The role of Muslim clergy in the formation of community and territorial relations (on the case of Tomsk)

The revival of Islam in Tomsk, as elsewhere in the Soviet Union, is an objectively inevitable process that began in the late 1980s. The visible signs of the religious revival were the growing number of places of worship, registered religious communities, and the formation of a network of institutions of religious education. Processes of Islamic revival following the Soviet period were largely due to the activity of Muslim religious leaders - imams, mullahs, and muftis. They helped restore prayer complexes of the city and create parishes that keep the traditions and culture of Islam. In the Tomsk region, Islam is practiced by different ethnic groups. The largest Muslim ethnic group is the Tatars (both of local and non-local origins). In addition, such peoples as the Bashkirs, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Chechens and others, that have traditionally practiced Islam, live permanently in the region and Tomsk mosques are of great importance to them. The revival of Islam and the formation of religious communities in Tomsk started with the transfer of the White Mosque to the local Muslim community in 1990. The Red Mosque was transferred to the believers later, in 2002. A great part in the restoration of the mosques was played by activists of the Tatar Muslim community. The Tomsk mosque complexes belong to different Muslim organizations: The White Mosque is subject to the Muslim Administration of Muslims of Siberia, whereas the Red Mosque and the madrassa -to the Muslim Administration of Muslims of the Asian part of Russia. Since 1997, Muslims of Tomsk have been drawn into a conflict over the «spheres of influence» between the two organizations and the community got divided between the supporters of Mufti of Siberia and Far East Sheikh N. Ashirov and Mufti of Omsk Z. Shakirzyanov who pursued the position of the former. Imam of the White Mosque is Nurulla Kalykakhunov, Imam of the Red Mosque is Nizamutdin Zhumayev. Their conflict is closely connected with the local policy and competition for various symbolic and material resources, the redistribution of funds that were coming from state and private sources during the period of restoration of the mosques in Tomsk. The religious field of Tomsk is divided between the Red and the White Mosque based on ethnicity and age groups predominant in the communities and this is also related to the background of the two imams. At present, the intensity of the conflict between the communities has decreased significantly, however the dispute between the imams over which mosque is to be considered the leading one is yet to be resolved. Differences remain, the main groups of the Muslim clergy continue to stick to their stances, and so the struggle for the religious field goes on.

Keywords

Authors

References