Paul
Goble
Staunton, October 23 – Russian
President Vladimir Putin says that Islamists have forced the Russian government
to declare various religious works extremist, a process that he believes is
often “counterproductive” and one that could far better be overseen and carried
out by traditional Muslim authorities in the Russian Federation.
On the one hand, Putin is offering
the Muslim leaders of Russian something almost all of them want. But on the
other, he is suggesting that they need to come together and agree on a common
definition of “traditional” Islam, a proposal that at the very least will
trigger a new round of competition among the major leaders of that community.
In a wide-ranging speech to a
conference in Ufa yesterday on the 225th anniversary of the creation
of the predecessor of today’s Muslim spiritual directorates (MSDs), Putin said
that that event represented the “official” recognition of Islam as “a
traditional religion of Russia” and made Muslims into “true patriots” of Russia
(news.kremlin.ru/transcripts/19474).
Unfortunately,
he continued, “certain political forces are using Islam or more precisely its
radical trends which are not historically typical for Russian Muslims in order
to weaken our state and establish on Russian territory conflict zones
controlled from abroad as well as divisions among various ethnic groups for
promoting separatist tendencies in the regions.”
“I
am convinced,” the Russian president said, “that such attempts must be
countered by the faithfulness of Russia’s Muslims to their historical traditions
and partner-like relations with representatives of other relations, above all
with the Russian Orthodox Church.”
Diversity is
typical of all world religions, Putin added, but “in the service of their
society and state, the Muslims of Russia always were united, defending the country
from its external enemies and from any manifestations of extremism … This unity
must be preserved and strengthened even today.”
According to the Russian leader, “the
new socialization of Islam must be considered as a development of the
traditional Muslim way of life, thought, and view in correspondence with
contemporary social reality and in opposition to the ideology of the radicals
who seek to drive believers back into the Middle Ages.”
To that end, “new forms of work” are
important, including via “Muslim cultural centers, Islamic
scientific-enlightenment centers, and youth and women’s clubs.” Russia’s Muslim
leaders must speak out with a common voice both at home and abroad, something
that is sometimes difficult, Putin suggested, because there are now 82 MSDs in
the country.
Russia’s Muslims, Putin said, must
restore their own Islamic theological school “which will secure the sovereignty
of Russia’s spiritual space and, what is important in principle, will be
recognize by the majority of Muslim scholars of the world.” To that end,
theological works domestic and foreign must be translated into Russian.
The Russian president said that his
listeners were certainly aware that “the state had been forced to apply
preventive measures” by banning certain literature, a process that “was far
from always being effective and often just the reverse. Prohibitions work
poorly or have an impact exactly the opposite of what is expected.”
Not surprisingly, Putin’s words were
warmly welcomed by Talgat Tajuddin, the head of the Central MSD based in Ufa
that views itself as the successor to the organization established by Catherine
the Great and a man who has often styled himself as the mufti of Holy Rus in
the manner of the Russian Orthodox patriarch.
In a response to Putin, Tajuddin
said that “traditional Islam cannot be varied. Traditional Islam is that which
our ancestors have understood for more than 14 centuries, and one that they
have sought to transmit to their successors.” And he suggested that his Central
MSD is the obvious organization to keep this tradition alive.
But many of Russia’s Muslim leaders
disagree, and some of them, who have been at odds with Tajuddin for decades,
even refused to come to this meeting (bashinform.ru/news/583625/). Despite that,
some Russian commentators already view Putin’s words as the strongest
government tilt yet to the Ufa leader (interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=53146
and
Tajuddin is certain to act on that
in the coming days, but his opponents, including first and foremost Ravil
Gainutdin of the Council of Russian Muftis (SMR) is certain to resist, setting
the stage for a new round of struggle within the Muslim community of the
Russian Federation and quite possibly opening the way for more radicalization
of the kind Putin wants to avoid.
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