Religious syncretism in the funeral and memorial rites of the Crimean Tatars in modern times

Kadyrov Rasim Reshatovich Lecturer of the Department of History, F. Yakubov Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University;Museum items registration specialist, Crimean Tatar Museum of Cultural and Historical Heritage 295001, Russia, Republic of Crimea, Simferopol, lane Educational, 8 rasimkadyrov929@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Funeral rites are a complex of ritual actions with a set of certain rules and prohibitions that must be performed strictly and consistently. To cover a wide range of issues related to this topic, the sources of the XVIII – early XX century are of value to us. XX centuries. It should be noted here the works of both professional ethnographers, whose activities were purposefully connected with the study of the culture and way of life of the Crimean Tatars, as well as materials compiled in the form of notes and personal diaries of people who came into contact with the Crimean Tatars in everyday life.

The entire ritual cycle is divided into three main stages. The first of which is related to the death of a person and preparation for burial. The second stage is the burial of the deceased himself. The third stage consists of rites of remembrance of the deceased.

The sources based on observations mostly contain information similar in presentation, with the exception of some changes that were probably of a regional nature. So at the first stage, according to ethnographers and travelers, a priest came to the dying man, who, sitting at the head of the person, was engaged in reading prayers until the death of the latter. Next, the body of the deceased was taken out into the courtyard for the purpose of ablution.  It was mandatory to cover the place of ablution from prying eyes with a partition or screen. After ablution, the body was wrapped in a shroud, placed on a stretcher (tabut) and quickly taken out of the yard. This process was accompanied by crying and wailing of women, who, having escorted the deceased to the street, washed their hands and returned back, while the men went to the cemetery.

As for the second stage, it is represented by the rituals performed directly in the cemetery at the grave.  The grave was a dirt structure with a cut horizontal lining.  Grave grave depth was not strictly regulated, according to V.H. Kondaraki, the grave for men was dug up to the waist, and for women up to the chest. The size of the side lining, where the body of the deceased was placed, had to correspond to the dimensions of a person ^{[5, p. 33; 15, p. 251]}. After the human body was lowered into the grave, the side wall was laid with a stone or planks, and covered with redeposited soil. Upon completion of the burial, the priest addressed all those present with the question: do they testify that the deceased was a good person during his lifetime? Traditionally, those present gave an affirmative answer.

Kondaraki, describing the actions he saw, noted that after the grave was buried, the mullah began to "salavat" – instructions for the deceased. Kondaraki writes that the Tatars were sure that the deceased not only listened to the instructions of the priest, but was also able to respond to him.  According to the author, the so-called salavat was intended to help the deceased to pass the tests that he would face in the grave ^{[5, p. 34]}.

It is obvious that the mentioned tests are nothing but Islamic religious precepts.  The Sunnah of the prophet mentions that after a person's death, two angels named Munkar and Nakir descend to his grave, who will ask questions: Who is your God? What is your religion? Who is your prophet? It is believed that if a person was God-fearing during his lifetime, he will easily answer the questions posed and the gardens of paradise will open to him. Otherwise, a person will not be able to give an answer and hell will appear before him. Therefore, according to beliefs, it was necessary to ask the Almighty for help so that the deceased would pass the tests. Obviously, the Salavat mentioned by the author is intertwined with a ritual called talkin. Talkin is a petition to the Almighty to grant the deceased the ability to correctly and firmly answer the questions of angels and to inspire him [the deceased] with words of testimony ^{[13, p. 287]}.  In turn, we note that these actions are contradictory from the point of view of religion. Some Muslim theologians consider this to be correct and cite the words from the Prophet's Sunnah as evidence. In the hadith narrated by Uthman ibn Affan, it is said: "That after the burial of the deceased, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, standing at the grave, said: "Ask forgiveness for your brother and ask for his steadfastness, for now he is being asked. Scholars interpret these words as a prayer to God that He would help the deceased to answer the question correctly" (Hadith 3221, Sunan Abu Dawud) ^[12].

