Islam in Central Asia Torn Between the Past and the Future.

Gullia is Muslim and proud of it. Her people in Uzbekistan are all Muslim and it is unthinkable that she could be anything else. She is a pretty 19-year-old student who is into the latest fashions and music just like students all over the world. Gullia has an important exam next week so today she went to a shrine outside the city. She visited the grave of a holy man who is said to have performed many miracles. Gullia tied a small piece of cloth to the iron grill surrounding the shrine before stretching out her palms and praying for the saint to help her. She ran her hands down her face to transfer the blessing and murmured a quick “If God wills.” Orthodox Muslims would condemn this kind of superstition which dates back to the animistic beliefs of pre-Islamic Central Asia. These practices continue today with the frequent use of amulets, charms, curses and fortune telling. Gullia has never read the Qur’an and the only thing she knows about Islam is what her mother has passed on to her. Still, Gullia is proud of her glorious Islamic heritage.

Once she went on a school trip to Samarkand and was amazed by the dazzling tile work of the awe inspiring mosques built by Timurlane. Arab armies brought Islam to Central Asia in the 7th century. By the 14th century Samarkand and the region beyond the Oxus river was an intellectual center of the whole Muslim world. It boasted the most advanced astronomical observatory in the world at that time, while its poets and calligraphers were emulated all over the Middle East. Gullia didn’t hear much about Islam as she grew up since the 70 years of Russian communist rule repressed religious knowledge and belief. Muslim teachers were exiled to Siberia and it seemed that only elderly villagers continued to believe. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 more and more Central Asians have become interested in Islam as they seek to recover their historical identity. Gullia’s brother is fed up with the poverty and corruption he sees around him. He has read some Islamic books smuggled in from Afghanistan - but in secret for fear of being arrested and tortured by the police. Gullia herself shudders at the thought of being made to cover up like women in fundamentalist Iran. Some days Gullia wonders if there is another way to get closer to the God who seems so far away….

The Culture Shaping Power of Stories in the Koran, Torah, and the Bible.

Well told or written stories have the power to change people, communities, nations and the world. Stories have the power to bless or curse. There are stories that give an understanding of reality, and those that don't. Throughout history, we see that story telling has influenced cultures like the internet is doing today. The Greeks, Persians, Turks, Arabs, Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, Jews, and many other large people groups have all evolved into what they are today partly due to the stories that were handed down from generation to generation. The ancient countries of the Middle East, North Africa and along the Silk Road have been heavily influenced by stories that are thousands of years old. The Koran (Qur'an), Torah, and Bible have some of the oldest stories that include Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael and the tribes that followed.

The one who can tell the best story in the best way can often have the biggest influence. Not only the story itself, but how it is told and how others hear it. When the printing press came into being, millions more people were impacted through this mass media. Today it's the internet which we see can tell the stories of live revolutions such as those which occurred in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011.

In the beginning of the world, 75% of the way God communicated to man was through stories. The Biblical story is that God created a world and then invited mankind to live in that world. The Bible is a story of reconciliation and redemption.

Today there is an even bigger emphasis on storytelling. People love stories. People flock to movies all over the world. From Hollywood to Bollywood, the movie industry is big business because people love to be entertained by stories. Millions of people sit in front of their TV watching daytime and evening soap operas. Many of these people are addicted. People can get absorbed into a story so deeply that they accept it as truth even if it is fiction!

For a good book on this topic, read "The Power of the Story" by Leighton Ford

India: The Economic and Cricket Superpower of Asia and the World.

It is now known that if cricket players want to earn a lot of money, the place to go is India. Big salaries are now being paid to the best cricket players in the world and India is happy to receive them and reward them handsomely. India, as a nation continues to grow not only in population but also in economic power and influence. India's GDP is projected to surpass Japan's by the end of 2012. The population in India is booming and the youth population and work force in India is incredibly young. Approximately 75% of the population of India is under age 35. India has more honors students graduating from its schools than there are young people in the United States.

Not only India, but China along with the U.S. and Europe are the super powers that will change the the world during the next century. The impact that these nations, particularly India and China will have upon the world economy will be staggering. No longer is the United States the sole super power in the world. Who will now take the lead? China? No, they don't want it. India? No. That means for the next 20 years there will be a vacuum in economic and political world leadership. It will therefore be a group of nations and powers that will lead the world economy for the foreseeable future.

The question that looms for India is can it be a country where Christians, Muslims and Hindus coexist. Islamic, Hindu and Christian fundamentalists all have their different agendas. Now with the internet and social media, information is more readily available but it can also stir ethnic and religious tensions that can explode resulting in civil war. If that were to happen, then it would evolve into a regional conflict plunging Asia and the world into a political and economic crisis. Millions of people would lose their lives and economies would be set back years. Will peace remain in the region? Only God knows.