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the realistic and moral criteria, since exactly culture promotes complex development of the state. The criteria of grandeur change with coming to the post-industrial epoch. According to I. Noiman, "the power may be considered as a great power, if the type of governance in it is recognized by others to be an exemplary model". The contemporary criteria of the states' greatness are also the following ones: the quality of life of the citizens, realization of their rights and freedoms, the level of democracy. From this point of view, the way, followed by Russia, does not correspond to the all-European criteria; and not all Russian politicians agree with this. In February 2008, V. Putin said: "Russia returned to the world arena as a powerful state, which is reckoned with and which is able to defend itself'. However, D. Medvedev in his last articles and public declarations criticizes the shaped social practice and stresses the need of comprehensive "modernization, based on values and institutions of democracy", which will make it possible to build "real Russia - modern, striving for future young nation, which will occupy the deserved position in the world division of labor".
Thus, the vector of development of the Russian state will depend on the fact, what point of view will prevail in the nearest perspective, which evidently will have an impact on personalities of the aspirants to the next presidential elections, on the results of elections to the State Duma and on the future of the country as a whole.
"Politeks", St.-P., 2010, t. 6, N1, p. 49-66.
Vladimir Semyonov, candidate of political sciences THE ANTI-EXTREMIST ACTIVITIES OF MUSLIM RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN THE VOLGA BASIN
The activities of Muslim religious organizations against religious and political extremism in the regions, included in the Volga Basin
Federal District (VBFD), are discussed in some recent publications, but the political practice demands a more direct attention of researchers to this phenomenon. The Volga Basin Federal District was established by the Decree of the President of the RF on 13 May 2000 "On Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Federal District". Its territory accounts for 7.27% of the whole territory of the RF and makes 1451 square km; 33 million people live there (over 22% of the population of Russia). The VBFD includes 14 subjects of the Federation: six republics, seven regions and one kray.
In terms of complexity of ethnic and confessional problems, the VBFD may be considered as a mini-model of the Russian Federation. The contemporary poly-ethnic structure of the district was shaped as a result of centuries-old joint settlement and mutual action of various ethnic groups and cultures. Russians account for 68.8% of the population of the VBFD (in the Russian Federation as a whole 83% of the population regard themselves as Russians). In most nationalterritorial entities, included in the VBFD, the indigenous population does not prevail. Only in three of them the representatives of the title population compose over 50% of the population: Chuvashi Republic, Republic of Tatarstan and Komi-Permyatski autonomous okrug. As a whole, about 75% of all Tatars, Marijs, Udmurts, Mordvas live on the territory of the district, as well as 80% of all Bashkirs and Chuvashis. According to the census of the population in 2002, representatives of 153 nationalities, including 44 nationalities, which are used to be considered as Muslim, lived in the VBFD. 22 Spiritual Departments of Muslims (DUM) function on the territory of 14 regions. Evidently, the Muslims of the district, like of the whole Russian society, confront many spiritual, social and personal problems, including the less developed system of religious education and the lack of educated clergy
men, inability to withstand the advance of "market" ideology and criminality in community life. One of the misfortunes of Russian Islam is the internal mutual struggle of the Muslim clergy and the lack of unity of Muslim society. The split in Muslim organizations, started in the 1990s, provoked first reciprocal accusations in Muslim elite of wahhabism and later its actual appearance in the Volga Basin. The social-economic misfortunes resulted in wide dissemination of religious cults, characterized by ignorance, deceit, involvement of their adepts in criminal activities. For the end of the XX-the beginning of the XXI century, the ideas, alien to traditional Islam, penetrated in the Volga Basin due to the inflow of representatives of different ethnic groups from the Middle Asia and the North Caucasus. The ideas were accompanied by appearance of extremist groups; and the law enforcement bodies started to struggle against them. For the 2004, in various regions of the RF the law enforcement bodies detained members of extremist religious organization ""Hizb-ut-Tahrir" (Party of Liberation of Islam). This organization was included in the list of 15 extremist organizations; their activities were prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation by decision of the Supreme Court of the RF on 14 February 2003. The judicial proceedings in Bashkortostan in relation to members of "Hizb-ut-Tahrir" were terminated by the logical outcome. In August 2005 the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan sentenced members of this organization's cells to 4-9 years of imprisonment. At the same time, it is early to expect that the activities of "Hizb-ut-Tahrir" have been liquidated completely on the territory of Russia. The present stage of this organization's activities may be called a "Russian" stage. Its peculiarity consists in wide spreading of propaganda literature in Russian, dissemination of Russian version of magazine "Al-Vai" in the regions of the country, creation of the Russian web-site, accessible for all readers. The leaflets, disseminated
by "Hizb-ut-Tahrir" are published in Russian and are disseminated in mosques in Russia.
