Based on archival documents published and introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, as well as materials from the Tatar periodical press, this article attempts to reconstruct the biography of akhun of Blagoveshchensk, qadi of the Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly, and provisional Russian mufti during the 1917 revolution Salihjan Mukhammedfatikhovich Urmanov. He played a fundamental role in the construction of the first mosque in the Amur region, and together with his wife, in the establishment of a Tatar-language Muslim education in Blagoveshchensk. The mosque, located in the heart of the Amur region, became the first one in Russia to have a separate women's prayer hall. During 1915–1920, S. Urmanov was the qadi of the Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly (OMSA), with its center in Ufa. In May 1917, it was transformed into the elected and autonomous Spiritual Administration of Muslims. This became the basis for the Central Spiritual Administration, most of which continued to operate until 1936 arrests. The novelty of this study lies in analyzing S.M. Urmanov’s role in maintaining the continuity of personnel of the OMSA and ensuring its independence as a religious autonomy body in the spring and summer of 1917. Particular importance in S. Urman's activities in 1917 were his speeches on behalf of OMSA in support of women's equality. In 1917 – early 1918, S.M. Urmanov was re-elected three times as a qadi. However, his interaction with the regime of A.V. Kolchak, in all likelihood, was the reason why he was not re-elected as qadi at the first Congress of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims in September 1920.
Key words: jadidism, enlightenment, Muslims, Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly, revolution, civil war
DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662-2024-4-46-58
About the authors
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Alexey N. Starostin – Candidate of Sciences (History), Associate Professor, Ural State Mining University; 30 Kuibysheva st., Yekaterinburg, 620144, Russia; Senior Researcher, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 12 Rozhdestvenka st., Moscow, 107031, Russia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Aidar Yu. Khabutdinov – Doctor of Science (History), Professor, Kazan branch of Russian State University of Justice; 7a Novo-Azinskaya st., Kazan, 420053, Russia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |