Mukhlisa Bubi (On the 150th Anniversary)

Opening the (Muslim) woman’s space—The Soviet politics of emancipation in the 1920s–1930s

“…In the 1910s, followers of the new method, Jadids , opened several medrese and schools, including schools for girls in different parts of the Volga-Ural region. One of the most well-known was a school and teacher’s college opened by Muhlisa Bubi in 1908 in the village of Izh-Bobia (Makhmutova, 2003). However, in 1911, the school was closed down by the Russian authorities who believed that giving Muslim girls a modern education represented a danger to the imperial politics in the region.…”

“…In April 1917, the All-Russian Muslim women’s congress took place in Kazan. Finally, it was in 1917 when Muhlisa Bubi, a former Jadid teacher, was elected to the reorganized Muslim Spiritual Board in Ufa, and became the first woman qadi in the Eurasian region (Garipova, 2017; Makhmutova, 2003).…”

“…The biggest part of the scholarly knowledge about the Volga-Ural region analyzes Russian imperial politics and the development of modernization ideas in the region (see Ro’i, 2004; Tuna, 2015). The modernizers’ ( jadidist ) educational reforms and their thinking about progress of the nation and gender 1 became the focus of several important publications produced in Tatarstan (Biktimirova, 2011; Gimazova, 2004; Makhmutova, 2003, 2006; see also Rorlich, 2004). These works showed that at the beginning of the 20th century, the Tatar society experienced important changes with respect to views on a woman’s education and her role in the progress of the nation.…”

“…These works showed that at the beginning of the 20th century, the Tatar society experienced important changes with respect to views on a woman’s education and her role in the progress of the nation. Indeed, Alta Makhmutova (2003, 2006) and Tamina Biktimirova (2011) analyzed biographies of some socially active and well-educated Tatar women, and showed that their educational, cultural, and charitable activities were highly evaluated by the national leaders, including Muslim politicians, modernist Islamic scholars, and intellectuals. Another important area of research was the All-Russian Muslim women’s congress, which took place in Kazan in April of 1917 (Faizov, 2005; Kamp, 2015; Makhmutova, 2006).…”

“…On the other hand, the analysis of the consequences of Sovietization usually focus more on the negative effects of Sovietization for the national elite, and for Tatar culture and language, and do not pay so much attention to women (see Faller, 2011). It is only in a few cases, like that of Muhlisa Bubi, Jadid and the first female qadi murdered by the Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del (NKVD), Ministry of Interior in 1937, that the specifics of women’s agency were at the center of the analysis (Makhmutova, 2003). At the same time, a part of the scholarly knowledge indicates the complexity and contradictions of Soviet emancipation.…”