukhara and Samarkand; both cities have functioning synagogues visitors can respectfully see.

Small communities of Catholics, Lutherans, Armenians, and Baha'is exist in Tashkent. A short-lived but historically significant Nestorian Christian presence — evidenced in Silk Road-era manuscripts and crosses found near Fergana — vanished after the Mongol period.

Before Islam arrived in the 8th century, Central Asia was overwhelmingly Zoroastrian, and southern Uzbekistan was substantially Buddhist. The Zoroastrian dakhma (tower of silence) outside Karshi and the fire temples excavated at Erkurgan are the physical evidence of the Zoroastrian layer. In Termez, Fayaz Tepe's stupa complex and the Kara Tepe monastery are among the best-preserved Kushan-period Buddhist sites in Central Asia.

Zoroastrian concepts — Navruz itself is a Zoroastrian holiday, adopted by every subsequent religion that arrived — and Buddhist artistic motifs (the halo, the four-iwan courtyard plan, certain miniature painting conventions) remain visible in later Islamic art. The oldest layer, shamanistic Turkic religion, survives in idioms and folk practices around the yurt, the horse, and the falcon.

Mosques and mausoleums are open to non-Muslim visitors outside prayer times. Shoes come off before entering the prayer hall; women cover their hair. Photography is generally allowed but flash is discouraged, and it is polite to ask before photographing worshippers. Some functioning mosques (Bibi-Khanym in Samarkand, Kalyan in Bukhara) are also active tourist sites and handle both roles gracefully; others (Naqshband, Imam al-Bukhari) are primarily active pilgrimage sites and require more discretion.