The Revival of Muslim Communities in Russia's Regions

Abstract

In the Federation of Russia's regions, revival of Islam has been accompanied by formation of the primary cells of Muslim communities—mahallah. However, many Islamic researchers and Muslims recognize that these communities do not play a substantial role in the life of believers. The article is based on results of a sociological study involving the mosque personnel, sponsored by the Islamic Studies Center of the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan. Expert interviews and other documents are also reviewed. Research revealed basic problems impeding the proper functioning of reviving Muslim communities in the region. These include financial problems hindering economic independence, personnel problems despite numerous religious educational institutions, lack of library resources including high quality religious literature, lack of unity among Russia's Muslims, and the need to overcome ideological discrepancies within the larger community of Muslim believers, the ummah.

This article is the republished version of:

The Revival of Muslim Communities in Russia's Regions: Based on Sociological Research Materials in the Republic of Tatarstan

Notes

English translation © 2014, 2015 Taylor & Francis, from the Russian text, “Vozrozhdenie musul'manskikh obshchin v rossiiskikh regionakh (po materialam sotsiologicheskogo issledovaniia v Respublike Tatarstan).”Roza Nurullina is a candidate of sociology, and a senior research associate at the Center of Islamic Research, in the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan. She is also a docent (assistant professor) at the Kazan (Volga region) Federal University. Translated by Stephan Lang. Translation reprinted from Anthropology and Archeology of Eurasia, vol. 53, no. 2. doi: 10.1080/10611959.2014.1022427.

^1. From A.F. Sadriev's interview with the magazine Zvezda Povolzh'ia, March 15–21, 2012, p. 3.

^2. R.M. Mukhametshin, “Sistema musul'manskogo obrazovaniia v postsovetsom Tatarstane,” Russkii arkhipelag, January 8, 2008, www.archipelag.ru/authors/muhametchin/?library = 1228.

^3. Cited in ibid.

^4.Iu.A. Gavrilov, E.N. Kofanova, M.P. Mchedlov, and A.G. Shevchenko, “Konfessional'nye osobennosti religioznoi very i predstavlenii o ee sotsial'nyk funktsiiakh,” Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniia, no. 6, 2005, p. 47.

^5.A.A. Mukhametzianov, “Transformatsiia institutov musul'manskoi obshchiny Tatarstana (1920–1930-e gg.),” Dissertation abstract, candidate of legal sciences, Kazan, II AN RT, 2007.

^6.A.A. Mukhametzianov, “Ekonomicheskoe polozhenie musul'manskoi obshchiny v Rossii (vtoraia polovina XIX–nachalo XX v.),” Izvestiia Ural'skogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, no. 49, 2007, pp. 133–37.

^7. Fragments of expert interviews, as well as the most typical examples of responses from the questionnaires, here and below.

^8. A.V. Malashenko, “Foreword,” in R.M. Muchametshin, Islam v Tatarstane (Moscow: Logos, 2006), p. 7.

^9.A.N. Iusupov, “Svoi sredi chuzhikh, chuzhoi sredi svoikh,” in Konfessional'nyi faktor v razvitii tatar: Kontseptual'nye issledovaniia (Kazan: Institut istorii im. Sh. Mardzhani AN RT, 2009), pp. 242–45.

^10.Auda Dzhassir, “Rol' mecheti v Islame,” Imam.ru, September 12, 2012, www.imam.ru/articles/mecheti.html.

^11.R. Shukurov, “Musul'manstvo i modernizatsiia,” in Religiia i identichnost' v Rossii, ed. M.T. Stepaniants (Moscow: Vostochnaia literatura, 2003), p. 202.

^12. Ibid.

^13.V.M. Iakupov, “Sootnoshenie religii i obshchestva v dukhovnom obrazovanii,” in Sistema musul'manskogo religioznogo obrazovaniia u tatar: ISTORIIA, problemy, perspektivy. Sb. materialov odnoimennoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii. Kazan, 13 Oktiabria 2004 g. (Kazan: Institut istorii im. Sh. Mardzhani AN RT, 2005), p. 15.

^14.V.M. Iakupov, “Problemy musul'manskogo obrazovaniia v sovremennoi Rossii. Vystuplenie na zasedanii islamskoi sektsii rabochei gruppy po confessional'noi politike, okhraneniiu istoricheskogo i dukhovnogo naslediia Obshchestvennogo soveta po razvitiiu institutov grazhdanskogo obshchestva v PFO. 15 iulia 2007 g. Kazan,” Musul'mane Povolzh'ia, July 13, 2008, http://www.muslims-volga.ru/?id = 385.

^a. The reference to mankurts has come into everyday conversation in Russia through the famous novel of Kirghiz writer Chingiz Aitmatov, available in many editions in English as A Day Lasts Longer Than A Century. It chillingly narrates the legend of a warrior tribe that turned captured slaves into zombie-like, memory-less workers through the tightening of a skin cap on their heads. It has become a metaphor for those who have lost their traditions, and hence their souls. For an intriguing use of the term applied to Russians, see Paul Goble, “Russians Said Becoming Mankurts in Their Own Land,” November 2, 2014. http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2014/11/window-on-eurasia-russians-said.html. The reference to “Hizbuts” is slang for followers of the outlawed Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir. www.hizbuttahrir.org.

^15.Ofitsial'nyi sait RII, March 25, 2014, http://kazanriu.ru/ob-institute/.

^16. E-islam, February 12, 2008, http://e-islam.ru/newsall/news/?ID = 1569.

^17.A. Shapovalov, “Problemy institutsionalizatsii islamskogo obrazovaniia v sovremennoi Rossii,” Vlast', no. 3, 2011, p. 4.

^18.K. Ainutdinova, “Problematika razvitiia rossiiskogo obrazovaniia v Rossii i Srednei Azii,” Minbar, vol. 2, no. 4, 2009, p. 9.

^19. Ibid.

^20. Ibid., pp. 9–10.

^21. Sadriev, Zvezda Povolzh'ia interview, p. 3.

^22. Ofitsial'nyi sait DUM RT, http://dumrt.ru/node/8046.

^23.Atlas religii i national'nostei Rossii, p. 218. Issledovatel'skaia sluzhba “Sreda,” January 2, 2014, www.sreda.org/arena.

^24. S. Gradirovskii, “Russkii islam,” Russkii arkhipelag, November 23, 2010, www.archipelag.ru.

^25.V.M. Iakupov, Mera Islama (K problem adekvatnogo konretno-istoricheskogo ponimaniia vechnykh shariatskikh istin) (Kazan: Iman, 2004), p. 24.

^26. Damir-khazrat Mukhetdinov official blog, September 15, 2013, www.damir-hazrat.livejournal.com.

^27.Kh.V. Dzutsev, “Vakhkhabizm v respublikakh Severnogo Kavkaza Rossiiskoi Federatsii: realii i posledstviia,” Sotsis, no. 8, 2011, p. 107.

^b. Intriguingly, the phrase used here evokes early Soviet era campaigns against illiteracy.