ORIENTAL ARCHIVE 80, 2012 • 259 An Islamic Perspective in Russian Public Opinion: The Russian Tatar Thinker Abdurrashid Ibrahim (1857–1944) Mikhail Meyer An entirely new dimension entered into the realm of public opinion in Russia at the turn of the twentieth century with the appearance of Muslim thinkers in the domain of social and religious activity. Their words and actions were primarily aimed at modernizing the economic, social and spiritual life of their coreligionists. But at the same time, they strove to improve the social and legal status of the Muslim (mostly Turkic-speaking) population in Russia. In this regard, their activities represented a special variant of Islamic-Russian nationalism. This type of concept, i.e. Islam within a national movement, had been mobilized among Asian and North African Muslims since the second half of the nineteenth century. The Young Ottomans in the Turkish Empire and the Arab participants of the Nahda (Enlightenment movement) are different examples of this religious- nationalist combination as well as the Adamiyat Society established by Malkom- khan in Iran and activities of the first Muslim organizations in India and in other countries of South-East Asia. In Russia, the Jadid movement was one of the notable results of such activity.1 However, Jadidism was not a uniform movement and the first Muslim reformers belonging to Jadidism had different ways of expressing associated ideas. If Shihabuddin Merjani (1818–89) and Hussein Faizkhanov (1823–66) were characterised by their interest in reorganizing cultural life, on the other hand, Ismail-bey Gaspıralı (Gasprinsky, 1851–1914) especially related reforms in the sphere of education with the idea of unity for Russian Muslims in addition to the improvement of their social status. In this contribution, we would like to examine the specificities related to Abdurrashid Ibrahim’s life as one of the Russian Tatar thinkers and public men associated with Jadidism of those years. A. Ibrahim was famous for his active 1 Jadid (usūl-i jadīd), a new phonetic principle developed in the realm of education by I. Gasprinsky, was created for studying Quranic and other religious texts. From the end of the nineteenth century, the term, Jadidism, took on a wider meaning to refer to everything which was new in the cultural and social life of Russian Muslims. Within this context of liberal reform movements, the Jadidists worked towards improving the socio-legal status of Russian Muslims. For more details: R. G. Landa, Islam; D. M. Iskhakov, Fenomen; V. Bobrovnikov, “Islam”; E. J. Lazzerini, “Čadidism.” ArOr – Issue 80.2 ISSN 0044-8699 © 2012 Oriental Institute (ASCR), Prague 260 • MIKHAIL MEYER participation in this mouvement especially as related to the liberation of Muslims in Eurasia from colonialism and who correspondingly found themselves in a situation of national powerlessness. For historians, A. Ibrahim embodies a special interest because his engagement as a representative of Pan-Islamic activity is tightly bound to the participation in political struggles both in Russia and beyond its borders. The Russian Tatar Thinker Abdurrashid Ibrahim’s Early Years Abdurrashid Ibrahim (Ibragimov), known as Rashid (also called Abd ar-Rashid, Abdarrashid, Gabderashid), was born on April 23, 1857 into a merchant family in the town of Tara in the Tobolskaya province, Siberia. His relatives were immigrants from the city of Bukhara, the most important center of education for Russian Muslims, including the Tatars, up until the second half of the XIXth century. Indeed, the first Tatar thinkers belonging to the Enlightenment movement in the area came from this city, namely, Abdurrahim Utuz-Imyani, Abdunnasir Kursavi and Shihabeddin Merjani.2 As for Rashid (Abdurrashid Ibrahim), his primary education took place in a Tara mosque and then afterwards his lessons continued in a Kazan medrese called Kyshkar. During a period of eight years (1871–79), he perfected his knowledge in a Tatarian tekke located in Medine before going on to Istanbul. In 1882, at the age of 25 years old, Rashid returned to Tara. He was now a convinced adherent of religious reform which included the necessity for instituting new approaches in education. He opened a school in his native town which specialized in the new methods (usūl-i jadīd). According to the sources, from 1885, it seems that Rashid Ibrahim was the imam in Tara’s mosque and a teacher (mudarris) in the local medrese. In 1892, he was elected to the position of judge (cadı) in the Orenbourg Muhammedan Spiritual Assembly (OMSA).3 His active participation in the Jadid movement led to a conflict with the mufti Mukhammedyar Sultanov who had spoken up against the participation of Muslim clergy in Russian political life. Abdurrashid Ibrahim’s Political Activities Abroad and in Russia This conflict forced Rashid Ibrahim to leave for Ottoman Turkey in 1895. In Istanbul, he wrote his first treatise called Morning Star (Chulpan Yildiz) in which he sharply criticized the colonial politics of the Tzarist regime in relation to native Muslim 2 T. K. Ibragim, F. M. Sultanov, and A. N. Yuzeev, Tatarskaya, 138. 