          According to field ethnographic studies by A. Efimov, the mullah came to the cemetery for 40 days to read the so-called telkin dua (prayer of instruction) ^{[4, p. 202]}. This episode is also mentioned by M. Holderness, only according to her statement, the mullah goes to the cemetery for 40 days to read prayers, since the Tatars believe that spirits hover over the grave at this time. Also, according to her observations, after the funeral procession was completed, small money was distributed to all those present at the cemetery as a donation so that people would pray to God for the soul of the deceased and undergo grave tests ^{[15, p. 251]}.

Special attention should be paid to the description of the funeral rite left in the work of corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences G.I. Radde and a similar publication printed on the pages of the ethnographic essay "Peoples of Russia".  According to the publication, the Crimean Tatars buried their dead in a sitting position, leaning their backs against one of them. The walls of the graves were lined with planks, and the legs of the deceased were stretched into the dug side pillow. At the same time, as the author writes, the body was wrapped in white shawls, stockings and shoes were put on the legs, and a yarmulke with a white brush was put on the head.  In addition, water, flint and tobacco were placed in the grave of the deceased so that the deceased would not suffer need while waiting for the angels of the testers. After the grave was covered with earth, the ritual of "communicating with the deceased" followed. The mullah, crouching down to the ground, asked loudly: "What are you doing there? Are you happy with your funeral? Have you seen anyone?" The questions asked were answered aloud by the priest himself and his answers were taken as the answers of the deceased ^{[7, pp. 99-101; 9, p. 28]}. It should be noted that this ritual, with the exception of the questions asked, closely resembled the rite of instruction, which we wrote about earlier.  This description, presented by the authors, is quite contradictory from the point of view of canonical Islam, which was practiced by the Crimean Tatars. There are violations of several basic rules on the face: first, the position of the body and its orientation. According to religious norms, the deceased are buried on their backs, with their heads facing south with their faces turned towards Mecca. The second important point is that according to religious norms, burials should be non–invasive, and the presence of clothing elements, flint and tobacco contradict this rule.

By the nature of the burial and judging by the questions that the priest asked the deceased, we can assume that some of the elements found here are a reference to the pre-Islamic Turkic past, where there was just a sitting corpse, the presence of inventory, and beliefs in reunification with ancestors ^{[3, p. 315]}. In Modern times, similar elements are not found in descriptions of funeral rites of Turkic peoples close in religion and culture ^[7]. Based on the reports of other authors who write about the traditional method of burial, we can again assume that this took place in individual families.

The echoes of the described funeral rite are very superficially traced according to archaeology. During the study of the Muslim necropolis in the area of the village of Gurzuf (Crimea), two types of graves were identified. One, the predominant one, consisted in a straight corpse position with straight arms and a turn of the head to the southeast. In another, according to the researchers, the corpse position imitated a "sitting position" in which the arms are stretched along the trunk, the legs are bent at the knees, the head is lowered to the forearm. Grave graves, however, lack inventory in all graves, with the exception of items that could have entered the grave along with the redeposited soil ^{[14, p. 177]}. Unfortunately, archaeological studies of Muslim necropolises, in addition to the above, have not yet received due attention from researchers, which currently does not allow for complete clarity on this issue.

At the same time, despite the obvious pre-Islamic elements, we cannot talk about an obvious and deliberate distortion of the burial rite.  According to researchers, in the everyday consciousness of Muslim believers, all beliefs and rituals, regardless of their real origin, were perceived as Muslim at that time ^{[1, p. 61]}.

In general, the canonical requirements of religion regarding the funeral rite were mostly observed. First of all, it is the duty to give the deceased to the ground as soon as possible, observing all necessary procedures, and the correct location of the deceased's body in the grave. According to available sources, these actions, for the most part, were carried out in strict accordance with religious requirements, despite some obstacles. It should be noted here that the obligation to give the body of the deceased to the earth as soon as possible went against the secular laws of the Russian Empire, according to which burials had to be performed three days after death.  The Muslim clergy naturally disagreed with this rule. In particular, the decree "On non-deviation from the general rules for the burial of Mohammedans" contains the opinion of the Tauride Mufti, who insisted on the inadmissibility of this law from the point of view of religion ^{[8, p. 396]}.  Ethnographers and travelers also noted in their works that the burial procedure was carried out no later than 12 hours from the moment of death ^{[15, p. 251]}. On the pages of the above-mentioned essay, the Peoples of Russia provide the following: "Superstitious and squeamish, Tatars do not like to mess with the dead for a long time. No sooner will any of them die than they are already being dragged to the cemetery" ^{[7, p. 99]}. The author of this text was clearly far from the religious views of Muslims, since the situation was far from superstition and fastidiousness, but in religious precepts, which were also strictly observed by other Turkic peoples who professed Islam ^{[7, p. 23, p. 259]}.  In one of the hadiths, the words of the prophet are transmitted: "Truly, I believe that Talha is dying, so inform me as soon as he passes away and hurry, because the body of a deceased Muslim should not linger among his family members" (Hadith 3159, Sunan Abu Dawood) ^[12].

