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language population protection, their rights and equal situation ensuring in these countries becomes more important component of the Russian foreign policy and the independent line in the national interest serving. All the above-mentioned allows making a conclusion that all the former Soviet republics is a zone of Russia's privileged interests by virtue of objective reasons.
"Politeks", Saint-Petersburg, 2009, N3, vol. 5, p. 134-145.
R. Sharipova,
orientalist
THE ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE IN TATARSTAN: PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES
Since the beginning of the 1990s for the period of cessation of the atheist pressure on the part of the state structures a certain reanimation of the religious factor and the rise of the role of Islam in public life took place. The Muslim Tatars, having renounced the former conformism, started to show openly their adherence to Islam and its culture, to perceive themselves as a part of the Muslim world. The values and norms of Islam were incorporated into mass consciousness of the population and had a certain impact on the appraisal of the authorities' behavior and of the events, occurred in the world. By present, great changes took place in religious life of Tatars. The old mosques were renovated and new mosques were built, various Muslim education institutions were commissioned, including elementary courses, high education institutions (medreces "Tanzilya", "Yulduz" in Naberezhnye Chelny" and others), colleges and higher education institutions (medrece "Muhammadiya", the 1000 anniversary of Islam adoption medrece in Kazan and others). Many young people get education
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abroad. Besides, religious newspapers and magazines started to be published, radio and TV programs with religious content were broadcast. Great popularity among believers is enjoyed by newspaper "Iman" ("Faith"), magazine "Iman Nury" ("Light of Faith"), published in Kazan, and newspaper "Islam Nury" ("Light of Islam"), issued in Naberezhnye Chelny. Nevertheless, the influence of Islam on moral-cultural renovation of the Tatarian society and solving of its social problems remains very small. The following main factors hinder transformation of the Tatars-Muslim umma: the remaining gap between the main part of the intellectuals and the Muslim clergy; the orientation of imams, including the imams, occupying high posts, not to spiritual but to material values; the lack of readiness of Tatars-Muslim culture to participate in the growing globalization processes, the excessive closure in "local" affairs and internal Russian politics; the increasing language and cultural assimilation of Tatars in the prevalent Russian and Russian-speaking city environment and the rapid reduction of the share of Tatars, living in the ethnically homogeneous rural settlements. The above mentioned factors explain the situation, when for most Tatars Islam is sooner an element of their identity, the heritage of the past, an orientation than their way of living and spiritual kernel Shortly speaking, a great part of the people remain only Muslims by their origin. Islam rests against the background and does not play an essential role in shaping the cultural and ideal potential of the whole society. It is displayed first of all in the lack of an adequate system of Muslim education and enlightenment. The question is not only the lack of cadres but also of the system of organizing this work, directed to the restoration of traditions and their amalgamation with achievements of modern Islamic thinking. Hence, the need to elaborate the conception of Islamic education. The level of education in the present Muslim education institutions is lower than in the pre-revolution medreces, which applied
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new methods. The imams, who received education in Arabic countries, profess Hanbalit and Shafiit mazhab (theological-legal schools), while Tatars are the followers of liberal Hanafit trend. The majority of imams, graduates of local religious education institutions possess a low intellectual level, and there are no theologians with good theoretical background, which has its historic explanation.
According to the discussions and publications, devoted to the education issues, there are two approaches to their settlement: 1) the Islamic education should be traditional, should be arranged in the Tatarian language and be free of any borrowings, alien to Islam, which finally lead to the oblivion of the maternal language and faith; 2) the Islamic education should restore the tradition of jadids, Tatarian Muslim reformers in the end of the XIX century-the beginning of the XX century, promoting study of theologian and secular sciences with due account of modern scientific achievements, thinking about the principle of idjitihad, widely propagated by jadids. According to this principle, the education sphere is (at least, should be) in the process of development, reacting attentively to the changes in the external milieu, adapting itself to the changing needs and at the same time actively having impact on the state of the milieu, pre-determining these needs. The followers of jadids (neo-jadids) take into account the fact that the world has entered the epoch of developed technologies, when their main, if not the sole, basis is the level of the people's education, and there is no alternative to this. Therefore they think that the Islamic educational institutions confront the task to prepare the graduates, who would pay greater attention to the essence and not to the form of the knowledge, would be characterized by wide views, tolerance, profound knowledge of Koran and Sunna, which allow to provide the Islamic substantiation of the issues, raised to the society. Taking into account the resources of the modern communication means, they should
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maintain relations with the centers of Islamic science and culture, be able to carry on a constructive dialogue with the ruling power, to be its partner, to form the consciousness of its followers, to protect their rights by the constitutional methods. In other words, the question is the formation of the Muslim intellectuals, possessing wide intellectual qualities and being competent in the issues of Shariat.
In Tatarstan, the process of Islamic education may not abstain from a reaction to the rapid growth of tension in human relations at the national-ethnic and religious level due to the mental incompatibility of individuals and of human societies etc., which represent big hindrances for overcoming. The Islamic education has the ability to play a historic role in the salutary integration and harmonization of knowledge and faith, in prevention of irreversible deformations in the mentality of Tatars, professing Islam, mainly - in resurrection and in uninterrupted enrichment of their highest ideals and life priorities.
At present, except the problems, connected with perfection of Islamic education, the Tatarian society, according to many researchers, confronts the urgent task of the rebirth of the parishes (mahallya). As it is known, before the revolution of 1917 Tatars lived in mahallya. What is it? As it was defined by known Tatarian enlightener I. Gasprinsky, mahallya was a tiny state with solid connection among its parts and its laws, habits, public order, offices and traditions, maintained efficiently by the spirit of Islam. This community has its authorities in the face of elders and the whole parish, it does not need the higher recognition, since the power of these authorities consists in their religion and moral. The community has its own independent clergy and needs no sanctions or consecration. Any educated Muslim may be a teacher, muedzin, imam, ahun etc., if the community agrees to it. Professor of Spiritual Academy Bashanov considers that mahallya is a closed society, where the spirit of religious unity ruled. It was difficult to become a member of
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this community even for another person with deep religious views. The work for the benefit of the parish was considered as a solemn duty of its representatives. The mahallya authorities oriented its members to achieve two vitally important tasks: in the economic sphere - to ensure the normal living level of life for their families; in the political sphere -to preserve their nationality and faith.
The initiators of mahallya rebirth in Tatarstan at the present time should take into account the fact that for the pre-revolution period the Tatarian local community possessed a considerable financial basis and self-dependence for carrying out its spiritual-enlightenment activities. The ability to establish in the parish the system of guardianship, regular charitable subsidies of the believers, the lack of a tax burden, the systematic support, given by the etrepreneurship's elite let Muslim communities function successfully without direct support of the state. Under present conditions, the creation of a reliable economic basis for functioning of Muslim mahallya parishes, of their education and organization structures confronts difficulties and represents the problem, which is impossible to solve, which is explained primarily by poverty of the people. Nevertheless, the organization of Tatarian mahallya, the legal substantiation and registration of it, the elaboration of its model status and arrangement of its work, based on this status, is being considered as an urgent task.
Taking into account the important role of Islam in preservation and development of the nation, scientists, public and religious figures of Tatarstan stress the need, basing on national traditions, to intensify the activities of the Spiritual Department in organization of the education process speaking the Tatarian language in the religious education institutions.
"Vostochny sotsium i religiya", M., 2009, N 4, p. 24-27.
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