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Considerable part of the Soviet population (this concerns mainly representatives of middle and older age groups). Prolonged existence within the framework of one state - the U.S.S.R. - exerted considerable influence on Muslim peoples. This can be seen in comparing Islamic communities of the North Caucasus (or Central Asia) with Muslim communities in the Middle East. For instance, in most cases post-Soviet Muslims do not deem it necessary to observe religious rites or religious restrictions or bans regularly.
In our view, it is necessary to affirm secular values in the sphere of education, politics, the mass media, and way of life constantly and consistently. This task seems the most important to us. The point is that cultural factors, in contrast to socio-economic ones, can exert a more profound influence on society's life and determine its development for a long time. In recent years we have come across the very first results of Islamic renaissance in the South of Russia; the mechanism of cultural inertia has been started, and prolonged efforts will be required to overcome the existing situation.
"Problemy sotsialno-ekonomicheskogo i etnopoliticheskogo razvitiya yuzhnogo makroregiona," Rostov-on-Don, 2012, pp. 444-452.
A. Yunusova,
D. Sc. (Hist.), Director, Institute of Ethnopolitical Studies, RAS, Ufa MUSLIMS OF THE URALS-VOLGA AREA IN EARLY 21st CENTURY
The traditional characteristics of Russian Islam have regional specific features according to which one can single out Islam in the North Caucasus, Islam in the Volga area, Islam in the Southern Urals
and in the Trans-Urals. Each of these regions is influenced by Central Asian and Middle East countries, and, naturally, by the present events of the "Arab spring." This is why it is quite important to reveal the factors of risk in the development of the Russian umma, including in the regions of compact settlement of ethnic Muslims - Tatars, Bashkirs, and other peoples.
Modern Islam in the Urals-Volga area is characterized by several specific features determined by the historical and cultural development of the region. The "Tatar" Volga area is distinguished by a high public and political activity of Muslim associations and their leaders, the positioning of Islam as the alternative to the common national idea, and the Muslim elite as the ideological opposition, trends of modernizing Islam, innovations in the development sphere of the Muslim economy, culture and education, and close contacts with foreign Islamic foundations and organizations. Islam in the Southern Urals and the Trans-Urals is characterized by a low level of socio-cultural mobility of Muslims, stable difference between "rural" and "urban" Islam, the orientation of the clergy and its leaders to the state and the ostentatious loyalty to the high and regional authorities. The latter can largely be explained by the economic weakness of Muslim organizations. All this put together creates the image of local Islam - moderate, non-politicized and non-ambitious, which does not answer the desires and claims of modern believers, which conditioned, in a way, the non-acceptance by young Muslims of the so-called traditional Islam and its radicalization.
Among the common specific features in all these regions are the existence of several spiritual centers and rivalry of high representatives of the clergy for the sphere of influence.
These features are especially noticeable in towns of Bashkortostan, and in Orenburg, Chelyabinsk and Kurgan region. Each
of these regions is poly-confessional with the domination of Russian Orthodox Christianity and Islam.
Islam and Spiritual Centers in the Republic
of Bashkortostan
Muslims in Bashkortostan are united by three spiritual centers in Ufa: the Spiritual Center of Muslims of the Republic of Bashkortostan (SCM RB) in charge of 427 Muslim associations and four madrasahs. Its chairman and mufti since 1992 is Nurmuhamet Nigmatullin, member of the Council of Muftis of Russia. The Central Spiritual Board of Muslims of Russia (CSBM), set up in September 1788 and registered at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in October 2000. Its chairman and supreme mufti is Talgat Tajuddin. It is in charge of over twenty regional spiritual boards in different parts of the Russian Federation. The regional Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Republic of Bashkortostan as part of CSBM. Its chairman and mufti is Muhammad Tajuddinov. It is in charge of 392 Muslim parishes and an Islamic University.
In all, there are nearly a thousand Muslim religious associations in the republic, 94.2 percent of which are in rural districts and only 5.8 percent in 17 towns of the republic. There are also five Muslim educational institutions: Islamic University (Ufa), Sultanova madrasah (Ufa), "Galiya" madrasah (Ufa), "Nur al-Islam" madrasah (Oktyabrsky), and "Nur al-Iman" madrasah (Sterlitamak).
Islam and Spiritual Centers in Chelyabinsk Region
More than 70 Muslim communities have been registered in Chelyabinsk region. According to sociological data, 13 percent of people living in the Southern Urals (425,000) are Muslims. Ethnic Muslims - Tatars, Bashkirs, Kazakhs - comprise 13.3 percent of the
regional population. There are 69 mosques in Chelyabinsk region and nine Muslim communities uniting from three to five thousand believers.
