MALAYSIA-KAZAKHSTAN SCIENTIFIC CONTINUITY: CHARACTERISTICS OF KAZAKH STEPPE SCHOLARS' WORKS IN KUALA LUMPUR LIBRARIES

The article aims to review libraries housing manuscript collections in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and conduct a substantive and comparative analysis of preserved works by scholars from the Kazakh steppe to demonstrate their historical and scientific connections with Kazakhstan. It also seeks to evaluate each scholar's contribution to science and culture. This effort will facilitate the inclusion of our cultural heritage from Southeast Asia into scientific discourse and showcase the continuity of scientific and educational traditions between the Malay and Kazakh peoples. Thus, the research novelty lies in examining Malaysia's place in Kazakhstan's oriental studies, emphasizing its role not only as a model of Islamic development but also as a preserver of scientific heritage in comparative studies of Southeast Asian (SEA) countries. To achieve this goal, a phased approach was employed in working with manuscripts: collecting manuscripts, compiling catalog lists, providing comprehensive manuscript descriptions, comparing manuscripts, verifying and reading manuscripts, and conducting textual analysis. In addition to manuscripts, published books and research were also considered. The article examines the collections of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) – International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), National Library of Malaysia (NLM), and University of Malaya (UM) libraries, which have preserved works of Kazakh steppe scholars who contributed to the development of culture and science. Consequently, after identifying the presence of works by Kazakh steppe scholars such as Farabi, Kardari, and Zarnuji in these libraries, the article provides individual descriptions of the characteristics and significance of their works. This was done to demonstrate the place of Kazakh steppe scientific heritage in the scientific discourse of Southeast Asia.