타타르스탄 청년 무슬림의 문화적 정체성 탐구

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the meaning of resurrection of Islam among the young Muslims in Tatarstan. The majority of Russian Muslims live in the Volga-Ural region and the Northern Caucasus. But these two areas show different attitudes to the Russian government. The Muslims of Northern Caucasus use the violence and terror to achieve an independence from Russia. On the contrary the Muslims of Volga-Ural region accept their status as a part of Russian Federation. They are more interested in the restoration and maintenance of their religious and ethnic traditions under the leadership of Russia. They respect the other religions and recognize the value of the other cultures. This favorable attitude to the other ethnic people and religions was formed from the ancient times, and it is called "tolerance." The Muslims of Ural-Volga region have been suffered from the policy of repression and discrimination of Russian government, but despite of the long history of discrimination they have always maintained the virtue of tolerance. In the 19th and in the beginning of the 20th century the Tatar intellectuals tried to teach the young Muslims the modern science based on the European rationalism. They called their movement "Jadidism." Jadidism was a cultural movement for the modernistic reformation of the Tatar Muslims. They took an open attitude to the scientific trends of Europe and Russia. In these days Muslims of Tatarstan are seeking for the religious formula to satisfy the modern Muslim society and to resurrect the religious-educational system. They found the way in the Jadidism, and call the new movement "Euroislam." The tolerance also plays an important role in the movements of Jadidism and Euroislam. In nowadays we witness that the young Muslims in Tatarstan stick more to the cultural and religious traditions of Islam than the older generations. They learn actively Islamic theology and try to follow the Islamic tradition. But this does not mean that they want to go back to the Islamic past. Rather they do this to achieve their realistic goal. And they never take an unfriendly attitude toward the other cultures and religions.