This book resulted from the conference organized by the R.B. Suleimenov Institute of Oriental Studies of the Ministry of Education and Science, Kazakhstan, and IRCICA, in 2007. Central Asia is one of the regions where Islam spread the earliest, from mid-seventh century onwards, and interacted productively with the local cultures. in consequence the region is marked by a multi-faith structure which produced intellectuals, philosophers and artists of varied cultural backgrounds. Within this framework, the Islamic culture that flourished here gave birth to eminent theologians and jurists, philosophers, astronomers and mathematicians. Some of the leading centers of civilization developed in Central Asian cities. These and other multifarious aspects of Central Asian Islamic cultural history were addressed by the participants in the conference on Islamic Civilization in Central Asia which was held in Astana, Kazakhstan in September 2010. The present book in two volumes records this contribution for the benefit of the world of learning. The first volume contains 31 papers presented in English and the second, 38 papers in either Russian or Kazakh.
