Khatam-ash Ritual: Specifics of the Local Islamic Context in Tyumen Region

Abstract

A home prayer meeting accompanied by Quran reading and a meal (Khatam-ash) is a crucial part of the local Muslim context among the Tatars in Tyumen Region who profess the Islamic faith. This article is based on the field research materials collected in the south of the region in 2011–2021. It aims to describe the common and specific features of how the ritual is performed and understood in different settlements. I applied unstructured observation and interviews with a flexible questionnaire to collect the materials. The prayer meetings under consideration share stable and frequently recurring occasions (commemoration of deceased relatives, the birth of a child, nearest and dearest being ill, change in social status, big-budget purchase), scenario elements (voicing the occasion, recitation of the Quran, prayer requests, almsgiving, a collective meal), and meanings (care for the dead in the supersensible world, Allah’s support in the sensible world). At the same time, the ceremonies are not the same combination of rituals, identically reproduced in different places. The denomination of the ritual may differ depending on the occasion. The place, the time, and the person who conducts it also hold meaning. The participants and the doer of the ritual may differently perceive and explain the meaning of Khatam-ash.