L. N. Tolstoy and Islam: Rethinking Muslims’ place in Russian cultural canon

Abstract

This article distinguishes the main ways of thematization of Islam in Russian intellectual culture: Islam as a civilizational opponent, as inferior to Christianity as a revealed religion, as a potential Christianity, and others. These opinions differ from the Tolstoy’s as he understood Islam as a full-fledged tradition that has some religious truths common to Christianity and that distorts them throughout the course of history in its own way. The special relevance of Tolstoy’s conception of spiritual and ethical nature of religion for rethinking Muslims’ places in the Russian “cultural canon” is noted. The author observes the particular internal similarities between Tolstoy’s philosophy and Islam that make them close. Both the outright “Islamization” of Tolstoy’s teachings and the attempts to separate his ideas from Islamic context are criticized. The “cognation” between some of Tolstoy’s central ideas, stemming from his contemplation of Christian legacy, and the ideas embedded in Islamic tradition may facilitate more successful “convergence” of Muslim identity and Russian identity (“prototypically” Christian). In conclusion, the author justifies the necessity of appealing to the thought of “non-Islamic” thinkers in Russian culture for overcoming of the stereotypical images of Muslims in Russian “cultural canon” to be effective.