Uzbekistan's Islamic Civilization Center Hits 500K Visitors

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan's newly opened Center of Islamic Civilization has attracted half a million visitors in less than three months, cementing its place as a global landmark for Islamic heritage and scholarship.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed the center's performance metrics and long-term development roadmap at a presentation highlighting the institution's rapid rise as a cultural, educational, and scientific platform of both national and international significance.

The center opened in its new building on March 17 of this year. By June 1, it had received approximately 500,000 visitors, with an average daily footfall of 6,000. In the same period, the facility hosted more than 150 foreign delegations and over 2,000 international guests.

The center's portfolio is broad. It houses a Children's Museum, an innovative Imam Bukhari Museum, and the International Scientific Research Center of Imam Maturidi. To date, 810 projects have been implemented with the participation of nearly 2,000 domestic and foreign scholars. More than 5,000 people have taken part in conferences, seminars, roundtables, masterclasses, and book presentations organized at the venue.

The institution has also been recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest museum of Islamic civilization in the world — a designation that underscores its scale and ambition.

On the heritage front, over 1,000 artifacts have been repatriated to Uzbekistan, while the center's library holds more than 3,000 rare publications, including 762 titles adapted for people with disabilities. Digitization of the collection is ongoing alongside the adoption of modern data storage technologies. Robot guides and multimedia interactive displays have been deployed throughout the exhibitions.

An Ambitious Global Agenda

The development roadmap presented to the president outlines a sweeping international expansion. The center's scientific journal is to be indexed in Scopus and Web of Science databases, while a unified platform for research centers and a digital manuscript catalogue are planned.

A new "Islamic Enlightenment" scholarship program for master's and doctoral students in religious education is envisaged, alongside a permanent mechanism for locating, studying, and repatriating Uzbek cultural artifacts held in foreign museums, private collections, and international auction houses. A unified digital database and international registry of cultural heritage objects, as well as a modern research laboratory, are also in the pipeline.

Internationally, the center plans to stage presentations at United Nations offices in New York and Geneva, as well as at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, focusing on the scholarly legacies of Imam Bukhari, Imam Maturidi, and Imam Termizi. Outreach is planned across 55 countries, with joint projects slated with Oxford's Centre for Islamic Studies, ICESCO, IRCICA, TURKSOY, and other international organizations.

The first International Islamic Forum, themed "Islamic Civilization: A Path of Peace, Tolerance and Enlightenment," is also scheduled.

President Mirziyoyev endorsed all presented initiatives, stressing that the center must serve as a platform that showcases to the world the rich cultural heritage of the Uzbek people, their enlightenment traditions, and the achievements of the New Uzbekistan. Relevant ministries were instructed to advance the center's scientific and publishing activities, accelerate digital integration, and strengthen its international profile.