SOME ASPECTS OF MOSCOW TATAR RELIGIOUS LIFE (BASED ON ETHNO-SOCIOLOGICAL DATA GATHERED IN 2014)

Abstract

In 2014, the Marjani Institute of History at the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences launched a large-scale research project «The Tatars in the regions of the Russian Federation; religious renaissance and issues of identity. An ethno-sociological investigation into the current situation.» An important part of the research as a whole involved an analysis of the ethno-religious life of Tatars living in Moscow. The majority of those interviewed noted the fundamental signifi cance of Islam for the Tatars, along with a very closely intertwined relationship between Muslim religion and Tatar ethnic identity. The widely held notion of disrupted continuity in transmission of religious knowledge within the Moscow Tatar family is confi rmed. The middle-aged generation has ‘fallen out’ of the religious chain, having been most subject to Soviet ideological indoctrination. As such, religious activity is typically limited to the elderly and young people.