The Body in Islamic Discourse in Russia during the Pandemic: Between Religious, Medical, and Political Discourses

Abstract

This work is devoted to the problem of constructing corporality in Islamic discourse in Russia under the conditions of pandemic emergency. Analyzing the fatwas and official statements of Russian Muslim leaders in the period from March to May 2020, we defined their discursive strategy of ‘translation’ the language of bureaucracy and medical terminology into the language of Islam, as well as theological justification of government decisions. We examined several cases that illustrate the interference of political and medical discourse on corporality in religious discourse. These include the politicization of the normative functioning of the body (for example, the re-articulation of the category of islamic purity ‘taharat’ and comparison of hijab with medical mask), the sacralization of quarantine as a special time for spiritual activity, the formatting of the funeral ritual in accordance with medical and administrative regulations and comparing victory in the great patriotic war with the victory over the COVID-19. The regulation of corporality has always taken place in Islamic tradition, but in the context of the pandemic, it has acquired a special formative force that can not only articulate the discourse of Islamic biopolitics as such, but also change the religious practices themselves.