Religion as maintenance of national consciousness: Islam in Soviet Azerbaijan

Abstract

National consciousness emerged among the intelligentsia in Azerbaijan, at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the XXth century. However, along with Soviet period this process was interrupted and could not spread among the community completely and therefore the "Muslim Identity" continued to survive like a fundamental identity connection for the Azeri society. Along with purge of the intelligentsia and abolition of nationalist symbols and the slogans that they used, Turkish nationalism disappeared as an ideology in Azerbaijan. Politico-ideological nationalism and its slogans were deprived of the chance of keeping the national consciousness alive. In this paper, I will argue that the main factor which sustained national consciousness in Soviet Azerbaijan was Islam and Muslim identity. Despite the fact that the communist regime succeeded in minimizing Islamic intellectual and ideological dimensions, it could not erode its elements that had become a cultural norm and life-style. To be a Muslim in Soviet Azerbaijan was perceived as to be a member of Azeri society and as a devotion to life-style of this society. As a matter of fact, the life-style to which the definition of "Muslim" refers to, was a main factor whereby Azeri society could distinguish itself from the surrounding - Russian, Armenian and Georgian - societies. In this sense, Islam, which refers to common lifestyle and cultural norms, had kept the national consciousness alive by firming the sameness sense of society in Soviet Azerbaijan.