Until recently Muslims of Chelyabinsk region have been in the sphere of interests of two spiritual boards - the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims of Russia (chairman T. Tajuddin) and the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Asian Part of Russia (Chairman N. Ashirov).
In 2007 - 2010 the Islamic organizations under the Council of Muftis of Russia (CMR - R. Gainuddin) tried to spread their influence on Muslims of Chelyabinsk region. In the past two years two communities were set up by the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Asian Part of Russia, three communities by the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the "Association of Mosques of Russia," and one community by the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the European Part of Russia.
The interests of different spiritual boards of Muslims coincide. This is also true of Bashkortostan and Orenburg region. Yet, there is a tendency of the division of the Russian Islamic area and the formation within the bounds of Russia of a new Muslim spiritual center which will have nothing in common with the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims and local realities, a kind of an Islamic holding.
Islam Turning Ethnic
Rivalry and confrontation between the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims and its regional and local opponents is complemented by confrontation on ethnic grounds between "Russian-speaking" and "Tatar-speaking" Muslims and Muslim migrants of Central Asian and Middle Eastern origin. The Tatar community regards mosques as the Tatar national spiritual centers, ignoring the supranational character of Islam.
There is also a noticeable increase in the number of "Russian" Muslims among young people. The imam of one of the mosques in Yekaterinburg says that in the congregation of his mosque young Russians account for 40 percent on Fridays. In St. Petersburg three or more Russians adopt Islam every Friday. There are cases of Muslims changing their religious identity. Quite a few Tatars and Bashkirs adopt Protestantism. In Bashkortostan 33 percent of Protestant communities include Bashkir and Tatar believers.
Bashkirs in Quest for Means
of Spiritual Mobilization
During the 1990s the Bashkir intelligentsia realized that Bashkirs were "bad Muslims", just as two hundred years ago, and that Islam would hardly become a means of mobilization of Bashkir spirituality and revival of ethnicity. All the more so since Islam has always been, and now is, such means for the Tatar nation which has successfully integrated Islam and Muslim tradition in the sovereignization process of Tatarstan. This was why a search for the roots of Bashkir identity in more ancient, pre-Islamic layers of spiritual culture and ancient Turkic beliefs was not accidental.
"Bashkir Islam" is somehow combined with elements of traditional pre-Islamic beliefs.
Intervention of Radical Ideologies
in the Medium of Russian Muslims
The repartition of the Islamic area of the Urals is taking place in the conditions of the real danger of the mass distribution of radical and extremist ideologies in the Muslim medium. In many regions of the Ural area and in such big cities as Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, etc. criminal actions were started on the fact of the activity
of "Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami" and other radical organizations in 2005 - 2008.
Manifestations of Islamic extremism have also been registered in the Volga and South Urals area, as well as in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan.
The "Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami" organization was set up in 1953 by Takiuddin an-Nabahoni al-Falastini (1909-1979) who was a member of the "Moslem Brotherhood." After his death in December 1979 the organization was headed by Palestinian Abd al-Qadim Zalum (1925 - 2003) under whose guidance the organization stepped up its activity in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, mainly in the regions noted for their interethnic and inter-religious contradictions. After his death the movement was headed by Ata ibn Halil ibn Ahmad ibn Abdulkadir Hatib Rashta, nicknamed "Ata," or "al Rushta," who supported the terrorist Hezbollah" movement in 2006 and proclaimed jihad against the United States, Israel, the European Union and Russia. Under his leadership the organization has acquired a more aggressive character. Its activity is quite widespread in most Muslim countries (Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Sudan, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan), however, its anti-government sentiments have caused a very cautions attitude to it on the part of the official authorities. This required its leaders going underground. The main aim of the organization is the creation of a universal Caliphate. Among its methods is work with imams and people, as well as cyber-jihad, armed jihad, etc. Admitting successes of "Hizb ut-Tahrir" in Central Asia, experts state its ability to adapt itself to any political circumstances using contradictions between the East and the West, a secular state and an Islamic state, communism and capitalism, liberal values and Islamic values, etc. The organization is waging an effective propaganda activity using modern information resources and social technologies. Using the Internet for contacts with
members of the organization in the countries which have banned it, the "Hizb ut-Tahrir" leaders ably manipulate the mass consciousness of various social groups in marginal, critical and warped societies. Turning to Islam the organization shamelessly distorts the canons of the Koran, the language of the Prophet, and the very concept and essence of jihad.
"Hizb ut-Tahrir" distributes extremist literature and its extremist and terrorist ideas through mosque imams.
