Building the Future on a 3,000-Year Legacy: Uzbekistan's 'Third Renaissance'

The Islamic Civilization Center in Tashkent, Uzbekistan's capital, is impressive in scale.

Covering an area equivalent to 14 soccer fields, it encapsulates 3,000 years of Uzbekistan's history. The three-story building, which cost approximately $161.8 million, has a total floor area exceeding 42,000 square meters, with a central dome soaring 65 meters high.

However, this massive structure aims to showcase more than just the past.

The exhibition begins with ancient civilizations predating Islam, progresses through the Islamic Golden Age in Central Asia and the Timurid dynasty, and culminates in modern Uzbekistan following its independence. The final space invites visitors to explore 'New Uzbekistan — the Foundation of the Third Renaissance.'

After reflecting on 3,000 years of history, visitors arrive at a vision for the future.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's national vision of 'New Uzbekistan' intersects with this point in history. Once a land that produced world-renowned mathematicians, astronomers, physicians, and scholars, it aims to reignite education, science, and technological innovation to usher in a new era.

The Islamic Civilization Center embodies this vision in a physical form.

At the center's heart lies the ancient 'Uthman Quran.' Surrounding it are manuscripts, archaeological artifacts, and cultural heritage that illustrate centuries of Islamic scholarship.

During what the Uzbek government calls the 'First Renaissance' from the 9th to 12th centuries, scholars emerged who transformed the course of global knowledge in Central Asia.

Al-Khwarizmi laid the foundations for mathematics, while Al-Biruni made significant contributions to astronomy and natural sciences. Ibn Sina had a profound impact on medicine and philosophy.

The 'Second Renaissance' is linked to the Timurid dynasty. In the 15th century, the ruler and astronomer Ulugh Beg established an observatory in Samarkand, leading precise astronomical observations.

The center does not treat these figures merely as religious icons. It connects mathematics, medicine, astronomy, philosophy, and religious studies into a unified intellectual history.

The Mirziyoyev administration takes this a step further by proposing a 'Third Renaissance.'

Just as global scholarship flourished in the past, today's youth are encouraged to achieve intellectual breakthroughs in universities, research institutions, artificial intelligence, and advanced technology.

The center serves as both a museum displaying history and a national declaration of Uzbekistan's future aspirations.

This message was clearly articulated during the 35th anniversary celebrations of Uzbekistan's independence.

On August 28, just four days before Independence Day, around 6,000 people gathered at a large outdoor amphitheater in 'New Tashkent.' After discussing economic development, education, and national identity, President Mirziyoyev turned the conversation to Uzbekistan's Islamic heritage.

“We have built unique scientific and educational institutions such as the Islamic Civilization Center and the Imam Bukhari and Burkhaniddin Margilanani memorial complexes,” he stated.

As he finished speaking, the audience erupted in applause.

This moment encapsulated the significance of Islamic civilization in President Mirziyoyev's vision for 'New Uzbekistan.'

The government seeks to revive not just religion but also the era when Islamic civilization led advancements in science, scholarship, enlightenment, and cultural development, linking it to the current national development strategy.

Kirill Abramov, a professor at the University of Texas, explained that since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Islam in Central Asia has played a multifaceted role encompassing “religious revival, cultural restoration, and national identity formation.”

In Uzbekistan, this cultural revival is intertwined with the nation's future vision.

In his Independence Day speech, President Mirziyoyev did not merely describe Uzbekistan's independence as a political sovereignty that began in 1991.

He emphasized that the nation's roots extend back over 3,000 years, mentioning figures such as Al-Khwarizmi, Ahmad al-Farghani, Al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ulugh Beg, and Alisher Navoi.

“Independence has restored our honor and dignity, our sacred religion, our mother tongue, and our long-forgotten national values,” he said.

This is why the Islamic Civilization Center holds a nationally significant position.

The story conveyed through the center is straightforward.

This land once hosted a brilliant civilization, and through independence, that history has been reclaimed. Now, it is time to transform that legacy into an asset for future development.

Since its official opening on March 17, the center's visitor flow follows this same narrative. Guests starting from ancient Uzbekistan move through the Islamic Golden Age and the Timurid dynasty to modern independent Uzbekistan.

However, the exhibition's endpoint is not the past.

At the end lies 'New Uzbekistan' and the Third Renaissance.

President Mirziyoyev has defined this center as one of the foundations of the Third Renaissance, emphasizing that it must also serve as a scientific, secular, and modern institution.

Immediately after mentioning the Islamic Civilization Center and the reconstructed Imam Bukhari memorial complex in his Independence Day speech, he transitioned to discussions about youth, education, and the national development plan for the next decade.

