CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 66

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA
cially among young people but still many prefer to study abroad. Imams
usually receive their higher religious education in the courtiers of the ME
mostly in Saudi Arabia. Students usually return with radical or fundamen-
tal views. However, researches in this fi eld are limited and do not pro-
vide statistics on how many students have fulfi lled their education or how
many students are currently studying abroad. 18
Another factor that accelerates the spread of radicalism in Tatarstan is
external and internal migration. 19 Even president Putin considers immi-
gration as the major factor that contributes to the rise of xenophobia and
nationalist extremism in Russia. Islam has become a unifying force for
Muslim migrants. Migrants from North Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Cen-
tral Asia often bring their own Islamic ideologies with them which can be
also radical. Migrants especially from Azerbaijan are usually less inclined
to turn to religion, but they have started to reclaim Azerbaijani identi-
ty and to construct Azerbaijani mosques. Moreover, migration played
and continues to play an important role in the ethnic composition of Ta-
tarstan’s population. According to offi cial sources, annually nearly 1000
children are born in migrants’ families in Tatarstan. 20
Some authors also view the lack of unity among Muslim communities
as another reason for the growth of radical activities. There is a strong
competition between Muslim self-governing bodies. They struggle over
government’s patronage, control of local communities and fi nancial re-
sources. 21 Additionally, the Muslim communities in Tatarstan face several
challenges such as fi nancial problems, the shortage of literature in an ac-
cessible language, lack of highly skilled imams, etc. These factors made
them be more dependent on external factors, especially Saudi Arabia,
which continues its fi nance diff erent Muslim communities. 22
The rising interest of young Tatar Muslim in Islam is another import-
ant issue regarding the growing trend of radicalism. 23 The young genera-
tion has lost its interest in traditional Islam and seeks something new in
religion. Young Tatar Muslims have developed a keener sense of religious
18
19
20
21
22
23
Dilyara Suleymanova, “Islam as Moral Education: Madrasa Courses and Contestation of
the Secular in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia,” Religion, State and Society, vol. 43, no. 2
(2015): 150–167.
Kimitaka Matsuzato, “The Regional Context of Islam in Russia: Diversities Along the
Volga,” Eurasian Geography and Economics, vol. 47, no. 4 (2006): 449-461; Aleksey
Malashenko and Aleksey Starostin, “The Rise of Non-traditional Islam in the Urals,” Carn-
egie Moscow Centre, September 30,2015, http://carnegie.ru/2015/09/30/rise-of-nontradition-
al-islam-in-urals-pub-61461 (accessed September 15, 2018).
Malashenko, “The Dynamics of Russian Islam”.
Malashenko & Starostin, “The Rise of Nontraditional Islam in the Urals”; Roza Nurullina,
“The Revival of Muslim Communities in Russia's Regions,” Russian Social Science Review,
vol. 56, no. 6 (2015).
Ibid.
Ponarin, “The Potential of Radical Islam in Tatarstan”; Malashenko, “The Dynamics of Rus-
sian Islam”.
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