Persecution of Sufis: "Mansurov Affair"

Abstract

This review focuses on the new joint work by Pavel Shabley and Paolo Sartori, “The Mansurov Affair: Empire and Sufism in the Qazaq Steppe”, published in Moscow by “Novoye Literaturnoye Obozreniye”. This book is an attempt to provide a scholarly understanding of the repressive measures of Russian imperial colonial policy against Islam and Sufism in Qazaqstan in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, using the “Mansurov Affair”, in which Ishan Muhammad Sharif Mansurov was the main defendant. The nine-year investigation into this case left a profound archival legacy and attracted considerable attention from multiple representatives of the colonial administration. The authors, using the concept of epistemological relativity as the methodological basis, examine the problem from various perspectives, subjecting the colonial archive to a thorough critical analysis.  To describe the  power relations within the colonial administration, an orientalist approach is used. Using the "Mansurov Affair" as an example, the authors show that the Empire's colonial policy toward its Muslim subjects was not always well-coordinated, practical, or strategically motivated, which is what makes the study unique. From the very beginning, the colonial administration's actions were characterized by ambivalence and inconsistency. The Empire's negative perception of Sufism was rooted in “information panic”, stereotypes, and prejudices. Importantly for Qazaqstani readers, the very existence of political persecution of Sufism in Qazaqstan, dating back to the mid-19th century, is raised for the first time. The book's writers have done a great deal of work in gathering, organizing, and bringing rare historical materials into general academic use. This study also serves as an excellent example of how to formulate a scholarly topic, thoroughly examine it, and find a solution.