The Ittifaq-el-Muslimin Party in the Russian Political System of the Early twentieth Century: Religious Aspects of Tatar Liberalism

Abstract

The subject of this article is the activity of the political party "Ittifaq-el-Muslimin" - a Muslim liberal party, the majority of whose members consisted of representatives of the Tatar population of Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. Tatar liberalism, in whose ideology the question of religion occupied one of their main places, was formed in 1905 - 1906. Its formation is connected with the holding of illegal All-Russian Muslim congresses. Sadri Maksudi, Yusuf Akchura, Gayah Ishaki and M. Bigi were at the origins of this congress. The Ittifaq-el-Muslimin party was formed at the III illegal All-Russian Muslim Congress on the basis of the previously formed All-Russian Muslim Union. This article is devoted to the activities of the Muslim Liberal Party and the consideration of the role of state-confessional relation. The main contribution of the author to the study lies in the revealing of the history and the role of the religio in the ideology and activities of national-religious liberal political parties in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century on the example of the Ittifaq-el-Muslimin party. In addition, the activity of the party is considered in the context of the all-Russian party system of 1905 - 1917. As a result of the research, the author came to the following conclusions. Despite the official legal consolidation of the concept of freedom of conscience, the Orthodox Church continued to maintain its dominant position. At the same time, representatives of other faiths (in particular, Old Believers and Muslims) were granted the right to freely preach their own religious beliefs, create public associations, freely carry out educational activities, and take part in the political life of Russia. The transformation of state-confessional relations is considered on the example of the formation of the Muslim liberal Party and its activities in the system of political relations of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century.