ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the ways in which Islam and Muslims are represented in mainstream Russian media and in the rhetoric of the political elite. The analysis focuses on four themes, which are crucial in evaluations of Islam: concepts of tradition, ethnicity, religion versus politics and loyalty to the state. Instead of studying the traditionally Muslim areas in Russia, this chapter addresses the representations of Islam and Muslim minorities in ethnically Russian areas. While in Soviet times the people in such southern republics as Azerbaijan or Tadzhikistan learned the Russian language at school, the post-Soviet generation of migrants speak Russian very poorly. The first Muslim minorities were incorporated in the Russian empire when Tsar Ivan IV conquered Kazan in 1552. Islam was severely suppressed in the area and survived mainly in the countryside in unofficial and independent communities. The suspicious attitudes toward Islam are increasingly informing the work of officials as well.
