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degree of harshness. They have no other idea uniting them. The world knows of three powerful mobilizing factors: the national, the social and the religious. Nationalism, which prevailed in Nasser's time, has exhausted itself. The idea of socialism (with elements of nationalism and religion) has gone into the past along with real socialism. The idea of Islam has remained deeply rooted in the consciousness of the broad popular masses, and it is not only ideology, but also the way of life and the hope of those who have become disappointed with the secular forms of public life.
As to the idea of democracy, it seems to stay in the political arena in the conditions of globalization and information revolution. But it will either be integrated in the Islamic regime as is the case of Iran, or bear an imitation character as in many secular autocracies. There will also be such political systems in which democratic institutions will remain in the conditions of the rule of Islamic parties of a moderate character, as, for example, in Turkey.
"Strany Vostoka: sotsialno-politicheskiye,sotsialno-ekonomicheskiye i sotsiokulturniye problemy v kontekste globalizatsii," Moscow,2012, pp. 49-63.
Muslimat Gabibova,
Political analyst, Dagestani Regional Center of Ethno-political Studies CONFESSIONAL AND SECULAR FACTORS IN THE REPUBLIC OF DAGESTAN AT PRESENT
Russia is a striking example of a poly-ethnic and poly-confessional state, where confessional and inter-confessional relations are very important.
The contemporary model of state-confessional relations has been enriched by the diversity of regional models, depending on the specific 14
features of individual regions. In particular, it is characteristic of the republics of the Russian Federation with higher political-legal status, where ethnic and confessional factors are of greater significance and influence the formation of national-regional identity. Dagestan is a case in point.
In terms of ethnic-confessional relations Dagestan has always been regarded as one of the most complex republics, because it is inhabited by more than 100 various nationalities, including 32 indigenous peoples of three confessions: Muslim, Christian and Judaic. This great confessional and national variety of Dagestan is connected with the history of the republic and its geographic location.
It should be emphasized that the notions "religious" and "national" are closely connected in the consciousness of Muslims in Dagestan. The perception of unity of the national and religious factors has consolidated in the consciousness of the Dagestani people for a long time. Following the adoption of Islam, the people of Dagestan became united by common faith. Confessional unity on the national basis was accompanied by specific features which absorbed local national customs, traditions, and rites and rituals. The traditions and customs with religious content were accepted as the ones created and ordered by God. The lack of understanding and incorrect appraisal of national specific features displayed by certain people in their attitude to the existing traditions and religious rites are often a cause of social tension. But there are customs and rites equally observed by believers and non-believers, and often together, for example, funeral repast, or giving name to a child.
This can be explained by the fact that during the Soviet period many people observed Islamic traditions, habits and rites, regarding them as a popular, but not a religious custom. Incidentally, this
situation is also typical not only of Dagestani Muslims, but also of Muslims in the Volga area, the Urals, and the Caucasus.
According to a sociological survey made some time, ago 64.1 percent of respondents considered themselves believers, while 38.7 percent observed religious rites, and 25 percent did not observe them. About 200,000 people were devout Muslims. Sociological surveys showed that the prevailing type of religiousness in Dagestan was one in which believers did not practice all rites regularly.
The attitude to religion differs in different ethnic groups. For instance, there are 38 percent of the Avars who are devout Muslims observing all rites. The figure for the Dargins is 20 percent, the Kumyks - 14 percent, Lezghins - 10 percent, the Laks - 4 percent, other nationalities - 14 percent. The share of the Wahhabis and Tariqatis among deeply religious Muslim is small (from three to four percent).
The contemporary regional model of confessional policy in Dagestan is determined to a large extent by the socio-economic and political-legal development of the region and the confessional structure of the population, as well as by psychological features and business quality of political and religious leaders. The present-day religious situation in Dagestan is characterized by the following features: 1. growing religiousness, which is not connected with the regular observation of rites; 2. high level of religiousness depending on the place of birth and ethnic origin; 3. the form and degree of religious (Islamic) education; 4. degree of politicization of traditional Islam in Dagestan; 5. existence of various religious trends, including the religious extremist Wahhabi trend; 6. poly-confessional situation. Such factors as politicization of traditional Islam and religious extremism present a grave threat to security not only of Dagestan, but also of the entire North Caucasus and the Russian Federation.
The existing conflict potential in the inter-ethnic, inter-confessional and intra-confessional spheres is of great significance as a threat to Dagestan. Islamic confession is split into two trends: adepts of traditional popular Islam, and supporters of the reactionary wing of Mazkhab of Khanbalists (Wahhabi and Salafi). Distribution and popularity of the Wahhabi trend is caused by both internal and external factors. The secular character is one of the basic principles of building and functioning of a modern law-abiding state. The external factors are as follows: Muslim education abroad; missionary activity and activities of foreign non-governmental organizations; economic interests of transnational companies, and geopolitical interests of various countries, to mention but a few.
