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Book Cover
E-book
Author Crews, Robert D., 1970- author.

Title For prophet and tsar : Islam and empire in Russia and Central Asia / Robert D. Crews
Edition First Harvard University Press paperback edition
Published Cambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, 2009

Copies

Description 1 online resource (viii, 463 pages) : illustrations, maps
Contents Note on Transliteration and Spelling; Introduction; 1 A Church for Islam; 2 The State in the Mosque; 3 An Imperial Family; 4 Nomads into Muslims; 5 Civilizing Turkestan; 6 Heretics, Citizens, and Revolutionaries; Epilogue; Abbreviations; Notes; Acknowledgments; Index
Summary Annotation Russia occupies a unique position in the Muslim world. Unlike any other non-Islamic state, it has ruled Muslim populations for over five hundred years. Though Russia today is plagued by its unrelenting war in Chechnya, Russia's approach toward Islam once yielded stability. In stark contrast to the popular "clash of civilizations" theory that sees Islam inevitably in conflict with the West, Robert D. Crews reveals the remarkable ways in which Russia constructed an empire with broad Muslim support. In the eighteenth century, Catherine the Great inaugurated a policy of religious toleration that made Islam an essential pillar of Orthodox Russia. For ensuing generations, tsars and their police forces supported official Muslim authorities willing to submit to imperial directions in exchange for defense against brands of Islam they deemed heretical and destabilizing. As a result, Russian officials assumed the powerful but often awkward role of arbitrator in disputes between Muslims. And just as the state became a presence in the local mosque, Muslims became inextricably integrated into the empire and shaped tsarist will in Muslim communities stretching from the Volga River to Central Asia. For Prophet and Tsar draws on police and court records, and Muslim petitions, denunciations, and clerical writings--not accessible prior to 1991--to unearth the fascinating relationship between an empire and its subjects. As America and Western Europe debate how best to secure the allegiances of their Muslim populations, Crews offers a unique and critical historical vantage point
Notes Originally published: 2006
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize (nominated), 2007
Subject Islam and state -- Russia (Federation)
Muslims -- Political activity -- Russia (Federation)
Islam and state -- Asia, Central
Muslims -- Political activity -- Asia, Central
Islam.
Islam
Islam.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- Political Advocacy.
HISTORY -- Europe -- Russia & the Former Soviet Union.
Islam and state
Muslims -- Political activity
Politics and government
SUBJECT Russia (Federation) -- Politics and government. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh88002518
Asia, Central -- Politics and government. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh94001930
Subject Central Asia
Russia (Federation)
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780674030039
0674030036
0674032233
9780674032231
Other Titles Islam and empire in Russia and Central Asia