THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PERCEIVING POLITICS BY THE MUSLIMS IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF RUSSIA

Abstract

The paper analyses key characteristics of perceiving politics by the Muslims in different regions of Russia. This study shows that the Muslims’ interest to politics is higher on average compared to the all-Russian index. They consider politics to be a tool of solving important social problems Despite the fact that the Islamic identification is not so important for the voters as the other motifs of political behavior, its role is rising definitely. The article shows that this situation is, on the one hand, due to the fact that Muslims’ reaction to the negative image of Islam in mass media makes them consolidate and become more politized. On the other hand, the search of principles of equitable social order in the Russian transitive society transits to the attempts to make Muslim institutions of self-organization more politized.

Keywords

• politization of Islam
• Muslim perception of politics in Russia
• Islamic identity
• the political positioning of Russian Muslims