Sufi Order in Bashkortostan Comes Out in Favor of Putin’s War in Ukraine

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 11 – The Hakkanites, a branch of the Naqshbandi sufi order in Bashkortostan with many followers in the cultural elite there, has come out in support of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine; and their activities in that regard have been joined by Mufti Talgat Tajuddin, head of the Central Muslim Spiritual Directorate in Ufa.

            But Bashkir observers say that neither has taken this step from religious motives but rather out of a desire to curry favor with the authorities in Ufa and Moscow who have sometimes looked at both in less than entirely positive terms, an explanation that undoubtedly applies to others as well (idelreal.org/a/31900771.html).

            However that may be, it is nonetheless striking that a branch of the Naqshbandi sufi order is taking such a public position in this way. After all, it was that order which played a key role in the defense of the Muslim communities against the advance of Russian forces in the 19^th century and of Soviet ones in the 20^th.