RUDN Journal of Political Science (Dec 2017)
CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM POLITICAL IDENTITY: THE SACRED TEXT AND SOCIAL EXPERIENCE
Abstract
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.
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