“Sovereign” Islam and Tatar “Aqīdah”: normative religious narratives and grassroots criticism amongst Tatarstan’s Muslims

Abstract

BTraditional Islam^has emerged in the post-Soviet Republic of Tatarstan (Russian Federation) as a powerful if contentious discursive trope. In this paper, I look at traditional Islam and its conceptual twin, Bnon-traditional Islam^, as normative governmental tools aimed at defining acceptable or unwelcome form of religious commitment in an environment in which the rapid success of Sunni piety trends after socialism's end has exacerbated the anxieties of both state institutions and a predominantly secular public. Traditional Islam's multiple facets are explored, with particular attention given to the aspects of heritage-making, at the local (republican) level, and loyalty-fostering at the national (all-Russian) level. The concept's genealogy, spanning different phases of Soviet and post-Soviet history, is analysed in detail. In addition, I focus on the reception of the traditional/non-traditional Islam discourse amongst grassroots pious Muslims, highlighting instances of criticism, lampooning, rejection, but also qualified acceptance. The concluding sections of my paper touch on Btheological^traditional Islam's potential and limitations for expanding civil society and harnessing grassroots enthusiasm.

Public spaces and inner worlds: Emplaced askesis and architectures of the soul among Tatarstani Muslims

“…Some educators wear headscarves, and of course they do not do their work any worse.The mosque leadership has been careful in its negotiations with the authorities, strategically couching its requests in the state-approved idiom of Tatar ‘tradition’ rather than the ‘Islamic’ idiom of shari’a (cf. Benussi, 2020). The conservative segment of the halal milieu tends to deem this strategy insufficient, with some propounding home schooling and greater self-segregation rather than engagement with institutions.…”

The religious field in a Russian Muslim village: A Bourdieusian perspective on Islam

“…There are also other approaches to understand the notion of traditional Islam in Russia as a political discourse (Benussi 2018) and a discursive tradition (Garipova 2018).…”

“…This dichotomy might be simplistic and there are many nuances within it; however, I am using it in this paper for heuristic purposes. There are also other approaches to understand the notion of traditional Islam in Russia as a political discourse (Benussi, 2018) and a discursive tradition (Garipova, 2020).…”

Patriotic loyalty and interest representation among the Russian Islamic elite

“…Community members may accuse such organisations of having been co-opted by the state to serve its own interests and of working to exclude other Muslim organisations (Martikainen 2007;Loobuyck, Debeer, and Meier 2013). In Russia as well, several studies argue that muftiates do not always enjoy much support or even respect among ordinary believers and that muftis are often considered to be more 'administrators' than religious leaders (Braginskaia 2012, 615;Benussi 2018;Bekkin 2020).…”