On Emergence of Institute of Commissioners of Council for Religious Cults under the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR in 1944–1945

Abstract

The article deals with Muslim religious fi gures (imams, seyids, abyzs, muezzins, mullahs) of the Tatar Sloboda of Moscow, located in the Zamoskvorechye district, of the 17th-18th centuries. Many names and details of the life of religious fi gures are for the fi rst time described by means of use of documents of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts and the Central Historical Archive of Moscow. The Council for Religious Aff airs under the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, created in May and June 1944, faced a number of problems from the very beginning of its work. One of them was the creation of new posts in the regions those authorized by this Council. Some of the leaders of the regions of the USSR believed that such positions were not necessary. In many respects, this attitude resulted in diffi culties in the work of the authorized representatives of this Council: delays in the allocation of specially equipped offi ces, sending on long business trips not related to the performance of duties, failure to comply with the decisions of the state leadership on the payment of salaries to the authorized representatives, which should have corresponded to their position. Despite the measures taken from the fi rst days by the leadership of the Council, relying on the leadership of the USSR, many of the problems associated with the commissioners, primarily with the staffi ng of their staff , both in quality and quantity, in the 1940s became chronic and did not were resolved during these years. In many ways, a signifi cant part of the diffi culties in the work of the commissioners arose from ignorance and failure to comply with a set of offi cial documents, including service letters and instructions. Analysis of various aspects of the activities of the authorized representatives of the Council for Religious Aff airs is not only purely theoretical, but also of great practical importance for the authorities at all levels, which interact with religious organizations in their daily work.