Islamic Revival in the Post-Soviet Space: the Case of Tatar Muslim Women in the Central Russian Republic of Tatarstan (Research Summary)

Focusing specifically on women’s negotiation of ethnic and religious identities, this research analyzes the relationship between ethnic and religious revival in Tatarstan and examines reasons behind Tatar Muslim women’s choice of Islam as a way of life despite challenges it might present in a secular Russian state. Preliminary findings suggest that women become religiously observant for a variety of personal reasons, but the instability associated with living in a society in transition such as present-day Russia is a common contributing factor. Secondly, there is an increasing shift from a predominant ethno-linguistic component of Tatar identity to a religious (Muslim) one: younger Tatars, in particular, identify Islam as the most important marker of their identity. Finally, while Tatars today are faced with a new task of navigating through once unfamiliar, newly introduced, forms of Islam that go beyond their traditional Hanafi school, Tatars’ encounters with alternative, often more conservative, forms of Islam are often circumstantial, as are the outcomes of such encounters.

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Liliya Karimova, of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, was a 2011 Regional Policy Symposium participant.