Network Project “Islam in Russia”

The main goals of the project are to study and analyze the complex problems associated with Islam, the lifestyle, social and political behavior of Moslem communities, and the activities of Moslem organizations. The project will also analyze the influence of the Islamic factor on domestic policy.

The scope of the project is not limited to the present-day situation but also includes a relatively short-term (a decade) outlook of Islam and Russian Islamism (some aspects will be examined from a longer-term perspective). The project addresses some particular developments that can be expected in certain regions of the RF, and anticipates nation-wide trends.

The novelty of the project is the unprecedented attempt to coordinate the efforts of regional research centers in the area of Islamic studies. This allows for sharing professional experience and using it for methodology improvement as well as for practical recommendations. The latter is especially important, given that some of the regions are facing ethno-confessional tensions which mount up from time to time destabilizing the society.

Project performers: Saratov, Rostov, Ural, and Tomsk CASEs.

Prominent Russian scholars and experts from regional universities made presentations at a number of conferences held by CASEs.

The following events took place within the project framework in the report period:

The first, orientational seminar on Islam and Ethnic Relations, was hosted by the Saratov Center for Advanced Studies and Education on April 3-4, 2006. Participants were discussing religion as a factor of ethnic relations.

The second seminar, Radical Branch of Islamic Ideology was held in the premises of the Rostov Center for Advanced Studies and Education on May 23-24, 2006. The audience discussed the extremely sensitive subject of Islamic radicalism and extremism, and the threat posed by Islamists in Russia, in particular, in Northern Caucasus.

Local mullahs that took part in the discussion described the Rostov seminar as an event of high social value.

The third seminar, hosted by the Novgorod Center for Advanced Studies and Education on June 25-26, 2006, was part of the agenda of the conference Inter-regional Studies: Prospects and Challenges at the Present Stage (breakout section, „Islamic Factor in the Political Process“).

The main topic of the seminar was the way in which Islam affects the political process. The general discussion covered, among other things, the possibility of limiting the involvement of religion in politics.

The fourth seminar, Prospects and Challenges of Inter-Confessional Dialogue, took place on October 5-6, 2006 in Yekaterinburg. The seminar was arranged by the Ural Center for Advanced Studies and Education. The participants included representatives of the Yekaterinburg, Saratov, Rostov and Ufa universities, guest experts from Moscow, and ISE-Center staff members.

Tomsk hosted the conference Islamic Spiritual Values and Education: Historic and Cultural Traditions and Modernity on November 2, 2006. The conference addressed religious instruction and education, currently a subject of heated debate.

The series of events concluded on December 7-8, 2006 with the Rostov-on-Don stock-taking seminar on Spiritual Structures in Islam.

All seminars involved predictions of the future of Islam and the Moslem community in Russia. In particular, speakers pointed to the real threat of religious discord which may materialize unless the government and society fail to address the issues of migration, unemployment, and mounting xenophobia.

Young scholars were among the most active participants in all seminars, taking genuine interest in the subject matter and willing to contribute their work.

Project results will be summarized in a monograph, to be published as a collection of conference papers under the title „Islam in Russia. A view from the Regions“. The monograph is a multi-purpose undertaking intended for experts specializing in the subject; scholars with a broader professional interest in various aspects of the nation’s development; university professors, and practitioners (administration, security services, etc.). Moreover, it has an international academic (and political) target audience whose purpose is not only to receive information about the status of Islam in Russia, but also to be aware of the thematic studies that are being performed in Russia, and especially in the regions.

CASEs are also planning to individually publish the materials of the conferences they hosted throughout the year.

The project was covered by regional press, with the participants being able to discuss Islam-related issues in mass media.

In addition, participants of the „Islam in Russia“ network project:

made presentations at the seminar The Muslimhood in the Russian Federation: Past and Future, which took place at Carnegie Endowment, Washington, D.C., on November 17, 2006;
attended the 38th annual conference American Association for Advancement of Slavic Studies, which took place in Washington, D.C., on November 16-19 (breakout section on „Russia and Islam: Tangled Past and uncertain future“);
took part in the seminar Carnegie Scholars on Islam: Sharing Research Ideas and Findings Across Russia and the United States, which took place in New York, N.Y., on November 20, 2006.