Why is Qarakhanid considered the first Islamic Turkic literary language?

Qarakhanid is recognized as the first Islamic Turkic literary language because it represents the earliest surviving body of Turkic literature that was explicitly shaped by Islamic values.1

Developing during the 11th century in eastern Turkistan under the Qarakhanid dynasty, this literary language was built upon a foundation of pre-Islamic Turkic but underwent significant influence from Arabic and Persian cultures. Key works from this period include:4

• Kutudgu bilig ("Knowledge Which Leads to Happiness"), a didactic "mirror for princes" written by Yusuf Khass Hajib in 1069–1070.12
• Dīwān lughat al-Turk ("Compendium of the Turkic Dialects"), an Arabic dictionary of the Khakani dialect compiled by Maḥmūd al-Kāshgarī between 1072 and 1074.12

While the Qarakhanids maintained many tribal traditions of the steppe, their adoption of Islam in the mid-10th century facilitated this synthesis of native Turkic and Irano-Islamic cultural elements, establishing a new precedent for written Turkic expression.1