Paul
Goble
Staunton, May 3 – Yesterday, incoming
Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky met with the leaders of the Muslim
community of Ukraine for two hours, stressing the importance of religious
comity in Ukraine and his hopes that Muslims there will succeed in attracting
more foreign attention from wealthier Islamic countries.
He impressed his audience who
included among others Said Ismagilov, head
of the Umma Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD) of Ukraine, Mufti Akhmed Takim of the Ukrainian
MSD, and Ayder Rustamov of the Crimean MSD, all of whom stressed the commitment
of their followers to helping all Ukrainians recover Russian-occupied Crimea
and the Donbass (risu.org.ua/ru/index/all_news/state/church_state_relations/75649/
and
Ismagilov has long
argued for having the Muslims of Ukraine call on the Muslims of Russia not to
fight against their fellow believers in Ukraine (gordonua.com/news/war/sheyh-said-ismagilov-ochen-vazhno-donesti-musulmanam-rossii-ne-voyuyte-protiv-svoih-edinovercev-v-ukraine-695180.html).
Perhaps more important and certainly
more intriguing, the Umma mufti has frequently said that Ukrainians should make
clear to everyone that “Muslims in Ukraine are full-fledged citizens and not as
in Russia, second class ones” (gordonua.com/publications/sheyh-said-ismagilov-v-ukraine-musulmane-polnocennye-grazhdane-a-ne-kak-v-rossii-lyudi-vtorogo-sorta-683371.html).
It
is highly likely that Ismagilov took this opportunity to repeat that argument
to Zelensky, stressing to him as he has to others in the past that playing the Muslim
card against Russia is entirely appropriate given that Moscow has shown no
reluctance in playing the religious card against Ukraine.
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