Moscow Shi‘ite Communities in the Post-Soviet Period

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of Shi‘ite Muslims, natives of Transcaucasia, South Asia, and Southern Dagestan, settled in the Moscow region during the post-Soviet period. The study is based on the author’s field materials (2017–2021). There are three main stages of the formation of Shi‘ite communities in Moscow: activities individual activists in the 1990s; sustainable development in the 2000s; and full-fledged autonomous existence in the 2010s. The article shows that the Shi‘ites in Moscow are not united in the one whole community, moreover, communities representing different ethnic groups are independent of each other. They develop separately; at the same time, some neophytes stand apart. The structure and social relations in Shi‘ite communities largely reproduce patterns of social organization of their homeland. Ethnic, cultural and linguistic borders do not become transparent. Political events and upheavals in the exodus countries activate the national and ethnic feelings of the Moscow Shi‘ites. The Shi‘ite communities have built interstate religious networks, which allow them to continue their autonomous development in the Moscow region.