CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM POLITICAL IDENTITY: THE SACRED TEXT AND SOCIAL EXPERIENCE

• Main Author: I V Kudryashova
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2017-12-01
• Series: RUDN Journal of Political Science
• Subjects: политическая идентичность; ислам; исламизм; мусульманское государство; национализм
• Online Access: http://journals.rudn.ru/political-science/article/view/17569

The article focuses on the formation of modern Muslim political identity on the macro-po-litical and individual levels. The author explores the relation between its Islamic and state-national levels. It is shown that this relationship is of dynamic nature and that at present both these levels are significantly differentiated: nationalism outgrows the framework of state nationalism and gradually acquires civil dimension, while the Islamic layer, losing its significance as the only source of identification and self-identification for Muslims, acquires new socio-political content. The latter is reflected in the development of “Islamist pluralism”. It is noted that the ascriptive orientations to kin-groups, ethnic groups and clans remain significant and especially vibrant in the times of political turbulence.