Muslim Communities and Diasporas as a Factor in the Integration of Migrants (A Tomsk Case)

This article examines the formation of Muslim communities and national organizations, strategies for their development in a changing urban community. The aim of the study is to describe the construction of Muslim networks using the concepts "global diaspora" and "Islamicness". Based on the active involvement of religious organizations in the development of urban space, several aspects related to the activities of Muslim actors have been identified. Actors have relationships between different ethnic communities. A hypothesis is proposed, according to which, using the administrative and ideological resources, Muslims adapt and integrate through religious institutions (mosques or NGOs) into the Islamic space of Tomsk. The objective of the study is to identify factors of sociocultural adaptation, such as various religious ones, Muslim clubs, holidays, instructions of religious leaders. Many spheres of a Muslim's life develop through traditional practices - religion, economy, etc. An authoritarian discourse is emerging that constructs social phenomena around religion. Through the factors of "Islamicness", the absence of religious life can be stated in a significant number of migrants and in those considering themselves to be believing Muslims. The networks are constructed in various aspects: the influence of national autonomies acting as conductors and organizers of events; the mosque that forms an integration and adaptation space around itself. In their religious practice, Muslim migrants see the mosque as an integral factor in their lives. Religious worship plays an important role. Linguistic communication between Muslims about the rightness of Islamic practices also plays a role. Different groups of Muslims, dividing themselves along ethnic lines (although this is not allowed in Islamic dogma), when establishing contacts with other Muslims, know how to behave and act, determine the appropriate facial expressions and gestures (e.g. different positions of hands and feet when praying). Based on anthropological methods such as semi-structured interviews and participatory observation, the field study analysis is built around the formation of communities based on ethnicity and the impact of mosque space on them. The object of the research is the personality of a Muslim, their worldview and interpretive activity. Through the concept of identity, the necessary cultural environment, the most acceptable for both personality and family relations, is created around the Muslim.