Muslim Environment Research Articles

The question of Hadith studies in Zakir Qadiri's article "Dini Ve Gayri Dini Rivayetler" (Religious and Non-Religious Traditions)

The article introduces the content of a scientific article by Zakir Qadiri, unknown in Russia but published in Turkey during the period of his emigration. The author, relying on a rich source base, including world-famous literary monuments, as well as scientific works of Western and Russian Islamic scholars, examines the phenomenon of oral tradition as a cultural and historical phenomenon. He describes the role and place of tradition among the Arabs and other peoples in pre-Islamic era, writes about the transformation of tradition in the Muslim environment and its institutionalization in the form of hadith. The article also examines the features, methodology, positive and negative aspects of the science of hadith, including the reasons and mechanisms for falsifying isnads and matns of hadiths. The material is an example of the scientific work of a deeply educated Muslim intellectual, prepared in accordance with Western scientific traditions. The published data represent a valuable contribution to the array of information about the history of Tatar religious, philosophical, and in general scientific and social thought, and will enrich the annals of the Russian Islamic studies community.

NUPTIAL AGREEMENT IN MUSLIM MARRIAGE: A JURISTIC ANALYSIS

The nuptial agreement is been gaining attraction in the Muslim environment in recent times because of the assumed benefit to protect either of the marital partners in the advent of divorce or separation. Prenuptial clauses usually take effect immediately after marriage consummation and every party can lay claim to the agreement in the event of a breach of agreement while postnuptial agreements are clauses agreed upon during the marriage period. Although there are complaints that Muslims from Western and non-Islamic societies might need prenuptial agreement in the place of khulʼ (redemption) to protect either party in the case of future divorces or separation, however, there are concerns about the rate of interest in the new couples from Muslim society opting for a prenuptial agreement. This study explores the concepts of prenuptial and postnuptial and their associated use by Muslim couples in contemporary reality. The study will examine why Muslim couples from Islamic society are opting for nuptial agreement rather than khulʼ regulations in Islamic law and the need to identify essential thresholds in juristic conditioning for nuptial agreements in a Muslim marriage, especially in the case of Shartu fāsid (invalid conditions) in a marriage agreement. The study uses a doctrinal approach to gathering and analysis of data from an Islamic perspective. The study proposed useful suggestions from the finding on juristic conditioning in the application of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements in Muslim society.

“It Takes Three Generations to Change and Strengthen the Religious Code”

Interview with Alsu Rashitovna Biktagirova, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, a practicing psychologist about the religious and cultural features of the work of a psychologist in Bashkiria. The article deals with the emergence of religious value codes, the formation of a cultural script in three generations, the peculiarities of client practice in the Muslim environment, as well as in a multicultural republic.

Տաթևի, Ս․ Թադեի և Ս․ Ստեփաննոս Նախավկայի վանքերը ԺԹ դարի առաջին կեսին

From the beginning of Qajar rule in Iran the Armenian monaste-ries of Syunik and Artaz suffered the hardships of the Russo-Persian conflict and wars for the regions of Transcaucasia. The Persian docu-ments of the Matenadaran throw light on some political and economic developments around the monasteries and help elucidate some aspects of Qajar policy as regards the Armenian sanctuaries under their rule. Tatev monastery, located in the territory subject to the khan of Karabagh had passed under the rule of Russian empire after the treaty concluded in Kurakchay in 1805 and then after the fights of the Russo-Persian war of 1804 - 1813 its annexation to Russia was confirmed by the treaty of Gulistan. The monastery served as a refuge of the Russian troops fighting for the region. The monasteries of Artaz remained under the rule of Qajar Iran after the treaty of Turkmenchay concluded in 1828, at the end of the second Russo-Persian war. The Qajar governement supported the mo-nasteries of St. Thaddeus and St. Stepannos, the apostles, and tried to keep away its Armenian followers, the inhabitants of Azerbayjan from migration to the regions passed under the rule of Russia. In spite of these attempts the major portion of the Armenians of Azerbayjan migrated. However, the Qajar powers granted some estates to the monasteries in the villages around them and protected their rights with royal decrees and other documents in order to secure their survival in later Muslim environment.

Environmental appraisals in outgroup cultural landscapes: The role of Muslim elements in urban settings

Cultural landscapes can contribute to positive environmental appraisals. However, previous studies focused on exposure to ingroup culture. Referring the debate in Europe on Muslim symbols in the public sphere, this study examines the effect of exposure to outgroup cultural cues on environmental appraisals. We compare environmental appraisals of participants from France, Germany, and the Netherlands after a simulated walk in an outgroup (Muslim) cultural landscape or a religiously-neutral environment. The effect of the Muslim setting was contingent on intolerance, with tolerant individuals reporting more positive environmental appraisals in the Muslim environment. However, this effect reversed as intolerance increased, and more intolerant individuals perceived the Muslim environment more negatively than the control. These findings offer an alternative view to the idea that the visibility of Muslim symbols in the public space has negative effects. Instead, we reveal a nuanced interplay between the urban environment, sociopolitical context and individual-level differences.

