Peaceful lifestyle or innocuous image: Islamic branding using Kazakh proverbs on youtube

Abstract

The government of Kazakhstan places a high value on Kazakh oral tradition as a resource for societal restoration. At the same time, there has been a resurgence of Islam in the country and the on-going process of defining a form of Islam that is Kazakh. Asıl Arna, the state approved Islamic governing body’s media company, posted a video on YouTube that affirms Kazakh oral tradition as part of a message of living from a pure heart. Such an affirmation of a local wisdom tradition is unusual for an organisation that stresses the universal, revelatory significance of Islam for right living. Hence, the author’s question: Is the video designed to instruct Kazakh-speaking Muslims or is there an agenda to change societal perceptions of Islam?.