Neo-Sufi Communities in Modern Kazakhstan
ALIF School of Harmonious Development
The rise of neo-Sufi communities in Kazakhstan follows the USSR collapse,[1] marking a period of spiritual and cultural revival. During this transition, various missionaries arrived, and local religious leaders emerged, with Sufi teachings being revived and reinterpreted.
Today, Kazakhstan hosts a diverse spectrum of Sufi communities. Some identify more closely with Sufism than others, and while certain tariqas (mystical orders) possess legitimate silsila– lineages, others practice specific Sufi rites with looser Islamic affiliation. These groups are often labeled neo-Sufi, though the term remains debated in scholarly circles.
Thus, Alexander Knysh views Sufi movements as the product of unique interpretations within a specific historical and socio-political context, rather than drawing artificial boundaries between “Sufism” and “neo-Sufism.” In his view, the definition of Sufism encompasses “all phenomena and practices subjectively or objectively associated with it” (Knysh 2015, 158). Oleg Yarosh notes that an essential criterion for differentiating between classical, traditional Sufism and neo-Sufism is the “attitude to the normative tradition of Islam,” which “includes religious discourse based on the Quran and Sunnah, as well as various religious and social practices and relationships that are legitimized by this discourse” (Yarosh 2017, 73). Sofya Ragozina argues that associations least affiliated with Islam are directly connected with a fundamentally new reading of the Sufi tradition, mediated by secularism and a demand for oriental spirituality within the broader context of Western esotericism (Ragozina 2022, 92). In general, two key approaches to understanding the term “neo-Sufism” can be noted: 1) a type of political activism in the context of anti-colonial narratives in Muslim societies; 2) a wide range of New Age movements that are not always affiliated with Islam.

Through my fieldwork, which includes participant observation, in-depth interviews, and digital ethnography, I identified several active neo-Sufi communities in Kazakhstan. This blog post focuses on one of the most dynamic of these groups – ALIF School of Harmonious Development – guided by 35-year-old Arman Khamitov, the youngest among contemporary Sufi leaders. Officially registered as a limited liability partnership, the school has operated for more than 9 years.
According to information on Khamitov’s official Instagram page (Khamitov, 2023), his teachers are Konstantin Usov (also known as Abdulkuddus), the head of the Algiz International Mystical School, and Ruslan Zhukovets, the head of the Ascending Stream Sufi School, which has a declared connection to the Naqshbandi tradition and the teachings of George I. Gurdjieff). Both schools are located in Russia.

Khamitov received his secondary education at the Kazakh Turkish Lyceum (KTL), one of many secondary specialized boarding schools in a network across Kazakhstan. It has operated since 1992, undergoing a name change and restructuring in 2016. It was likely there that he was introduced to the religious practice of Islam (Bolatova 2019). It is well known that at KTL, in addition to general education, students attended conversations (sohbets) on religious topics. It was not uncommon for students to be introduced to the practice of namaz. The training took place separately from the girls. These boarding schools primarily educated talented children who participated in academic competitions and achieved high exam scores, thereby contributing to career advancement. Furthermore, as a group representative noted, before creating his own group, Arman Khamitov spent six months in the village of Kush-Ata in the Turkestan Region, within the Naqshbandi Mujadiddiya-Husayniya tariqa which he then, however, left. Currently, the group is affiliated with the Naqshbandi tradition of Sheikh Nazim al-Kubrusi, and a journey is planned to visit the khanaka of the current Sheikh, Mehmed Adil in Lefke, Turkey. Followers refer to Khamitov as “Master.”
There are community schools in Astana and Almaty. According to field data, a young man named Bekzod planned to open a school in Tashkent. He came to Astana for a seminar in 2023, but later decided to study with Ruslan Zhukovets and now collaborates with Russian Sufis.
Previously, the school had a website where students described their esoteric experiences. Some reported seeing spirits, including the spirit of the Naqshbandi sheikh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Kubrusi al-Haqqani, as well as their leaders Khamitov and Usov. Currently, Konstantin Usov has deleted all posts on social media and has not visited Kazakhstan, nor has he recently collaborated with Kazakh Sufis.[2]
The followers have diverse religious backgrounds: Islam, including traditional Sufism, Christianity, occult and mystical movements, and others. One follower named the school in 2023 and online Zoom sessions with Zhukovets “European Sufism.” Moreover, during participant observation in 2025, followers asked their Master Khamitov about Sufism in general, as well as about the Kazakhstani Sheikh Kurbanali Akhmedov (Sheikh Naqshbandiyya Mujadiddiyya-Husayniyya, the school where Khamitov had spent six months earlier). Khamitov did not provide a specific answer, but noted that everyone seeks their own path. He helps people discover the truth and achieve it independently, as each person has his or her own way.

