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10 Russian-Syrian relations. URL: http://archive.mid.ru/us-russi.nsl/F/.1083B. 7937ne580ncd432569e7004199c2/432569d80021985143256eae003471569?0pen Document.
11 The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 12, 2009 No 537 "On Strategy of National Security of the Russian Federation up to 2020" // Rossiiskaya gazeta - 2009 - No 4912 (88) - P. 16.
12 The concept of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation (endorsed by President V. Putin on November 30, 2016). URL.: http://www.mid.ru/ foreign_policy/news/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id2542248.
13 V. Sabirov, O. Sonin, E. Shchekotin, I. Dobayev. Extremism as Civilization Challenge. Novosibirsk, Sibstrim Publishers, 2012, P. 224-248.
14 For more details see: N. Anisimova, I. Dobayev. Network Structures of Terrorists in North Caucasus. Moscow - Rostov-on-Don. Socio-humanitarian Knowledge Publishers. 2016, P. 143.
15 A. Topalov. Islamic State Turns into Main Threat to Russia. URL.: http://www.vz.ru/society/2015/6/75258l.
16 An agreement between the Russian Federation and Syrian Arab Republic on deployment of an airforce unit of the Russian Armed Forces on territory of SAR of August 25, 2015.
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2018.03.001. ALEXANDER KHOKHLOV. ISLAMIC FINANCE: A BOOST TO THE ECONOMY OR A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY? // "Problemy Natcionalnoy Strategii," Moscow, 2016, № 4 (37), P. 238-248.
Keywords: Islamic financial institutions (IFIs), Islamic banking, Islamic insurance, ideology, legislation, national security, terrorism.
Alexander Khokhlov,
Research Associate.
Regional Center for Ethno-Religious Studies, RISS, Kazan
As the author of the article notes, Islamic banking structures cannot enter the Russian market as the independent actors. They will have to work in conjunction with Russian financial institutions
and authorities. This is a serious problem, as the interested persons abroad expect to receive powerful lobbyists of their interests, far from business. Alexander Khokhlov examines the mechanisms of the functioning of Islamic financial institutions (IFI) in order to understand the true motives behind the actualization of the idea of the arrival of Islamic capital in the domestic market.
The Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) activities are based on a religious worldview, proceeding from Muslim doctrinal attitudes. Economic activity is an instrument for the implementation of worldview and, in particular, political attitudes. However, the author of the article points out, for today there is no single point of view among Muslim intellectuals on the criteria of the Islamic (in the true sense) economy. The reference Islamic economic model has not yet been built even in states where the sharia norms are the determining factors in the system of political, economic and social life (such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar), according to many theologians. The fact is that economic activity in these states, like in many others, is based on universal principles operating in the world today. Therefore, the essence of the issue in practice boils down not to their principled denial, but to a formal correspondence of Sharia law with the operations of the canons of capitalism.
One of the hallmarks of the Islamic economy in the Middle East is the dominance of the financial sector. But there is a serious problem here, since the loan interest (or "usury / riba" as a way of generating profit) in conditions of operating modern economic instruments is unacceptable from the point of view of the doctrinal attitudes of Islam. Profit in Islamic banks is achieved by two most common methods that allow to solve the problem in a speculative way: 1) The Islamic Bank formally acts as a co-founder of a business that is credited and receives a certain share of the income from this business on the basis of this. These operations are carried out on the basis of the mudaraba (and its modifications) and musharaka agreements; 2) Discount. A bond (sukuk) or a bill is sold cheaper than its nominal value, and is repaid at par. Thus, the
conditionally obtained interest is absent, and the profit is due to the recount of the discount. However, this type of operation is not considered by most Islamic lawyers as permissible, which rarely affects the practice, nevertheless. At the same time, the Islamic economy is not limited exclusively to banking and trading operations, although the latter play a key role in the tools of Islamic banks. There is another branch - Islamic insurance (takaful). Insurance companies invest in economic activities permitted by the Shariah (halal), and on this basis they make a profit.