The Formation of Religious Authority Among Central Asian Mullahs in Russia: Questions of Duty and Loyalty in a Muslim Migration Context

ABSTRACT This paper develops a new approach to contemporary religious authority among Muslim migrants in Russia, conceptualizing such notions as duty and loyalty in the Muslim migration context. The study demonstrates the fluidity of the boundary between official and unofficial authorities using the configuration of the Muslim environment of Irkutsk (Siberia) as its real-life example. The research focuses on the position, religious practices, and views of Central Asian mullahs in the city of Irkutsk. Though they do not hold any official positions in the city mosque, they nevertheless play a considerable role in the construction of the religious everyday life of their fellow believers.

Do consumers need halal label? Evidence from small and medium enterprises segment in a major Muslim environment

PurposeThis present study aims to investigate the mediating effect of halal label perceived importance (HPI) on buying intention (BI) of small and medium enterprises (SME) food products in a Muslim-majority environment by involving attitude (ATT), subjective norms (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) as the antecedents.Design/methodology/approachA self-administered survey was conducted with 437 Muslim respondents who shop at an SME shopping center. Subsequently, the structural equation modeling technique was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings showed that ATT and PBC significantly influence the BI of halal-labeled food products. On the other hand, HPI partially mediates the relationship between ATT, PBC and BI.Practical implicationsThe results provided insights that SME actors will be benefited from selling halal-labeled products as the label amplifies Muslim consumers’ BI. Moreover, the government must intensify the halal campaign to strengthen public awareness and social pressure on purchasing halal-labeled brands.Social implicationsAs SMEs are the major contributor to the national economy, this sector’s business growth will benefit the Indonesian people. Moreover, as the most Muslim-populated country, halal product development will contribute significantly to the whole national economy.Originality/valueThis study provides empirical evidence on the halal labeling mediation role in the relationship between consumer motivation and halal buying intention in a major Muslim setting.

The Kök-Tash underground mausoleum in north-eastern Kyrgyzstan: the first-ever identified Qara Khitai elite tomb?

AbstractThe Qara Khitai or Western Liao dynasty (1124–1218) is one of the most fascinating polities in medieval Eurasia, but also one of the least documented in terms of both literary sources and material culture. Founded by Khitan refugees who escaped from North China when the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) vanquished the Khitan Liao dynasty (907–1125), the Qara Khitai soon established a multicultural empire in Central Asia, combining Khitan, Chinese, and Muslim elements. The Buddhist Qara Khitai ruled over their mostly Muslim population in rare harmony until the rise of Chinggis Khan (r. 1206–1227). Hitherto only a few objects—and not a single structure—have been associated with this powerful empire. We argue that the Kök-Tash mausoleum, excavated in 2017–2018 and originally interpreted as a unique subterranean Muslim mausoleum, is actually the first-ever identified Qara Khitai elite tomb.This unique tomb, located in the Kochkor valley of north-eastern Kyrgyzstan, about a day's ride from the Qara Khitai capital of Balāsāghūn, shares many similarities with the Liao tombs in North China, notably the typical Khitan mesh-wire burial suit. Yet it also uses local Central Asian materials and techniques, thereby manifesting how the Qara Khitai managed to retain their cultural identity in their new Central Asian and mostly Muslim environment. Moreover, identifying the Kök Tash mausoleum as a Qara Khitai tomb allows us to reassess several other unusual tombs excavated in the region in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and to suggest attributing them, too, to the Qara Khitai.

К ВОПРОСУ О РОЛИ ИСЛАМСКИХ РЕЛИГИОЗНЫХ ДЕЯТЕЛЕЙ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ТУРКЕСТАНСКИХ ПОХОДОВ РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ: НА ПРИМЕРЕ ПЕРЕПИСКИ ОРЕНБУРГСКОЙ ПОГРАНИЧНОЙ КОМИССИИ С МУЛЛОЙ ШАГИМАРДАНОВЫМ

