Training and employment of religious officials in Uzbekistan after independence (1991-2021)

Training and Employment of Religious Officials in Uzbekistan After Independence (1991-2021) In the history of the development of mankind, every nation and society has a place and contributed to the development of world knowledge. Uzbekistan, which has an ancient history, enriched the rise of its ancestors based on religious and secular sciences. Seeking knowledge has become one of the highest virtues in the nature of the society in this geography. This reference is reflected in the education of religious educational institutions, and a series of rich, unique experiences in this field is revealed over the centuries. This work is dedicated to studying the history and educational activities of these educational institutions, which have been operating in Uzbekistan for centuries and have trained world-renowned scientists and scholars, and at least partially shed light on them. This study consists of four parts: the first part is an introduction, the second part is the history of Uzbekistan, the third part is religious education in Uzbekistan (general education system), and the fourth part is religious/professional education in Uzbekistan. In the first part of the research, the topic, purpose, importance and method of the research will be explained. In the second part; In order to shed light on the period of independence, the developments related to religion-state relations, religious education, training and employment of religious officials in the period from the introduction of Islam to Central Asia until independence are given. In the third part; Uzbekistan's general education system, vocational religious education and the subject of religious education in schools were examined. In the fourth part: the state of education and the entrance exams to the educational institutions that train clerics, curriculum programs, textbooks, teaching methods are examined and discussed in terms of the training of clerics. Also, in this section, information is given about the organizational structure and departments of the Muslim Administration of Uzbekistan, which is the authority responsible for religious educational institutions, mosques and religious officials. The activities of the OMI organization related to the training of clerics and the number of personnel of clerics were evaluated. Qualitative research methods such as historical method, document review, literature review were used. Keywords: Religious Department of Muslims of Uzbekistan, Religious Education Institutions, Madrasa, Islamic Institute.