Elements of Islamic Dogmatics in the Ethnic Religion of Ossetians According to Narrative Sources of the Second Half of the 19th Century

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2023-2/157-168

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of Islamic echoes in the ethnic religion of the Ossetians. This problem remains one of the most poorly studied in modern Ossetian studies, which determines its high scientific relevance. However, in contrast to the scientific, the social relevance of studying Muslim influence on the Ossetian language, culture and religion today can hardly be considered particularly significant. Throughout the post-­Soviet period, Ossetians have been in the process of searching for religious self-identification. This process is a conflict influenced by many factors, including political ones. The main ideological conflict unfolds between Orthodox Christianity and ethnic religion. From the point of view of its adherents, the ethnic religion is primordial for Ossetians, since, in their opinion, it is based on an ancient monotheistic tradition dating back to the Indo-­Iranian community and free from any external influences. At the same time, the pro-­Christian part of society, supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, positions the traditional religion as Ossetian folk Orthodoxy. In this confrontation, the Islamic component of the Ossetian ethnic religion (and, among others, also Jewish or Zoroastrian) essentially turned out to be thrown out of the socio-­political and ideological-­religious agenda, and, consequently, from the scientific one, while Islamic elements are found in various spheres of folk culture: in everyday life, linguistic and ritual practice, in written and oral folklore. The present study, therefore, aims to solve the identified problem. It is synchronic and is carried out within C. Levi-­Strauss’ structuralism, according to which all cultural systems (language, mythology, religion, art, customs, traditions) can be studied as sign systems.