Abstract. The tragic events of early January 2022 in Kazakhstan, when the protests provoked by socio-economic reasons in a number of regions turned into violent acts of an extremist and terrorist nature, resulting in human casualties, revealed the threat of religious extremism both for the republic itself and for the states bordering it. Despite greater (compared to other Central Asian countries) stability, Kazakhstan faces hidden challenges associated with radical Islamism, which has features specific to this republic. The article examines the external and internal factors that determine the specifics of Islamist extremism in Kazakhstan.