He characterized the next ten years as a period of 'national leap,' proposing that the first of seven national programs the government will pursue is to make knowledge and capabilities the core assets of the nation.

This connects the past's civilization with the future's talent into a single narrative.

These national projects are not limited to Tashkent.

The Imam Bukhari memorial complex near Samarkand is another symbolic space that President Mirziyoyev directly mentioned in his Independence Day speech alongside the Islamic Civilization Center.

Born near Bukhara in the 9th century, Imam Bukhari compiled the 'Sahih al-Bukhari,' one of the most authoritative collections of hadith for Sunni Muslims, documenting the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Uzbekistan has extensively reconstructed his burial site.

The 45-hectare complex includes a large mausoleum, a mosque accommodating 10,000 people, four 75-meter-high minarets, a museum, and research and educational facilities.

Since the reconstruction, the daily visitor capacity has increased from about 12,000 to over 65,000.

The government has also invested 570 billion som, approximately $65 million, in developing surrounding hotels and commercial services. Plans include four-star and three-star hotels, as well as family guesthouses.

According to the government, over 1 million domestic and international visitors had visited the complex by early May.

The Islamic Civilization Center in Tashkent also welcomed around 500,000 visitors within two and a half months of its opening by June 1.

The commonality between these two projects is clear.

They are not merely restoring Islamic cultural heritage as pilgrimage sites or tourist attractions but are reconstituting them as national assets that encompass research, education, international exchange, and the tourism industry.

The image of Islam that Uzbekistan seeks to present to the international community aligns with this vision.

The government emphasizes knowledge, tolerance, scholarship, and peace as core principles. This is encapsulated in the phrase 'Enlightenment Against Ignorance.'

Shovosil Ziyodov, director of the Imam Bukhari International Scientific Research Center, stated in an interview, “Our people have always lived by Islamic philosophy as a guide in their daily happiness, sorrow, and trials of fate. We are creating a new narrative that describes Islam as a religion of science, creativity, and tolerance.”

He explained that preserving and inheriting Uzbekistan's Islamic heritage serves as “a powerful public diplomacy tool and a part of soft power.”

This vision was first presented by President Mirziyoyev in 2017 when he announced plans for the Islamic Civilization Center at the United Nations.

He emphasized that ignorance and intolerance can create an environment for the growth of extremism, and that education and the humanistic traditions of Islam must be leveraged to counter this.

The Islam represented by the center is one of goodness and peace, knowledge, and enlightenment, not violence or radicalism.

Uzbekistan is now actively utilizing this historical asset in its diplomacy.

It is expanding international cooperation in manuscript digitization, historical research, and cultural heritage preservation, while also opening an office for the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) in Tashkent.

President Mirziyoyev has instructed officials to promote the Islamic Civilization Center to 55 countries and to organize events at the UN offices in New York and Geneva, as well as at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, to introduce scholars from Uzbekistan such as Imam Bukhari, Imam Maturidi, and Imam Tirmidhi.

Since its opening, the center has also become a venue for international forums involving scholars, journalists, and cultural figures from around the world.

Uzbekistan's desired image in the international community is distinct from that of a simple 'Islamic state.'

It identifies itself as a 'center of Islamic civilization' that has produced scholars and manuscripts, as well as advancements in astronomy, medicine, mathematics, and philosophy.

This identity provides a historical and cultural resonance with Islamic countries while also establishing a foundation for collaboration with secular international organizations like UNESCO in the fields of science and culture.

Importantly, this movement is distinct from any attempts to religiously transform Uzbekistan's national system.

The Uzbek constitution defines the state as a 'sovereign democratic, legal, social, and secular state.' Article 75 explicitly states the separation of religious organizations and the state.

The religious policy concept adopted in 2025 also reaffirmed freedom of conscience and the secular nature of the state.

Thus, the rise of the Islamic Civilization Center as a national symbol does not signify the Islamization of the state but rather a recontextualization of Islamic civilization within the narrative of the secular state of Uzbekistan.

It aims to restore historical and cultural memories that faded during the Soviet era and to transform the identity reclaimed after independence into an asset for national development.

At the end of 3,000 years of history beneath the grand dome in Tashkent lies the 'Third Renaissance.'

What Uzbekistan seeks to convey through the Islamic Civilization Center is not merely nostalgia for a glorious past but a forward-looking declaration to reclaim a history that once led the world in scholarship and civilization, and to leap forward once again through education, science, and innovation.

In this sense, the Islamic Civilization Center is not just a museum preserving the past but a starting point for moving toward a 'New Uzbekistan.'

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