Today, Kazakhstan is considered to be Islamic country with a free choice of religion. There are many confessions in Kazakhstan, including Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and many more. According to studies, more than 70 percent are Muslims, 26 percent are Christians and the rest are either other religion or atheists.
Islam came to Kazakh people in the 10 century. Before that, nomads believed in Tengriism.
Tengriism is a set of beliefs about the world, about life that existed among the Kazakhs and other Turkic people long before their acceptance of Islam.
It is noteworthy that the Turkic people called a high mountain or a tree a Tengri. Place of collective prayers or sacrifices could become a high and lonely tree.
In Tengriism, all the living matter are spirits trapped in their bodies. So you have to live your life in order to escape the wheel of death and births. And one has to respect and lovingly treat everyone and everything around the world.
The tradition of honoring the spirit of the ancestors obliged Kazakhs to know their ancestry back to the seventh generation. Every man knows that his actions will be evaluated by seven generations to come.
So far, many Kazakh families remember and honor this tradition.
Islam came to Kazakh people in the 10 century. Before that, nomads believed in Tengriism.
Tengriism is a set of beliefs about the world, about life that existed among the Kazakhs and other Turkic people long before their acceptance of Islam.
It is noteworthy that the Turkic people called a high mountain or a tree a Tengri. Place of collective prayers or sacrifices could become a high and lonely tree.
In Tengriism, all the living matter are spirits trapped in their bodies. So you have to live your life in order to escape the wheel of death and births. And one has to respect and lovingly treat everyone and everything around the world.
The tradition of honoring the spirit of the ancestors obliged Kazakhs to know their ancestry back to the seventh generation. Every man knows that his actions will be evaluated by seven generations to come.
So far, many Kazakh families remember and honor this tradition.