The change of the geopolitical role of the Republic of Dagestan is one of the most important factors of dissemination of extremist Wahhabi ideology in Dagestan. After the emergence of the independent Trans-Caucasian republics of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia and political instability in Chechnya and other republics of the North Caucasus, Dagestan became the easy subject of the geopolitical situation in the south of Russia. The dissemination of Wahhabi ideology was promoted by several reasons of domestic nature: socioeconomic instability, unemployment, poverty of the population, moral degradation, dominance of the clan system in the Muslim regions of the North Caucasus, Moscow's inconsistent policy toward the region, low prestige of the clergy among the local population, etc.
The main threat to public security coming from the Wahhabi adepts is their insistence on turning society into an "Islamic state," which included forcible suppression of all and sundry trends of thought differing from theirs. The challenge of Wahhabi ideology and practice takes the form of radical politicized Islam in the religious and sociopolitical spheres. The Wahhabi adepts in the North Caucasus are
supported by international Islamist organizations and other external forces, which render them substantial financial, material and propaganda assistance.
In order to preserve stability in Dagestan the republican government bodies and public and religious organizations should work out a program of comprehensive measures aimed at attaining ethnic and religious tolerance, consolidating friendly ethnic-confessional relations between representatives of different nationalities in the republic, and creating a model of religious behavior in the region.
Article 14 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation says that the RF is a secular state in which there is no official state religion and no single faith is considered obligatory or preferable. In such a state religion, its canons and dogmas, and religious associations should not exert influence on the state system, the activity of state and government bodies and their officials, the state educational system, and other spheres of state activity. The secular character of the state is ensured by the separation of the church (religious associations) from the state and the separation of school from the church.
Article 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of Dagestan says that Dagestan is a secular state.
In our view, a secular state is such an organization of political power in which the state and the church are separated and at the same time interact with each other, religious associations are equal, freedom of conscience and equality of citizens are guaranteed irrespective of their attitude to religion with a view to ensuring a balance of the interests of the individual, the state and religious associations in the various spheres of society's life.
The Republic of Dagestan has the constitution of a secular state. It means that the state does not interfere with the religious affairs of citizens, including the upbringing of children in the family, which is
based on the parents' convictions and with due account of the wish and right of the child to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.
A secular state should not place the functions of state and government bodies, including local ones, on religious associations of citizens. The state should ensure the secular character of education at state and municipal educational bodies.
The essence of this constitutional premise is also disclosed in Article 4 of the Federal Law of September 26, 1996, "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations," which says that all religious associations are equal before the law.
Talking of the secular character of the Republic of Dagestan as a state formation, it is necessary to note that at present the most widespread form of the realization of the citizens' right to religious freedom is their opportunity to unite in religious organizations through which the legitimate character of their activity is ensured.
According to the data of the Department on state-confessional relations of the Ministry for nationalities policy, religious affairs and foreign ties of the Republic of Dagestan, by December 1, 2010, there were 2,533 religious associations functioning in the republic: 2,478 Islamic, 50 Christian, and five Judaic.
Of 2,478 Islamic organizations 2,458 are Sunna and 19 Shia. There are also 18 higher educational Islamic institutions, 96 madrasahs, two cultural centers and one Union of Islamic young people. The Spiritual Board of Muslims of Dagestan has been functioning for several years now, and its representatives take an active part in public and political life in the republic. They often write to and speak in the mass media on various spiritual and ethical problems, as well as on the problems of opposing religious-political extremism and terrorism. We believe that today as never before, there should be spiritual modernization of society, differentiation of cultural and value systems,
secularization of education, religious tolerance, and confessional pluralism.
The Spiritual Board of Muslims of Dagestan is faced with major tasks of increasing its role in prevention of extremism, ethnocentrism and terrorism, and in promotion of moral education of young people.
Inasmuch as state-religious relations in the republic develop in completely new socio-political conditions today, the democratization of society opens up new opportunities to religious associations in carrying on their activity for moral improvement of society and for accord and interconfessional peace.
Christianity holds second place in Dagestan in the number of its adepts after Islam. At present, among 50 Christian religious associations 19 are Orthodox Christian, 28 Protestant, eight Armenian religious organizations, and one is Old Believers association. The total number of Orthodox Christian priests in the Republic of Dagestan is 23.
There are also five Judaic communities in the cities of Makhachkala, Derbent, Buinaksk, Hasavyurt and Kizlyar. These communities are part of the Federation of Jewish communities of Russia.
There are also some non-traditional faiths in Dagestan, which do not play any significant role in the religious life of the republic. Each community of their adepts numbers from 20 to 25 persons.
