Aselam Dana

Published during the final years of the Soviet era, The Religion of Islam (Islam Dini) is a Tatar-language introduction to the beliefs, practices, and moral teachings of Islam. Written by Mufti Abdur Al-Rahmani and issued in Tashkent in 1989, the work reflects a period of renewed religious expression among Muslims in Central Asia as Islamic scholarship and education began to re-emerge into public life. The late 1980s saw a revival of Islamic publishing and religious instruction in the region after decades of state restrictions.

Designed for a general readership, the book presents the foundations of the Islamic faith in clear and accessible language, covering essential doctrines, worship, ethics, and the role of religion in everyday life. As a product of the Muslim scholarly community of Tashkent—one of Central Asia’s historic centers of Islamic learning—the volume offers valuable insight into the preservation and transmission of Islamic knowledge among Tatar-speaking Muslims during a pivotal moment in the region’s religious history.

Today, this 1989 edition stands as both a religious text and a historical artifact, documenting the revival of Islamic literature in the closing years of the Soviet Union.