Secularism is a legal principle that ensures the separation of religion from the state, guarantees citizens freedom of conscience, and precludes the interference of religious organizations in matters of public administration. Adapted into the Kazakh language from the Arabic word «zahir» (open, clear, worldly), this concept signifies not an opposition to religion, but the equality of representatives of all confessions before the law. A secular state does not interfere in the internal affairs of religious associations, and religion does not govern state policy, which is exactly the kind of democratic and legal state Kazakhstan positions itself to be.
