(Re)constructing Muslim Identities from the Soviet Past: Muslim Tatar Women’s Stories of Soviet Moral Selves

Abstract

The revival of Islam in the central Russian republic of Tatarstan has transformed the daily landscape and the very notion of Muslim piety in the region. While a growing number of historically Muslim Tatars of all ages are embracing embodied piety, an older generation’s turn to religion is often perceived as late in coming and insincere. Based on ethnographic research and personal narratives of practicing Muslim Tatar women, I explore the ways the older women (re)construct their Muslim identities in the context of Tatars’ recent interest in Islam. Specifically, I analyze two older Tatar women’s stories about their paths to Islam. My analysis suggests that by tapping into the Soviet past, the women strive to create a continuously moral self that can serve as a solid basis for their present-day Muslim piety.

Islamic nomocracy: from the perspectives of Indonesia, Spain and Russia

“…No generally recognized centralized authority exists within Russian Islam, despite ardent attempts and at times fierce competition among some clergies to create it (Rubin, 2018). Muslim identities and their perceptions by non-Muslims in Russia are complex, fluid, and shaped by ever-changing interactions of historical legacies of pre-Soviet and Soviet developments by local cultures, in particular languages; by external influences, such as international Islamic organizations and transnational Islamic movement; by demography, in particular as far as the post-Soviet generations of Muslims are concerned (Čech, 2022); by urban and rural environments; by new trends in gender relations; as well as by political conflicts and government interventions (Karimova, 2016). As one of the most significant large-scale factors, many scholars have pointed out the different environments in which Muslims engage with and construe their multifaceted relationships with Islam in its different forms (Pilkington & Yemelianova, 2016)…”