Jamal Walidi on the nation and the role of Islam in shaping Tatar identity

Abstract

   The article is devoted to the analysis of the views and arguments of the Tatar scientist Jamal Walidi (Validi) on the problems of national identity. In the scientifi c literature, J. Walidi is better known as a literary critic and linguist. However, the scientifi c legacy of the researcher included socio-philosophical studies on complex issues of “nation-building” and national identity. These almost “forgotten” articles and a separate work “Millat wa millyat” (Nation and national) are considered to be the best studies on this issue among the scientists of their time. His writings undoubtedly demonstrate that J. Walidi was a theorist and an original thinker. Currently, the appeal to the forgotten legacy of the past and the study of the problem of national identity is becoming relevant, since this topic remains relevant to the public, and, moreover, it requires a new modern view and analysis.

   The subject of our research is the history of Tatar national identity, the object of study is the works of J. Walidi on this issue.

   The goal is to show the contribution by J. Walidi into the study of the problems of national identity in Tatar historiography.

   The article describes the history of the formation and development of the problems of self-identification and the study of identity issues. Scientific activity of J. Walidi, his views and arguments are revealed in the context of similar studies by other scientists and thinkers of the early 20^th century. The author also emphasizes such important issues as the naming of the ethnonym, the meaning of the concepts “nation” and “national”, and the fundamental factors of the nation in the vision of the scientist J. Walidi.