There is a rediscovery of deeply rooted traditional values in Tatarstan within the context of social and cultural changes in the light of recent developments. One of the most significant sociological events after the disintegration of the Soviet Union was the reconstruction of various religious identities and their institutionalization in society. During the communist era, religious education was banned and numerous religious institutions were closed down because of the communist ideology based on Karl Marx’s views who regarded religions “as opium”. However despite oppressive policies towards religions and imposition of atheist views and positivist education in the schools during the communist era, religions succeeded to survive as sources of collective identity. Social and political events in Tatarstan and elsewhere in the region after the Cold-War period show that despite state repression, Islam preserved its vitality for Muslims. Especially following the expansion of democracy, freedom of religious belief and its expression, Tatar Muslims began to rediscover their Islamic heritage and values.
Cultural and intellectual life among Kazan Tatars was very vibrant at the turn of the 20th century. Following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the Soviets downgraded and peripheralized non-Russian cultures and people attached to them. Tatar national culture was relegated to a lower level of the cultural evolutionary schema than was Russian culture. The Soviet Union was officially an atheist state and thus sought to stamp out religion from social and cultural life. From the very beginning of its establishment the Soviet state pursued a concerted policy of forcing out religion from public and political life on the one hand and from the life of the individuals on the other hand to create a “New Soviet Man” free from any religious and spiritual references. As part of such a policy of social engineering, Tatarstan’s famous mosques and madrasas were closed; their teachers and scholars were exiled or killed.
Resistance and Revival of Cultural and Religious Identity
Despite concerted campaigns to stamp out religions from the social and cultural fabric of society, neither Islam nor other religions died out. Muslims have resisted cultural, political and economic pressures imposed by the Soviet regime and remained faithful to their national and religious traditions. Beginning of the perestroika has been a turning point for Kazan Tatars and other nations who started to re-claim their national, cultural and religious identity on the one hand and to re-establish their cultural values and religious institutions on the other hand. Implementation of a bilingual education, the creation of Tatarstan citizenship and the establishment of Tatarstan’s Academy of Sciences are some indicators of institutional forms of national revival.
Not only linguistic and cultural elements of Tatar identity but also its religious dimensions found a fertile ground to foster. In the post-Soviet period Islam is viewed as an important component of Tatar national identity and therefore a special argument is made in favor of the strengthening of its symbolic and ideological function.
One of the most symbolic developments in Tatarstan was the reconstruction the Kul Sharif Mosque which was destroyed in 1552 when Ivan the Terrible invaded the Kazan Khanate. Recent data indicate that Muslims of Tatarstan are re-discovering the legacy of Islam and re-building its institutions such as mosques and madrasas as a result of social and political changes following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The reports indicate that the number of mosques here increased from three in 1990 to over 1000 in 2004. According to the data of the Central Administrative Board of the RF Ministry of Justice, there were 1288 religious organizations registered in the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan by January 1, 2004. Of these 986 are Muslim and 204. Modern Tatarstan accommodates diversity of faith groups representing various religious traditions that enjoy freedom of religion and conscience. These registered religious communities have established numerous places of worship and temples. Today there are 1014 mosques, 176 Orthodox Churches other religious buildings.
Religious education has also risen in Tatarstan which fills an important vacuum. It is noteworthy to point out that if religious education is not organized, sponsored and consolidated as a source of inculcation of authentic Islam, people will tend to find other sources for information which may lead to undesired developments such as Islam being hijacked by various groups with different agendas. It has already been observed that there are attempts by external groups and movements to infiltrate Tatarstan and impose their understating of Islam which opposes traditional perception of Islam held by Tatars which evolved in contact with various cultural, religious and ethnic groups over the centuries. Lack of religious education or insufficient inculcation of Islam may provide a room for external influences. Therefore state support is extremely important for the provision of proper religious education based on scholarly studies and well prepared curriculum to disable groups and movements who try to infiltrate Tatar society to impose an “imported” interpretation of Islam.
In conclusion, traditional national cultures and religion succeeded to preserve their presence especially in individual consciousness if not institutionally during the Soviet rule which is marked by a systematic repression. Recent developments and contemporary social, cultural and political transformations clearly show that religion is an important force and a source of identity in Tatarstan today. Not only in Tatarstan but around the globe there is an increasing tendency towards religion such as in USA, the Middle East, the East Asia, the South America, the Eastern Europe and in numerous other places. Transnational religious networks are being formed and communication revolution enabled religions to become a global social reality in world politics. One can argue that religion is not simply a cultural heritage or a source of individual/collective identity or merely a set of ritual practices for Muslims in Tatarstan. As the recent social and cultural changes indicate, Islam has an existential value for Muslim believers in Tatarstan providing a weltanschauung for them in public and private realms.
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