Islam in Yamal: features of integration in the Arctic zone

Abstract

On the basis of the analysis of sources, works of researchers, interviews, field studies, participant observation, features of the Islamic religion in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug are traced. During the Middle Ages the territory of Yamal was included in trade with the countries of the East through the “fur route”, as evidenced by a significant number of archaeological finds of oriental objects, and later it was formally part of such Muslim states as the Tyumen and Siberian Khanates, but the presence of Muslims in Yamal was minimal. However, since the middle of the 20th century the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug began to attract migrants who created communities in cities and in shift camps. The majority of believers, despite the difference in places of exodus, adhere to Islam traditional for Russia (Hanafi and Shafi'i madhhabs), building relationships with authorities, representatives of other faiths and worldviews. They believe that it is only through dialogue that relations can be harmonized, while respecting the traditions and norms that have developed in the district. The specificity of the confession of Islam in the conditions of the Arctic is also obvious. The radicals tried to instill into the minds of fellow believers that extremist ideology and terrorist acts should become a tool in building a caliphate. For such propaganda and crimes, other Islamists are serving sentences (including life imprisonment), having different conditions for observing rituals. Security in the district, which is of strategic importance in political and economic terms, should take into account both the peculiarities of the organization of the local society and its experience in countering extremism. The article explores how Islam in Yamal passed a path in a short time that took centuries for other regions of the world.