Abstract
The territory of Central Asia has long been located at the junction of the East and the West; in the center of the most active part of the Great Silk Road. Such a geopolitical location is an important factor, and it is in this territory that the ideological foundations of many world religions have competed. In the end, the religion of Islam has won. Islam, which came to this region in the 8th century, has gone through two periods: the period of expansion (VII-XVIII centuries) and the period of strengthening (XVIII-XXI centuries). Undeniably, this has had major implications for the emergence of culture in these settlements. In this context, this article examines the discourse of Islam in modern domestic and foreign studies (1991-2021) in a comprehensive way, using interdisciplinary methods. In the study, the works of Western researchers have been analyzed on the issue of the arrival and establishment of Islam in Central Asia. The information presented in the article can be used in the lessons of historiography, history and Islamic studies. The paper concludes that Islam has attracted the attention of foreign researchers from the Middle Ages to the present day. The importance of the works of Western authors is not only due to the fact that they conduct field research, but also to the fact that they mastered the Kazakh language by living among the researched people, Kazakhs, in rural areas for a long time.