Old dilapidated mosques are restored in Dagestan and new ones are built. Religious newspapers are published, and religious organizations have now gained access to the mass media, including TV. In 2010 about 14,500 Dagestanis made hajj.
As shown by practice, the separation of religious organizations from the state does not exclude, but even presupposes, their cooperation and interaction for tackling socially important problems jointly. Religion is an institution of civic society expressing the spiritual
interests of the individual, and this is why it should not be isolated from the life of the state. Recently, their joint activity has been stepped up noticeably. Along with the questions of moral and patriotic education, cultural advancement, spiritual and ethical enlightenment and social adaptation of former criminals, which have become traditional spheres of cooperation, new ones have appeared - struggle against alcoholism and drug addition, religious security, and maintenance of law and order.
The secular state is closely connected with the socially-oriented state. Religious organizations, carrying on charity activity, implementing various social projects, creating doctrines of social service, and helping the poor sections of the population, thus develop and strengthen the socially-oriented state and play a no small role in eliminating social inequality. The state should contribute to the initiative of religious organizations in creating bodies of social service to the population (elderly people homes, homes for the disabled, orphanages, night shelters, alms-houses, etc.) The church could help the state in health service for the population. The state is unable to ensure a personified approach to all who need help, while the church has more opportunities in this respect. Religious organizations can realize their social doctrines only in the conditions of a well-developed civic society.
Religion with its powerful potential could more actively contribute to the consolidation of economic, political and social stability in the North Caucasus. Religious organizations functioning there should act within the bounds of the existing federal and local legislation.
In order to bolster up ethno-confessional stability in the North Caucasus, as we believe, state and government bodies, and public and religious organizations in the region should work out a comprehensive program of measures aimed at achieving ethno-confessional tolerance
as the basis of interethnic and interconfessional relations and accord and preserving and strengthening the ethnoconfessional area of the North Caucasus, peaceful coexistence and cooperation of different people and confessions within the framework of a single territorial and religious region.
In 2010 - 2011 we carried out a sociological surveillance to ascertain the level of religiousness in the Republic of Dagestan. The main question was about people's attitude to religion. Of 560 respondents 97.9 percent adhered to Sunna Islam. 1.2% said they were non-believers, and 1% were atheists.
The question about the type of the state system in the Republic of Dagestan was answered as follows: 48.04% said it should be secular, and 47.6% said it should be theocratic. As to the young people who were asked the same question, 70.8% said the state should be secular, and 20.1% -- that it should be based on the Sharia law.
The activity of the so-called political Islam is connected with fundamentalist consciousness and attitude to state laws. The extreme forms of its manifestation (Dagestani Wahhabis) completely deny the laws of a secular state and call for the creation of a state based on the Sharia law. A surveillance carried out among the population in 2004 showed that 56.7% of those polled considered it possible not to observe state laws if they contradict their religion. Only 23.3% said that it was necessary to abide by state laws. These figures showed that there was a potential threat to the state from radically-minded and fundamentalist believers.
Another surveillance carried out in 2011 showed that 67.6% were for a secular state which should protect the rights of the individual, men and women should have equal rights, religious rules and rites should be observed freely, and there should be no place for religious fanaticism. This is the most optimal variant for the Dagestani people who lived in a
secular state during the Soviet period. In a religious state there are many absurd restrictions going back to the medieval epoch. It is only a civic, secular state that has a future, and all flourishing European countries are secular, civic states. Supporters of a religious (Sharia) state (they comprise 16.4%) maintain that religion is the main factor in human life, and in a religious state based on strict laws people would fear to commit crimes. They say that they would like to live in a Sharia state, but not like Saudi Arabia, that religion should be the way of life, and that ultimately all people will be living in a religious state.
From the cited results of sociological polls it is seen that in 2011 there were more supporters of an Islamic state than in 1998, especially among young people. It shows that Islamic ideology becomes more widespread and popular. People of middle and old age do not change their attitude and, as a rule, favor a secular state. Most experts believe that it is necessary to adhere to the constitutional principle of the separation of religious associations from the state and school from the church. They come out for the secular development of Dagestan and the entire North Caucasus within the framework of the Russian Federation.
"Vestnik Dagestanskogo nauchnogo tsentra RAN," Makhachkala, 2012, No 45, pp. 105-108.
CITIES AND PEOPLE: SOCIO-CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION IN KAZAKHSTAN
The author1 (former director of the Kazakhstan Institute of Strategic Studies) examines the socio-cultural aspects of Kazakhstan's urbanization during the post-Soviet period.
1 A. Sultangaliyeva. Cities and People: Socio-Cultural Transformation in Kazakhstan (Almaty, 2010).
