Rashit Аlimowitch Mukhamedov,
Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I. N. Ulyanov,
4 Plotshad 100-letiya so Dnia Rodjdeniya V. I. Lenina, Ulyanovsk, 432071, Russian Federation.
rasit56@mail.ru.
This article explores the essence of Muslims’ social and religious life and characteristic features of the rituals conducted by representatives of Islam. The author draws attention to the fact that the baptized Tatars, who later withdrew from Christianity on their own initiative, developed, throughout the nineteenth century, the same ritual practices as Islam followers. Actually, Orthodox Tatars secretly professed Islam, which served as a prerequisite for these practices. The article contains extensive information obtained during the in-depth and detailed analysis of archival materials stored in the State Archive of Ulyanovsk Region.This information confirms the point of view expressed by the author in his previous works. The author believes that the time of Orthodox Tatars’ mass return can be considered as the end of the apostate movement, which lasted from 1866 to 1868. Since 1968, in spite of the concern of the Orthodox clergy and authorities, the Tatars, who had departed from Orthodox Christianity, ceased to hide from general public their rites of funerals and while performing other religious practices. The rituals of Tatars who “departed” from Orthodox Christianity gradually began to return to Islamic sources.At the end of the 19th century, the key issue discussed in most families of baptized Tatars was the issue of upbringing children as Muslims. The article concludes that in the late 19th century “baptized Tatars” tended to return to Islamic in everyday life and culture.
Key words: “baptized” Tatars, Muslims, Islam, apostate movement, Alkoran, nikah, mullah, rite.