Muslim Space of the Moscow Region and Migration: Fragmentation, Diversification, Integration

Abstract

The Muslim space of Russian cities in the last two decades is determined primarily by migration processes. A significant part of the active and observant Muslims in the two capitals, large cities of Central Russia and Siberia are people from the countries of Central Asia. The study is devoted to the role of migration in the formation of local Muslim spaces in Moscow, as well as the dynamics of the position of migrants from Central Asia in mosques and prayer houses of the city. An increasing number of immigrants, primarily from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, occupy key positions in local Muslim communities. Migrant religious authorities do not just integrate into the Muslim institutions of the capital region, but form local Muslim spaces, create their own organizations, build their own hierarchies and determine the religious everyday life of parishioners. I consider the religious self-realization of the Central Asian Muslim authorities in Moscow mosques and prayer houses as an integration process that leads to the diversification of the capital's Muslim space.