Sociological Study of Religiosity in Post-Atheist Kazakhstan

Aigul Zabirova¹Natalya Seitakhmetova²Sholpan Zhandossova^2*Marhabbat Nurov³

• ¹Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan
• ²Institute of Philosophy, Political Science and Religion, Almaty, Kazakhstan
• ³Turan University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

This paper explores a marked shift in the role and functions of religion in Kazakhstan, indicative of change in ideology and societal foundations. In explaining this shift, we highlight various elements that affect the religious landscape in Kazakhstan, with the most pronounced and recent trend being the Islamization of society. The subject of this study is the exploration a person's daily religious rituals, participation in religious activities, reading religious publications, and discussing religion with other people. Our analysis revealed that though many people identify themselves as religious, few participate in religious life daily. That is why we argue that Islam in Kazakhstan remains as a cultural and traditional value for many Muslims, rather than a vital component of their everyday life.to the SPSS file. Thus, our analysis based on the descriptive report provided by the «MLGroup», a polling company, which was published on the government website.In sociology, religion is traditionally understood as a system of ideas and practices that instill in people a sense of respectful fear and belonging to the sacred. Durkheim (1997), the classic sociologist of religion, defined a religious person as someone who engages in everyday religious rituals that give him a sense of solidarity and connection to a group of believers. In the framework established by Durkheim (1997), religion can be understood as a structured set of rituals, with an individual identified as religious through their engagement in these practices.However, as evidenced by the literature review, modern theories of religion have a unique understanding of religion, religiosity, and secularization. Initially, we shall define the definitions of «religion», «religiosity» and «secularization» articulating these three components within the context of various contemporary theories.