Paul Goble
Staunton, Feb. 4 – The approach of Ramadan means that tens of thousands if not more of Russia’s Muslims will gather outside the few mosques the Kremlin has allowed them to open, an event that attracts widespread attention among Russians because it highlights just how many religious Muslims there are in the Russian Federation.
Moscow officials have tried to discourage the faithful from attending in various ways, but now they have gained an important ally in that effort: Talgat Tajuddin, the head of the Central Muslim Directorate in Ufa, the last Soviet-appointed mufti still in office, and the self-styled Supreme Mufti of Russia.
The mufti said that while Islam allows for prayer “practically anywhere, believers are required not to inconvenience others and not to disrupt public order,” a statement he made after Dagestan’s nationality policy and religious affairs ministry said that prayer, “not being a political action or missionary work,” is “not a violation of the law” (readovka.news/news/237587/).
Tajuddin’s position is closer to that of the Russian authorities who are typically upset when thousands of believers come to mosques but are forces to pray outside especially at holidays because the mosques are too small or too few in number to handle believers who want to participate.
A few muftis in the Russian Federation have taken a similar position, but most have not spoken out on this issue (readovka.news/news/234954/). One creative response to what appears to be government pressure comes from the government of Bashkortostan (nazaccent.ru/content/45103-v-bashkirii-budut-translirovat-pyatnichnye-namazy-iz-mecheti/).
Ufa promises to televise prayers from the main mosques there so that believers can participate in them without leaving home and going to the mosques where they will spill into the street. Whether such broadcasts will increase or decrease the religious enthusiasm of believers remains to be seen.
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