Paul
Goble
Staunton, January 9 – President Vladimir
Putin’s use of the Soviet-era term “traditional Islam” in opposition to “non-traditional”
not only is outmoded but reflects a serious misunderstanding of the nature of
Islam and thus constitutes a major “political error,” according to a leading
Russian specialist on the Muslim world.
In an interview posted on the
BigCaucasus.com portal this week, Aleksey Malashenko, a senior specialist at
the Carnegie Moscow Center, says that at his press conference Putin used the dichotomy
of traditional and non-traditional Islam, a division which specialists
recognize no longer works (www.bigcaucasus.com/events/topday/07-01-2013/82007-malashenko-0/).
Among the expert community, the
Moscow scholar continues, these terms are being redefined, but “apparently
Putin does not have any advisors working on this question.” And thus his use of increasingly out of date
terms is “a political mistake,” especially because as president, Putin “could
have proposed some new version or new paradigm.”
Moreover, Malashenko argues, if
Putin “drives Islam into the framework of traditionalism and
non-traditionalism, as he did at the press conference, this [by itself] will
have negative consequences.” It will encourage the struggle between them rather
than promote consensus and agreement.
“The term ‘struggle’ is
inappropriate here,” the scholar says. “it is necessary to provide another
system of coordinates. When speaking about terrorists, extremists and the like,
one must never in any case confuse all this with theology. One must not assert that Sufi Islam and the tariqatists
are good or, just the reverse, are bad.” They are both Islam.
“In general,” Malashenko says, “Wahhabism
should be left in peace and one should deal with it as to [any] legitimate
trend” within the faith. One must start
not from ideology but from practice” and one must make a political evaluation
of the situation, one that takes all “nuances” into consideration.
Unfortunately and “as usual,” he
says, epithets have replaced analysis: “American imperialism is bad, Zionism
also bad, and then we go on … We passed through all this already in Soviet
times. So that the present official ideology in this regard in general has not
proceeded very far.”
Asked about the spread of Wahhabism
beyond the North Caucasus to northern regions of Russia, Malashenko responded
that this is “a complex process” that “in the first instance” reflects the
movement of migrant workers seeking jobs. Because of where they come from, some
are bearers of what Putin still calls “non-traditional” Islam.
That should not surprise anyone
given where these workers are coming from and it should not spark fears of some
kind of conspiracy. Instead, what is
taking place is easily understood, and to try to block it is “unrealistic.” One can only hope to oppose it by offering “some
sort of alternative,” economic, social or religious.
Radicalism has always been “a
characteristic aspect of the entire Muslim world,” and because Russia has its
own “enormous Muslim community,” Russia has been and will be affected by
it. “Therefore, to declare the Salafis
enemies is stupid; it is necessary to start a dialogue with them,” something
some officials in the North Caucasus appear to understand.
Malashenko then makes an even more
general point that is often ignored in recent discussions of Islam in
Russia. “The supporter of any
theological or legal school in Islam or Islamic ideology” will always say that
what he professes is “real Islam.” But
that is no different than the position of the adherents of other faiths.
Focusing on these assertions is the
source of many problems, Malashenko argues.
What is needed is the development of dialogue and its continuation “without
the mediation of the [political] authorities.”
Such conversations will allow “the search for a common language” and for
“a consensus” rather than an illusory effort to win a victory for any of the
sides.
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