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Qaraqalpaq Religion and Folk Beliefs
The overwhelming majority of Qaraqalpaqs are Sunni Muslims belonging to the Hanafite school of religious law. However only a tiny minority regularly
attend a mosque, the latter being few and far between throughout the delta. Nevertheless beliefs are deeply held and traditions regarding birth,
circumcision, marriage and death are firmly adhered to.
Qaraqalpaqs maintain a mature, private, quiet and tolerant attitude to their Islamic faith. Parents and the old are respected and ancestors are
venerated, their photographs hung in pride of place in most homes.
Many Qaraqalpaqs also maintain more primitive beliefs and suspicions, a relic of pre-Islamic shamanist traditions. These express themselves most
vividly through the use of various forms of amuletic protection against the evil eye.
The new cathedral mosque in No'kis.
A local cemetery or mazar at Qıpshaq, not far from Qanlıko'l.
The vast mazar at Mizdahkan, between Xojeli and the Turkmen border.
A ram's skull provides amuletic protection to a house in a suburb of No'kis.
Protection from the evil eye.
The skull of a sheep protects a farmer's field from harm, Kegeyli rayon 2005.
The skull of a cow protects a goat herder's field from harm, Qazayaqlı awıl 2005.
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