The Muslim Ummah in the religious policy of the Soviet State in the 1920s – early 1930s: choice of strategy 

Olga A. Sukhova, Doctor of historical sciences, professor, dean of the faculty of history and languages, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), savtemp@yandex.ru
Oleg V. Yagov, Doctor of historical sciences, professor, professor of the sub-department of the Russian history and history teaching technique, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), yagovdom@mail.ru

Background. The relevance of the topic proposed for discussion is due to the need for scientific understanding of the cyclicality of post-secular society and the revival of religious consciousness in the modern world. The purpose of the work is to study the historical experience of developing a strategy for state-confessional interaction to ensure sustainable development and mobilization of resources in the spiritual sphere (by the materials from Soviet Russia / the USSR in the 1920s – early 1930s). Materials and methods. The basis of the research evidence base was formed by documents revealing the specifics of state policy towards Islam and the Muslim Ummah in the 1920s and presented in the funds of the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History and the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The choice of methodological tools is associated with the theory of social constructionism by P. Bergman and T. Luckmann, which considers the process of formation and institutionalization of social phenomena through social interactions, as well as new cultural history, emphasizing the problems of formation of identity and social representations. Results. The results of the development of the history of the Muslim Ummah in the Soviet period in domestic historiography are analyzed, the main cycles of the evolution of state-confessional policy in Soviet Russia / USSR are identified. The most important aspect of the problem was the reconstruction of the movement of religious self-organization of Muslim communities in the context of the collapse of the empire and the formation of the separation paradigm of religious policy. Conclusions. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Muslim Ummah of Russia, being involved in the processes of liberalization and the formation of civil society, entered a period of active search for new forms of self-organization and self-determination. The factors of modernization were: the formation of parliamentarism and the collapse of the empire, and the resources were: the development of education, the press and the formation of political associations. The seizure of power by the Bolsheviks radically changed the nature of the separation model. Communist atheism (“militant atheism”) was considered an instrument of the mobilization paradigm, which ensured the establishment of the authoritarian-repressive nature of the relationship between the authorities and the Church in the USSR. At the same time, the active and passive mass resistance of Muslims (the preservation and activity of unregistered communities, religious schools, the petition movement in defense of doctrine, the holding of congresses of the Muslim clergy, the observance of rituals, the preservation of the traditions of the organization of religious life) forced the authorities to make temporary concessions and gradually limited administrative pressure. The choice of strategy for state-confessional policy, the crisis-cyclical framework of which was formed in the 1920s – 1930s, proved its historical inconsistency by the end of the 20th century.

Muslim Ummah, All-Russian Congresses of Muslim Clergy, Bolshevik policy towards Islam, OGPU, Commission on Cult Affairs under the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee

Sukhova O.A., Yagov O.V. The Muslim Ummah in the religious policy of the Soviet State in the 1920s – early 1930s: choice of strategy. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. Gumanitarnye nauki = University proceedings. Volga region. Humanities. 2025;(3):49–61. (In Russ.). doi: 10.21685/2072-3024-2025-3-5