The Volga region and North Caucasus republics are Leaders in financial transactions that comply with Sharia regulations in Russia.
A. Khokhlov refers to the experience of Tatarstan. The organization of the Islamic banking system and its accompanying structures in the territory of Tatarstan is regularly discussed in the republican state, independent and religious mass media. Today in Tatarstan a number of practical initiatives are already being implemented in this sphere. Thus, the Tatarstan Investment Development Agency is operating under the Government of the Republic since 2011.
In general, the infrastructure of Islamic finance in Tatarstan is quite extensive and includes the Islamic Business and Finance Development Fund, the Tatarstan International Investment Company, the Eurasian Leasing Company, "Ak Bars" Bank, the Financial House Amal, the insurance company "Alliance Life." At the end of March 2015, the Tatarstan regional branch of the Association of Muslim Businessmen of Russia (APM RF) was opened in the republic. The Council for Interaction with International Financial Organizations under the President of the Republic of Tatarstan carries out its activities at the state level. The International Economic Summit of Russia and the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation - KazanSummit is held in Kazan on a regular basis under the patronage of the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan since 2009 and is a major project for
Tatarstan. In 2012 Kazan Summit was supported by the Federation Council of the Russian Federation and the Association of Regional Investment Agencies. The work of Tatarstan experts in the field of Islamic finance with federal legislative structures is one of its priorities. It can be assumed that the leadership of Tatarstan strives to build a dualistic financial system in the Republic, following the example of the one that exists in Malaysia today. Traditional and Islamic institutions within the framework of this model exist in a single legal field. At the same time, the activities of Islamic Financial Institutions are regulated by special legislation. The success of Tatarstan in the field of interaction with federal legislators would allow to remove fundamental disagreements in the Russian legal sphere.
In March 2015, the lower house of the Russian Parliament took up the problem. The State Duma Committee on the Financial Market has started drafting a bill on the establishment of Islamic banking in the Russian Federation. Since Tatarstan is not so rich in natural resources, as other developed Russian regions, the idea of Islamic capital along with active technological development is quite pragmatic and justified. The establishment of a hub for Islamic financial services in Tatarstan would be another argument in this regard. Therefore, it is quite understandable that the Republic of Tatarstan is actively working with the Islamic development Bank, promoting its interests in Central Asia and offering to apply the experience gained there in Tatarstan.
Today there is no need to change the legislation in Russia so that Islamic banking will work in the country. Some types of Islamic financial products have been on the Russian market for more than 10 years, and the operations carried out under the canons of the Shariah exist not only in theory but also in practice. Supporters of expanding the presence of Islamic financial institutions on the Russian market are promoting the idea of creating an independent legislative base. The state should create preferential conditions for the development of Islamic economical institutions, from their point of view, and ideally all treaties known
to classical and modern Muslim law should be reflected in the Civil Code. In other words, we are talking about the Islamization of the legal sphere in the implementation of this approach, about creating a parallel to the existing legislative sector in fact. This directly contradicts the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the secular nature of the state.
The amount of funds attracted by the IFIs in the Russian Federation does not exceed 1% of the volume of funds of the entire Russian credit system, which cannot contribute to the interpretation of their activities at this stage as a serious help for the Russian economy. Even Tatarstan has little potential for sustainable demand for Islamic financial services. The way out of this situation is proposed in the forced increase of the religiosity of the population, as well as by attracting non-Muslims, who are not prohibited from using Islamic financial services under certain conditions. For example, today Takaful companies are developing special programs to familiarize the population with Islamic insurance in order to attract non-Muslim clients in many non-Muslim countries.
Potential threats are related to the financing of terrorist and extremist activities through IFIs. Some Islamic banks will not be able to avoid financing terrorist groups in conditions of weakness of the Russian audit system in the sphere of finance, as well as a special ideological background.
Summing up, the researcher notes that Islamic finance in Russia cannot really be a significant help for the country's economy at the moment. Although they do not pose a threat to the national security of the country, under certain conditions such a possibility cannot be excluded.
Author of the abstract - Valentina Schensnovich