Regarding the basics of Islam, one of the Kazakh representatives said the following: “It is not necessary to read namaz and perform other Islamic precepts; it is important to perform the practices given by the teacher.”My participant observation revealed that these practices include silent and loud dhikr. Both individual dhikr (repetition of one of Allah’s names for approximately three weeks) and collective dhikr are practiced. During dhikr, the follower repeats the names of Allah or specific words many times as directed by the master. Collective practices take place in conference rooms of business centers or in the followers’ private apartments.
During collective practice, followers sit in a circle on a sofa or chair and listen to the master’s commands. Everyone settles into a comfortable position and closes their eyes. The master instructs them to take a deep breath, exhale, and concentrate, then he pronounces one of Allah’s names, which they repeat silently. After approximately two minutes, the master pronounces another name of Allah and repeats again. In addition to the names of Allah, the letter Alif, which is the school’s logo and name, is used. Then the master stands up, approaches each seated person, and holds his open hands above their heads for about 15 seconds (a purifying ritual). Then, each follower sits opposite the master, holds his hands, and says praying formulas. The others remain seated and repeat these words. It could be, for example, “help A. find the truth.”
Participants usually sit with their eyes closed und listen intently to the master’s words for about thirty minutes. This practice is similar to group hypnosis. During the session, some participants raise their arms and shake their legs and arms. This type of movements are also common among followers of the occult-mystical movement Ata Zhol (Malgaraeva 2025, 165). It is important to note that the names of Allah used during these dhikrs do not always correspond to the generally accepted Asma’ul-Husna and may contain, for example, the word “purifying” or “Absolute.” As followers have noted, the word “Absolute” was used by Usov but has recently disappeared and fallen out of use. It’s likely that the followers nevertheless accept the master’s words. Moreover, this fact is confirmed by one of the participants talking about the reasons for joining this group “I had just given birth, and I was feeling very poorly, it was difficult <…> My family is also (Russian? Christian) orthodox, but my father and brothers are Muslim, they read namaz and they always limited me. In Islam it is said that you shouldn’t show off too much, be too rich, or manifest yourself too much. And I thought, ‘Does Allah really want to limit me?’ and I didn’t want to be like them.” In this case, it is likely that traditional customs have become syncretized with Islam, making it is difficult to separate tradition and Islam.

Followers perform individual dhikrs at home at a convenient time. Sometimes they choose from the names of Allah themselves, and sometimes the master directs them. The master may share a link to a Yandex Drive platform containing a video for personal practice with an instructional guide. As mentioned in one of the videos, during individual practice, followers can visualize Khamitov with their eyes closed. Spiritual knowledge in the Sufi group is shared in private messenger groups, and on the ZOOM platform during group meetings, and during individual lessons with the Sufi master. The community leader assigns practical tasks to his students and transmits energy to them. All of these activities and training sessions incur a fee.
This group conducts group and individual pilgrimage trips within Kazakhstan and abroad. Together with Khamitov, the group has travelled to Bukhara, Uzbekistan (seven pirs of the Naqshbandi school) and the Mausoleum of M. Zh. Kopeyev (Dzyubak 2020), the Pavlodar region in northern Kazakhstan, Karkaraly (location of Lake Shaitankol, which is variously referred to as a “place of power” or a “portal”), the Karaganda region in central Kazakhstan, Katon-Karagay in eastern Kazakhstan, the Bozzhyra tract in Mangistau in western Kazakhstan.
During their trips, followers play Alif transformation games. An Alif game is like the transformational game Leela but has its own unique characteristics. There is no publicly available information about Alif’s methodology or game theory, but on the social media pages of the leader and followers, one can find descriptions of it as “high-vibrational” and “for working with desires and goals.
The followers of this neo-Sufi group range in age from 30 to 75 and are represented by middle-aged workers of various professions or retirees. Followers of the occult-mystical movement Ata Zhol, banned in Kazakhstan in 2008 (List, 2023), can also be found. Participant observation revealed that new adherents come to offline meetings by word of mouth, and Christians can be found among them. During dhikrs, they ask questions about how they can pronounce the names of Allah and what alternatives they can use (participants and the master suggested the neutral pronunciation of “Almighty,” but the master pointed out that more powerful energy emanates from the names of Allah). Furthermore, Khamitov’s followers are free to pursue their spiritual quest and can attend other religious or spiritual associations. For example, one of the followers, during a group meeting with Khamitov, reported that she was studying with another neo-Sufi master, Ferdusa (Instagram account – whirling_ferdusa), and spoke in detail about her experience travelling to India, visiting ashrams, and performing Hindu rituals. She described it in the following words: “When I found out about her and that they were planning a trip to India, I had no money, but then, by the will of Allah, I managed to do it… One of our follower called early in the morning, around 4:15, she’s Akku (that’s what they call female followers in the occult-mystical movement Ata Zhol, who communicate with spirits, author’s note) and said, ‘I have a message for you…’ She said a few words, and everything worked out just fine, by the will of Allah, the money was found, and I was already on my way to India… I was very impressed by the Sufi skirt during Ferdusa’s practices and asked if I could sew it myself, Master Ferdusa told me no, the master gives it to me after completing the training… By the will of Allah, I am undergoing training with her and am going to Astana for a meeting.”