As a result of massive ideological intervention among Muslims in Russia, the number of Russian, Byelorussian and Ukrainian young people, possessing superficial knowledge of Islam, was increased greatly. The spreading of radical ideologies, inflow of new members into Muslim extremist movements, the demand of such ideas by the youth demonstrates a great social misfortune and religious and legal ignorance.
According to the state security bodies, 15 members of "Hizb-ut-Tahrir" composed its group, which functioned on the territory of Samara region, maintained contacts via Internet with members of the organization abroad. The Muslim leaders of Samara denounced the dangerous activities of this group, which united young people in actually almost secret organization. Imams were prescribed to arrange the adequate education work.
In the Nizhni Novgorod region all periodical publications of DUM were devoted to some extent to the problem of radicalism, extremism and terrorism. On the other side, the are no facts of radical Islam displays in the region, except one case. In 2005, the law enforcement bodies detained 12 Muslims, accused of membership in "Hizb-ut-Tahrir". The DUM of the region drew attention to the fact that among the detained persons "there were no Tatars or residents of Nizhni Novgorod". "We are liable first of all for permanent parishioners and we carry out daily work to prevent extremism. If we have had the needed authorities and a chance to establish control over Muslim migrants, we would have worked with them in the same way, being responsible for them", deliberated the DUM clergy.
Nizhni Novgorod DUM repeatedly proposed the authorities its services "in the sphere of enlightening migrants". For many years, due
to the unspoken opposition between the authorities and DUM this idea was regarded as the claims of Muslims for some part of the authority of the state. However, the disturbances among Azerbaijanis in Nizhni Novgorod in 200c, caused by killing of a trade man by OMON, showed that the authorities had to take the means of escape - to involve DUM leaders in these negotiations. With due account of a probable greater inflow of migrants in this biggest city of the VBFD, the ideas of DUM seem to be a real wish to render assistance to the authorities and to society to cope with the problem.
The problem of getting rid of extremism and terrorism is of special significance for the region and the RF as a whole. The task of Russian society consists in creating such levels of living, which would make it impossible for radical ideology to survive. It is significant to create the atmosphere of resistance not only to methods of terrorists but also to hostility to their views. The perception and teaching of Islam by the traditional legal schools, particularly by Hanafit mazhab, promotes achievement of this aim. A. Malashenko, a prominent scholar and expert in Islam, points out that Hanafit mazhab is a factor to restrain radicalism.
The works of experts in phenomenon of terrorism show that opposition to radicalism should be arranged first of all in the sphere of theology. In 2004 a group of Turkish scientists published the book "Islam on Terror and Actions of Suicide Terrorists". The main conclusion of the authors is as follows: murder and suicide are forbidden by Islam, and, consequently, the groups, practicing it, have deviated from Islam". According to the DUM leadership in Nizhni Novgorod, the rebirth of Hanafit school is exactly the means of the ideological struggle against extremism.
The work carried out to oppose national and religious extremism represents a significant direction of activities of the authorities in
Uliyanovsk region. The hotbeds of national and religious intolerance do not exist here. At the same time, the split in local Muslim ummah raises a great concern in terms of a threat to security of the Russian Federation. Two Muslim Spiritual Departments exist in Ulyanovsk region. The prominent place is occupied by Ulyanovsk Regional Spiritual Department of Muslims (mufti S. Suleimanov) within the Central DUM of Russia (Supreme Mufti of the RF T. Tadjutdin), including 74 mosques. The active work among believers is carried out by DUM of Ulyanovsk region (mufti F. Aliullov), affiliated with DUMER (Chairman of Council of muftis of Russia R. Gainutdin). It unites 16 mosques.
