Islam in Post-Soviet Russia

Download or read book Islam in Post-Soviet Russia written by Hilary Pilkington and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-08-27 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, based on extensive original research in the field, analyses the political, social and cultural implications of the rise of Islam in post-Soviet Russia. Examining in particular the situation in Tatarstan and Dagestan, where there are large Muslim populations, the authors chart the long history of Muslim and orthodox Christian co-existence in Russia, discuss recent moves towards greater autonomy and the assertion of ethnic-religious identities which underlie such moves, and consider the actual practice of Islam at the local level, showing the differences between "official" and "unofficial" Islam, how ceremonies and rituals are actually observed (or not), how Islam is transmitted from one generation to the next, the role of Islamic thought, including that of radical sects, and Islamic views of men and women's different roles. Overall, the book demonstrates how far Islam in Russia has been extensively influenced by the Soviet and Russian multi-ethnic context.