After the dhikrs, community members dine together, engage in casual conversation, and may ask questions to the master. When asked about the frequency of meetings, the community leader replied that group meetings are held at the request of members. An analysis of the Instagram page shows that online meetings are held approximately once a month, and offline meetings are held approximately once every two months.
Discourse analysis reveals that the community uses the following words: energy, request, resource, retreat, practice, dhikr, and portal. As the community’s leader Khamitov noted, there are cities with positive and negative energy, and there are also various portals where one can obtain energy.
Overall, the community synthesizes Sufi practices of various types, esotericism, coaching, clairvoyance (Photo 5), psychology, business, coaching methods, and transformational games (Instagram account – alif_school).
As the author’s field research shows, contemporary believers continue to search for the meaning of life and higher values. Some seek to escape everyday reality, which they find unbearable for various reasons, into a mystical world of spiritual harmony and elite teaching, personified by an enlightened mentor from among God’s chosen saints-awliya, qutb zaman (the pole, the highest degree of holiness in the Sufi hierarchy, master, etc.) – or by the opportunity to develop special powers (clairvoyance, seeing other worlds and spirits, etc.). Others, disillusioned with friends, loved ones, religious authorities, and perhaps even with a particular religion in general, seek new forms of spirituality, friends, and like-minded individuals who share their views and values. Still others desire not so much collective communication as the individual attention of a spiritual authority, who acts as a confessor and mentor in life’s matters. Again, others seek and find a spiritual brotherhood based on shared collective rituals, sanctified by the centuries-old Sufi tradition and the great Sufis of the past. In this case, the opinion of Alexander Knysh, who, when asked about the appeal of Sufism for modern followers, responded that “modern Sufism is like a supermarket – you go and choose what you like” (Knysh 2021), seems justified.
In conclusion, it can be noted that Kazakhstani neo-Sufis represent a diverse and vibrant community, united by their pursuit of individual spiritual quests, cultural heritage, and fashion trends.
ENDNOTES
[1] Historically, four tariqas were present in Kazakhstan: Yasawiya, Naqshbandiya, Kubrawiya, and Qadiriya. Each of them enjoyed authority and political influence. Kubrawiya representatives were powerful during the White Horde period (Aq Orda, 13th–15th centuries); Naqshbandi followers gained greater power; and during the Karakhanid Empire (942–1212), the Yasawiya school gained strength. However, over time, as political elites and historical realities changed, the Naqshbandi tariqa gained ground (Temirbayeva 2023). The Naqshbandi tradition, and Sufism in general, have demonstrated ideological flexibility and a high capacity to adapt to the spiritual needs of believers over many centuries. All this made Sufism more accessible and relatable to believers over time, enabling it to survive in unfavorable conditions. Sufism, as Islamic mysticism with its profound spiritual teachings, is of particular interest to modern people (Temirbayev & Temirbayeva 2023, 23).
[2] It is unclear why the contacts are no longer being maintained, though several different opinions exist on the matter. One points to the political situation in the region and the increased efforts by Kazakhstani law enforcement to curb the activities of foreign religious missionaries. Another possible explanation is a lack of funding; field data indicate that followers had been collecting money to cover airfare and accommodation costs. During a meeting, Khamitov and his followers mentioned that he “hasn’t been around lately.” According to Instagram records, Usov last visited Astana and Almaty in January 2023.
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Author
Aygerim Temirbayeva, PhD, is an associate professor and lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the Egyptian University of Islamic Culture “Nur Mubarak” in Almaty, Kazakhstan Her scholarly work focuses on comparative religion, Islamic thought, and interfaith dialogue, with numerous publications bridging Central Asian religious traditions and broader Muslim intellectual currents.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Aygerim Temirbayeva (January 21, 2026). Neo-Sufi Communities in Modern Kazakhstan. New Age in Eurasia. Retrieved May 19, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/15j6s


