Islamic Civilization and Art in Central Asia: Past and Present

The city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, was designated as the Islamic Cultural Capital 2020 for the Asian Region, by decision of the Ninth Conference of Ministers of Culture of the OIC held in Muscat, Oman, in 2015; Bamako, Mali and Cairo, Egypt, were designated as the respective Islamic Cultural Capitals for the African and the Arab regions. Within the framework of the commemoration of “Bukhara Islamic Cultural Capital 2020”, an international online conference was coordinated by the Center of Islamic Civilization of Uzbekistan jointly with the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan, IRCICA and ICESCO. Held on 28 May 2020 the conference addressed the following theme: “ Role and Contribution of Bukhara to Islamic Civilization”. The theme was covered comprehensively by academicians and experts attending from universities and research centers in various countries. About 100 attendees from 20 countries followed the conference online.
The two volumes of the book include papers presented under the following topics: “Islamic civilization and art in the Muslim world: past and present” (54 articles), “Learning of the intellectual heritage of Central Asian philosophers” (55 articles); “Epigraphy and architecture of historical civilizations in Central Asia” (19 papers); “Similarities and particularities of the customs and traditions of Central Asian peoples” (11 papers). The five articles in English are: Gulchehra Tulemetova, Orifa Gulomova, “Issues of verification of scientific texts in the works of Islamic theologians and philosophers from Bukhara in the VIII-XII the centuries”; Avazbek Ganiyev, “Kharaj and the Zakat collection system in the Bukhara Emirate on the eve of the Russian Empire’s conquest”; Farzona Rakhimova, “Importance of literary sources in learning Arabic culture”; Gulchehra Navruzova, “The way of perfection of a person in “Risola-i Hazrat Azizon”; and Asalkhon Rakhmatullaeva, “A brief overview of miniatures in the works of Amir Khusraw Dehlevi”. The volumes begin with the prefaces of the Rector of the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan Prof. Dr. Rustam Kasimov and the Director of the Centre for Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan Amb. Dr. Shoazim Minovarov which highlight the role played by Bukhara as a center of science and philosophy for many centuries starting from the advent of Islam in the region.