The Muslim missionaries from countries of the Central Asia, the North Caucasus, visiting Ulyanovsk region to disseminate ideology of radical Islam among local Muslims, urge towards usage of this situation. The ideas, propagated persistently by ideologists of radical Islam, assert, inter alia, primate of religious norms over secular law, calls for discrimination of Christians, Israelites and adepts of other religious systems, calls for jihad in the name of creation of a world Islamic state (caliphate) "so that all pagan cults disappear and the religion belongs to Allah". The followers of such religious propaganda exist in the region. In September 2005, the Ulyanovsk regional court condemned the members of the band, consisting of the adepts of Islamic extremist religious organization "Jamaat"
The unification of opposing muftis may contribute to consolidation of regional stability. There are some pre-conditions for this outcome: a number of Islamic regional leaders make proposals to start the process of unity, giving support to the compromise figure of a mufti with good Islamic education, received in Russia, high level of tolerance, general culture, readiness for a constructive dialogue, with evident qualities of the leader.
For the last years, the constant theme of counteractions to extremism was discussed at the meetings of the republics' presidents and the region's governors in the Volga Basin. On 11 March 2010, the meeting of G.A. Rapota, plenipotentiary representative of the president of the RF in the Volga Basin, with the heads of Spiritual Departments of Muslims of 14 regions of the VBFD was held in Cheboksary. The main item of this ordinary meeting became the problem of extremism. The plenipotentiary representative expressed his concern about the attempts to incorporate in Islamic religion, in its shaped traditions the alien ideologies, based on hatred and intolerance, devaluation of human life. He stressed that the activities of western extremist movements created a threat of split in the rows of Russian Muslims. They use not only the lack of religious education of the people, but also actual failures, problems of Muslim organizations, as well as shortcomings and insufficient attention to Islam of regional and municipal authorities. G.A. Rapota proposed to restore good Russian Islamic traditions as a medicine against this decease.
Mukaddas-hazrat Bibarsov, imam of Saratov, taking the floor, also drew attention to the significance of mutual understanding between the authorities and the Spiritual Departments in order to prevent spreading of radical feelings. The extreme actions arise in case, when the lack of knowledge confronts indifference of people and sometimes connivance of the authorities.
G.A. Rapota noted that at present Muslim leaders are represented in the public chambers of all regions of the VBFD and in other coordination and consultative organs. The Chairman of the Spiritual Department of Muslims of Chuvashi Republic Albir-hazrat Karganov, supported by the public sector of the VBFD, was elected a member of the Public Chamber of the RF. The Foundation of Support to Islamic Culture, Science and Education, created in 2006, carries out its
activities in all regions of the VBFD and renders great assistance to Islamic organizations of the district.
The ministry of science and education of the RF started in 2010 realization of its complex program aimed at support to Islamic religious education, assistance to medreces in different regions, including the regions of the VBFD. Speaking about expertise problems of religious literature, the presidential representative stressed that in autumn of 2009 a scientific-consultative council was established at the Ministry of Justice of the RF in charge of study of information materials of religious contents to find out examples of extremism. Authoritative Russian experts in Islam and representatives of Muslim religious organizations, of Islamic science became members of this council.
The participants of the meeting in their speeches noted that in all regions of the BVFD the authorities and Islamic organizations carry out mutual activities in the social sphere, in the sphere of culture and education, in the political sphere relating to the youth. The attitude of the authorities to Muslim associations is determined by provisions of the Constitution and of the federal law "On Liberty of Conscience and on Religious Associations", stressed the presidential representative and said: "The organs of the state power adhere to the position that without interfering in affairs of the Muslim religious community they shall cooperate with all responsible, patriotic Islamic structures".
In the course of the meeting its participants determined as a factor of concern the activities of foreign radical-extremist movements, organizations, which were qualified as extremist both in Russia and abroad. These movements and their supporters discredit Russian Islam, create a threat of split in the lines of Muslims.
"Vlast", M., 2010, N 6, p. 57-60.
