The Concept of Traditional Islam

In recent years, the concept of traditional Islam has attracted attention of researchers both in Russia and beyond. A serious drawback of some of the works is excessive politicization of Renat Bekkin Renat acquaintance with sources both in the languages of the so-called discourse, as well as that authors seem to have only superficial problem is inherent mainly in the works of Russian authors, the Muslim peoples of Russia and in Russian language. The first by Edited second one in publications by authors from the West. * * * Structurally, the book has two parts: a theoretical part Traditional Islam: the concept and its interpretations and a practical one Traditional Islam in the Russian regions and Crimea. * * * All the articles in the book include some consideration of the The Concept of the state to designate their preferred model of state-confessional traditional Islam concept as an artificial construct promoted by relations, in which religious organisations and individual believers demonstrate their loyalty to the political regime. Organisations Traditional Islam and believers who criticize the state’s domestic and foreign policy can then be described by the authorities and the muftiates to be in Modern Islamic Discourse in Russia representatives of ‘non-traditional Islam’. Edited by The Concept of Traditional Islam in Modern Islamic Discourse Russia Renat Bekkin ISBN 978-9926-471-21-7 THE CONCEPT OF TRADITIONAL ISLAM IN MODERN ISLAMIC DISCOURSE IN RUSSIA The Concept of Traditional Islam in Modern Islamic Discourse in Russia Edited by Renat Bekkin Copyright © 2020 Center for Advanced Studies This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exceptions and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of the Center for Advanced Studies. Cover Photo by Timur A. Rakhmatullin PUBLISHER: Center for Advanced Studies, www.cns.ba DTP and DESIGN: Suhejb Djemailji PRINTED in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Amos Graf d.o.o. Sarajevo CIP - Katalogizacija u publikaciji Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo 28-67(470+571)(082) The CONCEPT of traditional islam in modern islamic discourse in Russia / edited by Renat Bekkin. - Sarajevo : Center for Advanced Studies, 2020. - 291 str. ; 24 cm ISBNRječnik: 978-9926-471-21-7 str. 279-282. - Bibliografske i druge bilješke uz tekst. - Abstracts. - Registar. COBISS.BH-ID 29067270 THE CONCEPT OF TRADITIONAL ISLAM IN MODERN ISLAMIC DISCOURSE IN RUSSIA Edited by Renat Bekkin Sarajevo, 2020 Publication of this book has been made possible through the support of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................. 7 TRADITIONAL ISLAM: THE CONCEPT AND ITS INTERPRETATIONS In Search of ‘Traditional Islam’ in Tatarstan: Between National Project and Universalist Theories ...............................17 Leila Almazova and Azat Akhunov The Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jama‘ah and the Grozny Fatwa .........................57 Damir Shagaviev The Renovationist Movement in Contemporary Russian Islam ...........87 Renat Bekkin Russia: Stereotypes and Intertextuality .......................................................115 SofyaOfficial Ragozina Discourse on Islam and Islamic Discourse in Contemporary The Faizrakhmanists of the Volga Region as a Religious Community Opposing ‘Traditional Islam’ ............................................................................135 Renat Bekkin Contents TRADITIONAL ISLAM IN RUSSIAN REGIONS AND CRIMEA ..159 Rezeda Safiullina-Ibragimova Sufism in Tatarstan: Revival of a Tradition, Export or Expansion? ‘Traditional Islam’ in the Discourse of Religious Associations, Ethnic Organisations and Government Structures in Bashkortostan ...................203 Zilya Khabibullina Inventing a New Legal Tradition: the Discourse of ‘Traditional Islam’ in Post-Communist Dagestan .................................................................................233 Vladimir Bobrovnikov ‘Traditional Islam’ in Crimean Tatar Discourse and Politics ...............255 Elmira Muratova List of abbreviations .............................................................................................277 Glossary ......................................................................................................................279 List of contributors ...............................................................................................283 Index of names ........................................................................................................285 Introduction In recent years, the concept of traditional Islam has attracted attention of researchers both in Russia and beyond. Individual and collective articles, including conference proceedings were published on this topic. A serious drawback of some of the works is excessive politicization of discourse, sources both in the languages of the so-called Muslim peoples of Russia as well as that authors seem to have only superficial acquaintance with- sian authors, the second one in publications by authors from the West. and inNevertheless, Russian. The even first those problem works is inherent that do notmainly fully in meet the works the scholarly of Rus criteria are important as they indicate public interest in such a complex and multifaceted phenomenon as traditional Islam which has become an Islam in modern Russia. importantA few element,years ago, without I came whichup with it isan difficult idea to toput imagine together the a portraitbook that of would examine both the theoretical aspects of traditional Islam and in- population. Eventually, with the assistance from the Center for Advanced Studiesdividual in cases Sarajevo, from andifferent edited volumeregions “Theof Russia Concept with of a Traditional significant IslamMuslim in Modern Islamic Discourse in Russia” was prepared. In the contemporary humanities and social sciences, both general readers and the professional public are as accepting of the edited volume as a genre of academic writing as they are of books written by a single author. An obvious advantage of this genre is that it brings together multiple researchers each with their own profound and specialist knowledge of different aspects of the topic. Books of this kind have a drawback, however, which can prove challenging and even impossible for editors to overcome – 7 The Concept of Traditional Islam in Modern Islamic Discourse in Russia excessive heterogeneity in the methods and approaches used by the au- least most of the authors come from the same academic tradition. Things thors of the collective work. The editor’s task is greatly simplified if all or at brought up in different academic cultures or with different educational backgrounds.stand quite differently This is the when case dealing with the with monograph the collective presently creativity before of authors you. To begin with, many of the authors are representatives of the Soviet and Russian schools of historical and Oriental studies. While historians from sociologists and other social scientists for more than a decade, this isand not Orientalists the case for in Russian the West religious have had studies a significant scholars impact (except on their some research staff at certain research centres in Moscow and St. Petersburg). I am not inclined to give this circumstance either a positive or a negative evaluation but do consider it my duty to note it for the reader. Another important point to note is that the authors of some of the articles are involved in the subject matter discussed in the book in various at the same time, which is to say they are both professional researchers of andways. active Some participants are both students in Islamic and discourse subjects inof Russia.the discourses For example, in question Damir Shagaviev is one of the most original Islamic theologians in modern Rus- sia. His text takes the form of an academic article, but at the same time between the authors are not, in my opinion, a disadvantage. In fact, they contains elements of theological analysis. These significant differences Structurally, the book has two parts: a theoretical part (“Traditional Islam:have turned the concept out to beand a itssignificant interpretations”) advantage and for athis practical book. one (“Tradi- tional Islam in the Russian regions and Crimea”). - monographIn the first opens part, with the theauthors article have by attemptedKazan-based to considerreligious thescholars phenome Leila Almazovanon of traditional and Azat Islam Akhunov and analyse “In Search sources of Traditionalthat flesh out Islam the inconcept. Tatarstan: The Between National Project and Universalist Theories”. While its title may sug- gest this article belongs to the second part of the book, it contains a compre- hensive analysis of the concept of traditional Islam, which is why it has been the concept of traditional Islam, the authors turn to the history of theological thoughtplaced in in the the theoretical Volga-Ural section. region. In They investigating consider thethe questionetymology of theof the origins Arabic of word taqlid in the context of Tatar theological discourse in the 19th and early 8 Introduction 20th centuries, concluding that traditional Islam and similar concepts were unfamiliar to Muslim theologians in pre-revolutionary Russia. It is a merit of their article that the authors use not only Russian-lan-

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