Brilov D. History of Islam in Ukraine in the late 19th – early 20th centuries

The dissertation comprehensively researches the history of Islam on the territory of Ukraine in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. On the basis of a combination of theological and secular approaches, the features of the institutionalization of the Muslim community and the formation of Islamic discourse in the selected period are analyzed. The circumstances of the institutionalization of the Muslim community on the territory of Ukraine in the late imperial period (second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries) are considered. It is shown that since the end of the 19th century there has been an active institutionalization of the Muslim community, the main role in which was played by the Muslim communities of the Volga Tatars in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and the industrial and workers' centers of the Donetsk basin. The important role of Muslim students is determined, which contributed to the introduction of Muslims of Ukraine into the all-Russian Muslim reformatory discourse of the early 20th century. The features of the functioning of Muslim communities in the Ukrainian SSR during the Soviet period have been clarified. It is shown that Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Donbas remained the main centers of Muslim life, and the communities were re-subordinated to the Central Religious Administration of Muslims in Ufa. It is demonstrated that in the late Soviet times, there were channels of communication between the recognized religious authorities of that time and Ukrainian Muslims, through which, among other things, religious knowledge was broadcast, and the Ukrainian Muslim community remained part of the all-Soviet ummah. The reasons and consequences of the Islamic «revival» in Ukraine since independence are highlighted. The circumstances of the institutionalization of the Muslim community in independent Ukraine are analyzed. It is shown that an important feature of the institutionalization processes of the Muslim community in Ukraine was a high fragmentation, the reasons for which were 1) the ethnic diversity of Ukrainian Muslims, 2) ideological disunity and 3) a low level of religious knowledge. The features of the mechanisms of reproduction of the religious knowledge of Muslims of Ukraine in the context of their educational activities are investigated. The specificity of the economic behavior of Ukrainian Muslims through the formation of the infrastructure of the halal industry in Ukraine is characterized. The forms of social service in the modern Ukrainian Ummah are analyzed. The features of the emergence and construction of the Ukrainian Islamic discourse are investigated. The factors that influenced the formation of Islamic discourse, in particular, the fragmented Muslim community of Ukraine, are determined. The features of the emergence and construction of the all-Ukrainian Islamic discourse are investigated, and the factors that influenced its formation are determined. It is shown that the Russian-language and Ukrainian-language discourse of Ukrainian Islam includes two versions of the Islamic-Russian / Islamic-Ukrainian sociolect, namely “Arabization” and “Russification” / “Ukrainization”. The theological discourse of Ukrainian Muslims is analyzed, and the competing sub-discourses of «traditional Islam» and «reformist Islam» are revealed.