The middle of the 19th century became the starting point for the Russian Empire in terms of the conquest of the Kokand Khanate and the Bukhara Emirate, as well as its final positions consolidation in the region by creating the Turkestan Governor-General in the annexed territories in 1867. The defeat of the Russian Empire in the Crimean War forced the government to take more decisive measures to annex Kokand and Bukhara through a large-scale military campaign, however the need to solidify its hold on the region as soon as possible required the command to make some new strategic decisions and cooperate with representatives of the local elite, merchants and clergy. The article is intended to significantly fill the historiographical gap in the research of the cooperation between the Russian command and the Muslim institutions within the framework of the annexation of Central Asia by introducing and analyzing previously unpublished sources from the State Archive of the Orenburg Region. The article reviews examples of cooperation with representatives of the elite, merchants and clergy, their influence on the possible peaceful settlement of the conflict or its escalation, including the issue of collaboration and espionage in the Muslim environment, possible potential benefits and the need for cooperation with the Russian army. The conclusions of the article allow revising traditional views on the positions of Islamic leaders, as well as reevaluating the significance of a religious factor as one of the most important elements in the system of confrontation of Asian khanates with Russia

Миграция сирийских православных христиан в Европу и процесс их адаптации

The purpose of the study is to provide insight into the religious and social identity of Syrian Orthodox refugees in Europe, into the nature of interreligious conflict. The paper deals with the following: Syria has become a crossroads of international conflicts that have deeply affected religious minorities. Syrian Christians who fled to Europe, being unable to settle in the countries of the Middle East, faced new problems of adaptation and security. Ignoring religious differences actually leads to persecution of Christians and Islamophobia. The scientific novelty of the study is presented by the determination of the role of religious differences in the interaction of Syrian Orthodox refugees with the Muslim environment in Europe. As a result, it has been proved that in the absence of safe and legal means of support for groups with different religious and cultural origins, there is no single specific measure that is suitable for everyone, and the role of the Christian churches and other civil institutions, such as civil society and social consensus, increases significantly and should be studied.

Extraordinary Example of Media–Minority Relations: The Polish Minority in the Turkish Media

Adampol / Polonezköy is a Polish village located on the Asian side of İstanbul, founded due to the efforts of Prince Adam Czartoryski in the nineteenth century. The village is an extraordinary example of a Catholic minority in a Muslim environment, making the community and its representation in the media particularly interesting. This research-based study focuses on how the Polish minority is represented in the Turkish media in the light of van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis. The study evaluates how texts and photographs have been structured in newspapers by examining news stories about Adampol / Polonezköy from the Milliyet newspaper and the haberler.com and adampolpolonezkoy websites.

A YEZIDI MANUSCRIPT – MIŠŪR OF P’ĪR 'OMAR KHĀLĀN, ITS STUDY AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The mişûrs are rare examples of the written religious texts of the Yezidi community. Yezidi mišūrs were written in the thirteenth century and after in accordance with the Yezidi tradition with the will and blessing of Sheikh ˈAdī (other forms: Sheikh ‘Adî, Šīkhādī, Šēkhādī, 1072/1078—1162) and his followers, who are seen in Yezidism as saints (khās, walī). The texts were consequently copied on a regular basis. The task of this article is to describe and analyze the Mišūr of P’īr 'Omar Khālān. As a part of the study of this mišūr it is presented detailed information regarding the personality of the Yezidi saint 'Omar Khālān, after whom this mišūr is named. It should also be noted, that the compilers who edited the document, took into consideration the Muslim environment that was hostile towards the Yezidi religious worldview.

Venus, Issa, and the Moon Dog

Abstract Like Arabic and Latin geomancy in the Middle Ages, Fa divination on the Benin Coast uses sixteen fundamental signs. Beyond their common formal structure, do these divinatory systems share content? The analysis focuses on a seventeenth fundamental sign (Oche Tula), conceived of as the messenger sign in Fa. This paper firstly aims to show that this sign, whose link with the messenger god Lɛgba is well known in Yoruba and Fon mythology, also maintained a relationship with the planet Venus (nicknamed Moon Dog), which is now largely forgotten. Moreover, medieval geomancy systematically mentioned the link between the planet Venus and the two figures named Amissio (Loss) and Mundus facie (Immaculate face), which, when combined, are identical to Oche Tula. The second goal of the analysis is to reconstruct the analogical process at work in labeling the planet Venus with this sign, which in medieval geomancy was composed of two figures. On the one hand, the author tries to show that the figure “Immaculate face” – in the form of a Christian cross – represents Isa/Jesus and has been identified with the morning star (Venus) in a medieval Christian and Muslim environment. On the other hand, the geomantic double sign could represent either the negative aspect (impurity, loss) or positive aspect (purity, fertility) of the planet Venus, depending on whether it is direct or retrograde, according to medieval astrology categories.