3 The Orenbourg Muhammedan Spiritual Meeting (OMSM) was established on the order of Ekaterina II in 1788 as an official institute which acted as the highest judicial agency for Russian Muslims and was supposed to represent their interests in front of the Russian government. The meeting consisted of a mufti and three cadıs (as associate judges) appointed by the tzar’s order and changed every three years. For more details, refer to: D. D. Azamatov, Orenburgskoe. An Islamic Perspective in Russian Public Opinion:The Russian Tatar Thinker Abdurrashid Ibrahim • 261 populations. The main reason for writing this brochure was undoubtedly the attempts by Russian authorities to implement N. I. Ilminsky’s plans to Christianize the indigenous populations of the Middle and Lower Volga regions and simultaneously to undermine Islamic influence in these areas.4 Rashid’s treatise was censored in Russia but it nonetheless illegally spread within the Muslim population. In April 1897, Rashid Ibrahim went on a long trip around the most important centers in the Islamic world from Egypt to East Turkestan and across several European countries. After a short stay in Tara, he took up his journey again and went to India and then, at the end of 1900, he travelled to St Petersburg. He established close relationships during these trips with prominent men in Muslim communities, among them with Jemaleddin al-Afgani (1839–97) but also with many emigrants from Russia.5 According to some information, cadı Rashid contacted Russian socialists while in Switzerland and discussed questions with them concerning the struggle of Russian Muslims for their social and cultural rights.6 These meetings served to strengthen Rashid’s belief in the wide opportunities of Pan-Islamism.7 When he was in St Petersburg and with the help of Ilyas Mirza Boragansky, a teacher in the university and owner of the printing-house Nur which published literature on the subject of Arabic graphics, Rashid Ibrahim started publishing a Tatar- language almanac called Mirat (Mirror). In his articles published in this almanac, Rashid discussed questions related to the autonomy of national institutions and the necessity for the Tatars to undertake reforms based on the European example. In 1902–1903, Rashid went to Japan for the first time after which he settled down in Istanbul to develop activities which advocated Pan-Islamism and Pan-Turkist ideas towards Russian Muslims. Such activity fully fit the trend supported by the Sublime Porte’s politics during the reign of sultan Abdulhamid II (1876–1909) and which moreover defined, according to the opinion of some researchers, the connections of this former cadı with the new Intelligence service Yildiz (Star) created by the sultan’s government. On the other hand, Rashid Ibrahim’s activity obviously did not satisfy St. Petersburg, especially after the beginning of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904–1905. Indeed, in 1904, the Russian Embassy in Istanbul ordered Rashid 4 N. I. Ilminsky (1822–91), a professor at the Kazan Spiritual Seminary, was also a theoretician and active representative of the tzar’s authorities vis-à-vis the Christianization of the native population of the Middle and Lower Povolzhye for the purpose of restricting the role of Islam. His system aimed at preparing local persons for the priesthood and encouraged the wide spreading of Christian literature in the languages of local populations as well as organizing elementary schools for non-Christians. The program also included a transition from an education in the native languages to one which taught in Russian and from the initial religions and cultures to one of Christianity and Russian culture. For more details, refer to: S. Faizov, Islam, 35–37, and V. Bobrovnikov, “Islam,” 211–213. 5 A. N. Kurat, “Kazan,” cilt XXIV, n. 3–4, s. 123–125. 6 N. Devlet, Rusya, 81–82. 7 For a study on Pan-Islamism as seen in the French sources at the end of the XIXth century: A. D’Agostini, Phénoménologie. 262 • MIKHAIL MEYER to leave the Ottoman Empire and to return to Russia. Immediately after arriving in Odessa, he was taken into custody.8 The arrest of this popular publicist and religious figure caused a wave of reaction in support of him and Rashid Ibrahim was soon released and resettled again in the Russian capital. There, he started publishing the newspaper Ulfat (Unity)9 and entered into a close relationship with outstanding representatives of liberal public organizations and the self-administration institutions movement (zemstvo). With their help, Rashid was able to obtain an audience with P. S. Swyatopolk-Mirsky, minister for Internal Affairs, who was famous for his liberal views. During the meeting with this minister, Rashid Ibrahim stated his ideas concerning the problems of the Muslim population after which the minister requested that he prepare an official appeal in the name of all Muslims to summarize their demands.10 This recommendation allowed “Uncle Rashid” (as he was called by the young Jadidists) to visit several regions in Russia.