COMPLIANCE WITH HALAL TRADITIONS IN MOSCOW MUSLIM COMMUNITY: MODERN TENDENCIES
Marat Safarov,
Institute of Economics and Management in Industry,
8 Fifteenth Parkovaya Str., Moscow, 105203, Russia,
safarov84@mail.ru.
Halal meat marketing has a long tradition in Moscow, functioning even in pre-revolutionary times. In the Soviet Moscow, halal horsemeat was sold in several stalls in Pyatnitsky Market of Zamoskvorechie district. It was mainly the experience in producing and selling halal products gained by the Tatar community representatives that influenced the formation of the current halal infrastructure in Moscow. The growth in demand for halal products is closely related to the overall development of the Muslim community in Moscow as well as the rapid increase in the Muslim population of the city. In general, the stages of the development of the current halal infrastructure in Moscow are similar to the same processes in the cities of Western Europe, which can be explained by the similarity of features in the social, cultural and demographic formation of the communities. The development of the halal infrastructure is influenced by such factors as strong urbanization of some Tatars from the Moscow community, a significant number of migrant workers, social stratification, and differences in food traditions due to different ethnic groups’ preferences, which affect the choice of products (for example, representatives of the Nakh people do not eat horse meat, which is so popular with the Tatars, occupying a significant place in halal sales in Moscow). At the same time, various forms of meat sales for closed social groups of migrants are actively developing.
Key words: halal, Tatars, migrants, food taboos, horse meat, meat products, consumers, infrastructure.
