Islam in Central Asia

Islam is the most widely practiced religion in Central Asia. The Hanafi school of thought of Sunnism is the most popular, with Shiism of Imami and Ismaili denominations predominating in the Pamir plateau and the western Tian Shan mountains (almost exclusively Ismailis), while boasting to a large minority population in the Zarafshan river valley, from Samarkand to Bukhara (almost exclusively Imamis). Islam came to Central Asia in the early part of the 8th century as part of the Muslim conquest of the region. Many well-known Islamic scientists and philosophers came from Central Asia, and several major Muslim empires, including the Timurid Empire and the Mughal Empire, originated in Central Asia. In the 20th century, severe restrictions on religious practice were enacted by the Soviet Union in Soviet Central Asia and the People's Republic of China in Xinjiang. Concerns about Islamic radicalism and religious freedom in the region persist to this day.

The Battle of Talas in 751 between the Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang dynasty for control of Central Asia was the turning point initiating mass conversion into Islam in the region.

Most of the Turkic khanates were converted to Islam in the 10th century. The arrival in Volga Bulgaria of Ahmad ibn Fadlan, ambassador of the caliph of Baghdad, on 12 May 922 is celebrated as a holiday in modern-day Tatarstan.

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