The religious-extremist "Hizb ut-Tahrir" organization has been banned in many Arab states, as well as in Germany, Turkey, Russia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Its activity has been outlawed in a number of Asian and European countries. The U.S. Department of State has characterized "Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami" as a "transnational extremist organization trying to overthrow the government of the Central Asian countries."
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization also refers "Hizb ut-Tahrir" to especially dangerous terrorist structures.
In Russia "Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami" was considered a criminal organization in 1999. In May 2001 the CIS Anti-terrorist Center assessed it as an "international terrorist organization presenting a potential threat to the security not only of the Russian Federation, but of all CIS countries." The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation described this organization as "the most radical and sealed-off extremist structure planned and financed by foreign centers and aiming at stage-by-stage Islamization of Russia and its neighbors." The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation banned the activity of "Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami" as a terrorist organization on the country's territory.
As shown by ten-year practical experience, the measures to stem its activity have had little effect so far. At present members of this
organization hold mass meetings openly, give interviews, arrange pickets and use the organization's symbols.
"Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami" members continue to recruit people ready for forcible change of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and violent seizure of power. Such situation calls for nonstandard approach and non-standard decisions.
Apart from "Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami" there are other Islamic radical currents widespread in the Southern Urals. The ideology of fundamentalist Islam has become widespread among considerable part of the Muslim population of the region (especially young people). Unofficial forms of associations of believers (jamaats) are created for the study and propaganda of fundamentalist ideas among Muslims and recruitment of new supporters. There are jamaats in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and Chelyabinsk region. Their participants represent young people's groups united by the ideas of "jihad against the infidels," the Turkish religious extremist sect "Nurjular," the "Tablig" movement, and Wahhabi and Salafite groups of fighters for pure Islam. As a result, young Muslim believers form a negative attitude to the official clergy and "hypocritical" imams, and even to mosques.
There are many other organizational forms of associations of Muslims, which should not be identified with extremism. For one, there are quite a few such groups in Bashkortostan practicing pre-Islamic cults. However, representatives of extremist communities are using every opportunity to draw rank-and-file believers to their side and propagate radical ideologies among Muslims.
Reasons for Stepping up Radical Trends
From the point of view of experts and analysts, the growing number and greater activity of extremist communities can be explained by the following factors:
- general religious illiteracy of believers;
- judicial illiteracy of society as a whole;
- study of Muslim clergy and young believers at Islamic centers abroad - in Middle East countries;
- missionary activity of emissaries of foreign extremist organizations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and other countries, which help Muslim communities to build mosques, in the study process, and also give assistance to private persons;
- growing migration of people from Central Asian countries (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) and from the North Caucasus, where the influence of fundamentalists have grown markedly in the past decade;
- the worsening of the social and economic situation in several regions of Russia;
- weak control over the situation in Muslim parishes on the part of city and district administrations and their heads;
- successful use of methods of totalitarian destructive organizations in drawing people in extremist groups;
- actions of certain human rights organizations and activists who render legal and financial assistance to participants in terrorist and extremist organizations.
The role of religion in the system of education and upbringing of young people is an important problem. It should be based on the constitutional principle of the secular character of the Russian state. In the view of experts, the introduction of the ABC's of religion in school curricula can lead to growing tension in religiously-mixed populated centers. Besides, priests are often unable to teach the theory of religions due to absence of adequate pedagogical or higher humanitarian education.
The repartition of the Islamic area of Russia and the intervention of extremist ideologies reflect the general trend of the formation of "new Islam" in Russia, confrontation between traditional Islam represented by the older generation and "new Muslims" who do not know the Koran and Sunna and have chosen Islam as the ideology of protest against the worsening economic and social situation. The Russian umma subjected to radical ideas is integrated in the anti-Russian opposition.
"Rossiya i Arabsky mir: istoriya i sovremennost,"
Ufa, 2012, pp. 32-40.
E. Arlyapova, Ph. D. (Political sciences) MOBILIZATION POTENTIAL OF ISLAM YESTERDAY AND TODAY
The tendency to view the post-Soviet area as a field of ethno-confessional tension, which is now in the habit of Russian and foreign historiography, has all prerequisites to become a tradition, inasmuch as the train of events on the vast territories of the former U.S.S.R. gives all grounds to believe that intra- and interstate relations of new political figures on the map are far from harmonization. Researchers and experts are unanimous in the opinion that Islam rapidly spreading in the postSoviet area has one of the highest proneness to conflict. There is the need for greater attention to these processes and the monitoring of their quantitative and qualitative components, which is especially important in examining the forms and trends of Islam, which has favorable conditions for entrenching itself in the ideological vacuum formed after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The Russian Federation, just as other states with regions inhabited by predominantly Muslim
