Uzbekistan is a secular state, but religious issues are of great importance here, because every religion is an integral part of the culture of a particular people. And in the country where many nationalities live, the question of religious tolerance is one of the most important. Thus, like any multicultural country, Uzbekistan is at the same time a multi-confessional country.
Religion as a social phenomenon performed a specific function in society in different periods. In history religion fulfilled the task of state programs, united representatives of different ethnic groups who lived together on the same territory. Different ethnic groups were united under the aegis of a single faith.
From historical sources we get information that in the ancient times, before the advent of Islam, Zoroastrians, Manichaeans, Buddhists and Nestorian Christians lived and worked side by side.
During the Arab conquests in the VII-VIII centuries and the formation of the Arab caliphate, Islam was brought here.
Now Sunni Islam is the main religion in the country, as it is practiced by the majority of the population. But support is provided to representatives of other faiths too. So, today in Tashkent there are Muslim mosques, an Orthodox church, a Catholic church (where you can listen to organ music), a Protestant church, a synagogue, a Buddhist temple.
Big Muslim mosques:
- Khazret (Hast) Imam Mosque - designed and built by modern architects in 2008, decorated in the style of the 16th century.
- The Minor Mosque is a new mosque in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. The mosque is located on the banks of the Anchor Canal.
Orthodox Churches:
- Tashkent Orthodox Spiritual and Administrative Center
- Uspenskiy Cathedral
- Temple of St. Prince Vladimir
- Holy Trinity Monastery of St. Nicholas
Roman Catholic Church:
- Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Synagogue:
- Tashkent Bukharian-Jewish Orthodox Sephardic Synagogue
Others:
- St. Philip's Church - the temple of the Armenian Apostolic Church
- Buddhist temple
- The International Society for understanding of Krishna
- Tashkent City Church of Christ.