The final element of funeral and memorial ceremonies, where religious syncretism is clearly visible, is the holding of commemorations. According to sources, these rituals were performed on the 3rd, 7th, and 40th days after the burial. In some families, for another 37, 52, 100 days, 6 months and a year later. It is important to mention that they are not regulated in any way by the canons of Sharia, although in the minds of the Crimean Tatars, commemorations were firmly considered an important religious element. Muslim scholars and theologians in the 19th century regarded the rites of commemoration as undesirable innovations ^{[10, p. 730]}. In addition, some Muslim scholars condemn the tradition of holding commemorations on specific days. Since this is an assimilation to other confessions ^{[13, p. 376]}.

Attempts to explain these traditions can be seen in the authors of ethnographic essays. Thus, according to V. Kondaraki, these actions are carried out in order to assist the deceased in atoning for sins, since the wake was accompanied by the recitation of prayers. The British traveler M. Holderness writes: that the Tatars believe that spirits roam around the grave for 40 days, and again, in order to help the deceased, commemoration is held ^{[15, p. 251]}.

The origins of the rite of commemoration have not been fully clarified, according to researchers, they are of ethnic origin and are associated with pre-Islamic Turkic beliefs, as indirectly evidenced by the holding of a ritual meal as a tradition of distributing food, which was considered the share of the deceased. The meal also represented one of the forms of feeding the deceased, which reflected the care of deceased ancestors ^{[11, p. 104]}.  The Crimean Tatars have echoes of these stories, just traced in the customs of commemoration (dua). According to custom, after reading prayers, those present were invited to set tables, where pumpkin treats were desirable, since according to legend pumpkin was considered a heavenly dish. It was also customary to serve dishes that the deceased himself loved. Another echo of ancient pre-Islamic traditions can be found in the table etiquette of the Crimean Tatars.  After the meal, people, in addition to the traditional words of gratitude, could say the phrase: "About the grain janina tiisin", which literally translates as: "Let [this food] touch the soul of the dead" ^{[6, p. 93]}.

Echoes of the rite of feeding the deceased have also been preserved by some Kryashchen Tatars. Before the start of the memorial dinner, several people went to the cemetery and invited the deceased to lunch. There was a place at the memorial table and the dishes were set. According to beliefs, the deceased should have been sitting in this place. The researchers note that this custom existed among the Orthodox Tatars as a relic of the mentioned ancient pagan beliefs of the Turks. The similarity of some elements of Orthodox Tatars and Muslim Tatars is explained by the preserved stable layer of pagan views ^{[16, p. 139]}

Based on the above, it should be noted that the entire funeral and burial complex of the Crimean Tatars consists of two components: Muslim religious obligations and ethnic customs. Considering the ritual culture of the Crimean Tatars, it is difficult not to agree with the statement of the Soviet scientist G.A. Bonch-Osmolovsky, who writes: "When studying the life of the Tatars, we come across an example of their extraordinary resilience, when customs developed in completely different conditions are transferred to another environment and have been here for centuries ^{[2, p. 52]}. The facts presented in the article demonstrate to us the stability of those very ethnic customs, which over time were adjusted to religious norms and merged with them into a single whole. Thus, the medieval cult of ancestors, which was obviously forgotten by everyone in modern times, has been preserved only in fragments and in a streamlined manner, as evidenced by the holding of commemorations, reading the mentioned talkin (reading instructions) and the incorrect corpse location found in the descriptions of ethnographers. The performance of rituals in each family largely depended on their well-being and religious competence. This also explains the variability in the performance of rituals, the description of which we find in the sources.