Татары-мусульмане Некрашунской парафии: история и современность

The article follows the Nekrashun parish of Tatar-Muslim origin on various deep historical processes, from its origin to the present day. The purpose of the article is the observe features of the social and cultural life of the Tatars of the Nekrashun parish, to consider the role of Islamic traditions and the local mosque in the life of the population. The material for the study was the information revealed in the Lithuanian State Historical Archive, in the archive of the Grodno State Museum of the History of Religion. Much attention is paid to genealogy as a method of historical research, personal history. The work provides biographical information of imams, muezzins, active figures of the Tatar community.The authors analyze the historical stage of the infection of the Nekrashun parish in the period from the 15th-16th centuries to the present day, special attention is paid to the interwar period of infection of the twentieth century. It was revealed that Nekrashun people and its outskirts were the site of an ancient settlement of the Tatar-Muslims in the Belarusian lands. The time of the most active development of the Nekrashun parish was the interwar period, accompanied by the development of the policy of the Polish state. At that time, the mosque, which was destroyed during the First World War, was rebuilt, a Muslim school and a parish house were builded. The mosque is about high density for the local Tatar-Muslim population. It performed a consolidating function, leading to the preservation of the Tatar community. Religion is a consequence of the emergency, preventing the assimilation of the population living in an integral Muslim environment.

Armenian-Jewish Connections in the Light of Pre-Modern Armenian Polemical Literature from Iran and Its Wider Context


 The reconstruction of Armenian-Jewish relations in the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries is not an easy task due to the scarcity of historical material. Both peoples underwent resettlement, segregation, coercive conversions under Muslim rule (fighting the side-effects of religious policies for social disciplining), political agendas, the influx of Catholic missionaries, and interstate wars throughout the Safavid to Qajar periods. The current article attempts to revisit the perceptions about Jews and Armenians within inter-confessional debates by examining the early modern polemical literature from the Iranian Armenian context and by employing textual material from the Ottoman Armenian milieu that complements the Iranian case. It further aims to reveal the specifics of the Armenian-Jewish connections in the Persianate Muslim environment and detect the reasons for the ambiguous silence in the Armenian literature from the period in question.

«ДНЕВНИК ИНОРОДЧЕСКОГО МИССИОНЕРА»: ЖИЗНЬ ВОCПИТАННИКОВ КАСЛИНСКОГО БАШКИРСКОГО ПРИЮТА В ЗАПИСКАХ ПРАВОСЛАВНОГО КЛИРИКА

The article analyzes educational activities of the Kasli Bashkir Orphanage, established in 1891 by the Ekaterinburg Committee of the Orthodox Missionary Society. The source for the analysis was the “Diary of an inorodtsy missionary”, published in 1911–1913 in the diocesan newspaper. The diary’s author is Archpriest Alexander Stepanovich Miropolsky, who was educated at the missionary department of the Kazan Theological Academy. On the basis of the priest’s diary, the strategy of his educational and missionary activity is determined. Miropolsky, like many other missionaries, was confident in the beneficial power of Christian ideas, the truth of which he tried to convey to the Orphanage inmates. In polemical conversations with Bashkir children, he tried to refute the notion that had developed in the Muslim environment about Christianity as superstition and polytheism and to prove the inconsistency of Islam. The results of Miropolsky’s polemical missionary work among the pupils were minor. His diary tells of only one case of the conversion of a Bashkir teenager to Christianity. It is revealed that the Orthodox clergy of the Ekaterinburg diocese pursued a very cautious policy towards the Muslims of the region. Despite the general line of Russification and Christianization of non-Russian peoples and the sharpness of polemical rhetoric, no coercive actions were allowed to convert Bashkir children to Orthodoxy. The Kasli Bashkir Orphanage can be attributed to the acculturation model of an educational institution. Its inmates were introduced to Russian culture, preserving the identity and faith of their fathers.

Formation of religious (Islamic) structures of civil society in the North Caucasus in the XX–XXI centuries on the example of the Republic of Dagestan

