Welfare as dignity: public discussions in the periodical press of the Muslim Tatars of the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century

This study deals with public theological discussions on economic issues that took place in the Tatar Muslim community of the Russian Empire of the early twentieth century. The work is based on the analysis of the materials of the periodical press of the Muslim Tatars of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century, in which questions related to the economic problems of the Muslim community of Russia the most frequently raised. Among the periodicals analyzed are the specialized economic journal «Iktisad» / «Economics», the most authoritative periodical of that time «Shura» / «Council», «traditional» Muslim journal «Din va magishat» / «Religion and Life». The purpose of the article is to study the theological discourse on the economic situation of Muslims through the prism of the category of dignity proposed by Avishai Margalit. Issues raised and discussed in the periodical press of Muslim Tatars of the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century were considered in connection with the fate of the nation (millet) and its progress. In this regard, the authors of the articles divided the peoples of the world into «backward» and «developed», putting the Muslims in the first category. This differentiation turned into a divide of nations (millet) into communities of dignity and communities of humiliation. The authors of the periodicals saw one of the most urgent problems of that time in the difficult economic situation of Muslims both in Russia and around the world. The authors of the articles regarded the economic backwardness of the Muslims of Russia as a humiliated position in the all-Russian context. According to A. Margalit, humiliation is easier to describe than dignity. In the opinion of the authors of the periodicals, the unsatisfactory economic situation of Muslims was an expression of the collective (self)-humiliation of Muslims. Defining their position as humiliating, Muslims contrasted themselves to the Other - non-Muslims who existed in the absence of collective economic humiliation. In their turn, the reasons for such a situation were seen by the authors of the articles in connection with other problems, such as ineffective approaches to the management of compulsory Muslim tax funds (zakah), theological uncertainty regarding the issue of interest (riba), an irresponsible attitude to labor. The answer to this challenge of the time was the desire for a society of dignity, which could become possible through the solution of the above-mentioned problems. Thus, the thoughts of the authors of the articles about the economic problems of the Tatar Muslims of Russia were part of a general discourse about the desire for a decent life.

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