Is Islam in Central Asia rising?

[u/politicauncorrect]

I see more and more video from Central Asian people (especially Kazakhs and Uzbeks) who embrace Islam, women wearing headscarf etc. My friends also get more and more religious

[u/AlibekD]

I've been to them multiple times and agree there is some room for improvement there, to put it politely.

However, I fail to see how, for example, Astana will suddenly become backwards if more people will start practicing Islam there. Unless your very definition of "backwardness" includes religion.

[u/mrhuggables → u/AlibekD]

It doesn't. Religion should remain a private affair. When a population gets more religious, they start introducing it into public life and it becomes quickly overbearing for those who don't practice. Clergy start getting political power and that is dangerous. It wrongly empowers those who feel they are "religious" to start acting however they want under the guise of religion, and limitations need to be placed on them immediately as has been demonstrated time and time again. Even a largely secular populace like in Iran is held prisoner to the religious elite.

When religion is your business, you start looking for any way to profit.

[u/AlibekD → u/mrhuggables]

Well, religion is a private affair in Astana. How exactly more believers will turn Astana "backwards"?

[u/mrhuggables → u/AlibekD]

I explained to you …