The article is devoted to the problem of formation and development of religious structures of civil society in the North Caucasus. The end of the twentieth century brought a rapid surge of religiosity to the region, there was a rapid Re-Islamization of people, various numerous religious organizations began to appear, between which there was a struggle for influence over the consciousness of the population. Religious Muslim organizations are the dominant (in terms of influence and numerical composition) institution of civil society. Only in Dagestan, the number of registered organizations is almost two and a half thousand. In addition to the registered organizations, there are informal Sufi communities, Salafist groups and communities in the republics. Therefore, the question of the existence of civil society in non-classical conditions, and even more so in the Muslim environment, has recently become more relevant and it is important to trace its specifics and dynamics of development in the region, in the context of the increasing activity of civil society structures of an Islamic nature and the peculiarities of their practical manifestation (Islamic councils, organizations, network communities, etc.). We use the results obtained by the author in the course of sociological research in the Republic of Dagestan, as well as the results of research by scientists and sociologists from Dagestan, which show that religious organizations actively work in the social sphere, influence the moods and behavior of believers, and also act as driving forces of change in different types of societies. Their activity, role in political transformations, and opportunities for mobilization require expanding the concept of civil society in relation to non-Western societies, especially Islamic ones, where there is a very controversial environment and conditions that differ from the classical ones. Islamic organizations, as structures of civil society, have their own potential, they use modern tools, forms and achievements, and at the same time they are based on the principles of justice, mutual assistance, charity (zakat, “waqf” (donations), consultation, and civic engagement.

Исламская идентичность в светском обществе в концепции Т. Убру

The migration and the problem of preserving national identity remain the central issues of the political agenda and public debate in many modern countries. The article discusses the views of the French imam Tareq Oubrou – the author of the concept of "sharia of the minority" – on the issues of Muslim identity, as well as the integration of migrants in France. T. Oubrou symbolizes a figure at the junction of two civilizations: a kind of theorist and mediator for the reorganization of Islam in France. The research was based on monographs, individual articles, and texts of speeches of the French imam over the past twenty years. The work involved the methods of cognitive and conceptual text analysis, which made it possible to reconstruct the structure of the political message and its individual components. The research results suggest that T. Oubrou refocuses Islamic identity to its inner dimension by revising its defining markers. Minimizing Islamic identity is designed to preserve and maintain the Muslim presence in the West. At the same time, he nationalizes Islamic identity, subordinating it to the civil and political norms of France. Despite the fact that the proposed identification model evokes ambiguous emotions in the Muslim environment and great doubts in the host society, some of its provisions are in demand at the state level.

France: Republic against «Political Islam» (Part II)

From March 30 to April 12, 2021, members of the French Senate considered the government-prepared draft law on «countering separatism». His ideology is primarily aimed at curbing the increased activity of supporters of «political Islam» (Islamism) in France. Earlier, on February 16, 2021, the National Assembly (lower house of parliament) had approved the document. As shown in the first part of the article, the discussion of the draft deepened the split in the Muslim community of France between followers of moderate Islam, who supported the efforts of the government, and Islamists, who rejected the main provisions of the document. This article attempts to analyze a new stage of relations between the state and the Muslim community of the country – against the background of the decisions made by the senators. Accusing the French government of «Islamophobia»”, Islamic radicals appeal to the leadership of the European Union. Behind them, the figure of the Turkish President R.T. Erdogan, who is increasingly using religious rows in Europe for his own political purposes. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that the escalating confrontation in the Muslim environment and around it is acquiring more and more obvious political implications in France.

Polygamy As a Form of Marriage: Based on Sociological Research

Polygamy as a form of marriage is, as a rule, more common in Arab and Muslim countries than in Russia. The desire of modern Russian men to commit polygamy can be interpreted as a consequence of the improvement in their material condition, which makes possible to support two or more wives and their children, while at the same time not taking into consideration the moral side of the issue that it is necessary to devote the same amount of time to all wives, to solve family problems if necessary, and to raise children. Despite the fact that the Quran says that it is better to take divorced and single mothers as the second and the third wives to support them, modern men are not guided by moral and religious principles, but rather by the desire to have a younger wife. This article presents the results of sociological research, both quantitative and qualitative. As a quantitative study, we conducted a pilot survey of Muslim women in the Republic of Tatarstan, which revealed some trends in the socialization of Muslims in Russian society. Further, a number of qualitative studies were conducted in order to study the Muslim environment in more depth: in-depth interviews with Russian Muslim women, as well as semi-structured interviews with imams of mosques. The results of the research made it possible to create a typology of polygamous families: — a Man with a good financial situation, in some cases having a high status in society, which can allow him to support several wives and their children, creates a marriage with several wives. In this type, family members are not always practicing Muslims, most often they are ethnic Muslims. — Male migrants, more often coming from CIS countries, less often from Arab countries, leave their wives and children, come to work in Russia and create new families. However, for such wives from Russia, there is no guarantee that the husband will not leave for his homeland and will not return. — A man who belongs to non-traditional religious movements, where it is possible without observing the necessary conditions to conduct the nikah rite with a woman from the same ”group” that shares his ”religious” views, including without notification, permission of the first wife. More often, this is a man who does not have the financial ability to support several wives.
 Keywords: polygamy, polygamous family, Muslim women, Muslim, Islam