The Image of Islam in Official Rhetoric and Public Representations: A Comparative Analysis Based on Materials from the Republic of Tatarstan

The purpose of the article is to show, using the example of the Republic of Tatarstan, the extent to which the ideas representing Islam promoted in the official public discourse and the frames about it present in the mass consciousness coincide. The scientific problem of the study — a comparison of the ideas of the ruling and mass strata of Russian society — predetermined the use of the principles of comparative analysis and a multiparadigmatic methodology. It included the constructivist approach of P. Berger and T. Lukmann, the phenomenological approach of E. Husserl and A. Schutz, the theory of frames by I. Hoffmann, ideas about the image as a cultural phenomenon and the image of religion in a sociological perspective. The empirical base is the materials of a sociological study, including a discursive analysis of the texts of the Addresses of the Head of the Republic of Tatarstan to the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan for 2013-2023, data from a survey of Kazan residents in 2024 (n=501) and the results of a secondary assessment of data from questionnaires of Tatarstan residents in the 2000s. The novelty of the study lies in the author's sociological approach to studying the image of Islam in the views of different social groups and in demonstrating the possibilities of its use on specific data. The use of the comparative analysis method allowed us to identify the specific foundations of the image of Islam and their coincidence in the official public discourse and public opinion. 1. For the rais of Tatarstan and for the residents of the republic, the association of this religion with the sphere of interfaith relations is equally significant. 2. A coinciding view is the frame about Islam through ethnicity. 3. Differences between the ruling and mass layers were found on the topic of “Islamic economy and interaction with the countries of the Islamic world”. It is very significant for R. N. Minnikhanov, but does not occupy high positions in the rating of associations about Islam in public views. 4. At the mass level, a very common basis for the perception of Islam is the public service of its followers. This marker is actively used by the head of the republic in public speeches. The image of Islam as a socially responsible religion, equally significant for the population and the ruling layer, is the basis for promoting a coordinated strategy of positive branding of this religion in Russia. It can become a social reference point for believers in today's unstable world through service to their immediate surroundings.