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conglomerate of individuals closed each in his ideological cell. Democracy is a dialogue, a challenge, a confrontation with other people, but not the calculation of voters once in four years at the elections. Breivik should have had contacts with a great number of people, and we all would benefit it. The parliament and the citizens should publicly discuss any problems.
"Rossiya v globalnoy politike", M., 2011, vol. 9, N 4, July-August, p. 8-18.
R. Bekkin, scholar of the Orient THE INSTITUTION OF WAQF IN MODERN RUSSIA
Waqf is property relinquished by the state or by an individual for religious or charitable purposes in accordance with Muslim law. After relinquishing certain property to waqf (or after announcing it) this property ceases to be the property of the founder of waqf, but at the same time it does not become the property of the person receiving waqf and managing it in the interests of waqf beneficiaries. The property transferred to waqf should only be used for a definite purpose stated by the waqf founder.
However, Muslims and Muslim spiritual leaders in Russia do not always clearly understand the real purpose of waqf and tend to forget that waqf property is not turned into the property of religious organizations and that they can only use the income from it.
In the Volga region waqf is sometimes confused with other Islamic institutions: tithe, as well as incomes received from holding such religious rites as prayer meetings for the deceased, funeral ceremonies, etc. Sometimes waqf is regarded as a fund for financing
various current expenditures of mosques and the Muslim clergy. Evidently, it is quite difficult to carry on a constructive dialogue when the supporters of the waqf system do not know well enough what it really is.
It is interesting to note that after the destruction of the Kazan Khanate by the army of Ivan the Terrible, most waqfs were abolished in the Volga region. Their revival began only in the mid-19th century.
It should specially be noted that cash waqf was widely used in czarist Russia (especially in the Volga region), which boiled down to the waqf founder allocating a definite sum of money to charitable purposes and placing it for interest which could be used by beneficiaries (mosques, Muslim clerics, pupils of religious schools, etc.). Thus, one premise of Muslim law was observed, while another, more important one formulated by the Koran, was violated, namely, ban of usury.
After the October revolution of 1917 the waqf institution in various regions of Russia was gradually abolished. These institutions remained for quite a long time in the Northeastern Caucasus. Only ten years later, on January 23, 1927, the Communist party and government authorities in the Daghestan Autonomous Republic issued a decree on the nationalization of all waqf property.
In the recent history of Tatarstan the waqf problem has repeatedly been discussed at a high level. One of the first meetings of this kind took place in 1993. Representatives of the Muslim clergy of Tatarstan discussed the problem with the then President of the Republic M.S. Shaimiyev in the context of using the waqf system for the construction and maintenance of mosques and madrasahs and the publication of theological literature. As a result the President issued an order to set up a special commission to study the problem of organizing
the waqf system. Experts were sent to Turkey to gain experience in the matter.
At the uniting congress of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan in 1993 the post of Chairman of the waqf institution (having the rank of the first deputy mufti) and the department of waqf at the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan were instituted. The very concept of waqf was introduced in the modern Russian legislation for the first time in the Law of the Republic of Tatarstan "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations" in 1999. The premise on waqf property and its non-alienability contained in the law was only a declaration of intentions, but not a legal provision fixing the existing order of things. However, some time later it gave rise to questions about its conformity to the federal legislation. The republican Law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations" was soon revised, but the premise on waqf property remained intact.
Realizing that without necessary changes in federal laws all efforts to create legal foundations for the functioning of the waqf institution, which were yet non-existent, were meaningless, the deputies to the State Council of Tatarstan put forward an initiative to include "waqf property" in the Russian legislation. Earlier, similar proposal was made by the Chairman of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Tatarstan Gusman Iskhakov. But there was no reaction from the federal authorities.
The question of the need to introduce the concept of waqf in the federal legislation is also quite significant in the context of the problem of the restitution to Muslims of waqf property alienated after the October revolution. For example, reference to the waqf institution which existed in the Crimea at the time of the Russian Empire is one of the arguments put forward by Crimean Tatars claiming their land lost in Soviet times. As has been mentioned earlier, work on finding waqf
property which existed in the Volga region before the revolution has been carried on by legal experts and historians in Tatarstan. However, even if we assume that the waqf concept is introduced in the federal legislation, this will give no guarantee that the waqf property confiscated after the 1917 revolution will be returned to Muslims -most documents on the institution of waqf have been lost.
At the same time, despite the absence of the concept of waqf property in the federal legislation, those wishing to reintroduce the waqf system have many other legal means to do this. In connection with the attempts of the Tatar supporters of waqf to introduce this concept in the federal legislation, it would be worthwhile to remember a funny episode which my colleague told me about recently. Some time ago the monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv (it is called "Alyosha") was about to be dismantled. Then an old lady - the city resident compiled a will in accordance with which her executors were obliged to lease her apartment after her death and transfer the rent to the maintenance of the monument. The noble old lady would have been very surprised if she had learnt that she had instituted waqf. For instance, to initiate the so-called cash waqf it is not necessary to set up any institutionalized body.
As to the real estate, after the State Duma adopted amendments to the Land Code on September 24, 2004, ecclesiastical organizations which own buildings for religious and charitable purposes have received plots of land in their possessions free of charge. If religious organizations are not the owners of the buildings they occupy, plots of land can be granted to them for free use during the entire duration of their stay there. Evidently, these amendments have been made above all in the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church, however, other confessions have also received tangible benefits from the new law.
Thus, from the legal point of view there is no waqf problem in modern Russia, just as under the previous legislation. It is important to find the most adequate institution in the present Russian legislation at.
At first glance an agreement of trust management is the closest to waqf in its essence. However, it should be borne in mind that in contrast to waqf, this agreement is not permanent and is concluded for a term not longer than five years. Besides, the present legislation does not contain a premise concerning the management of trust property, if its manager is not an entrepreneur or a non-commercial body. In our view, Article 582 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation dealing with benefactions will better serve the realization of waqf in the Russian conditions. It envisages the case of the benefactor conditioning the use of the donated property. Religious organizations are mentioned as beneficiaries. The law actually protects the will of the potential founder of waqf. If the donated property is not used in accordance with the purpose stated by the benefactor, or the rules of this Article are violated, the benefactor or his heirs or legal successors have the right to withdraw the donation. In other words, the Civil Code envisages one of the principal features of waqf, namely, non-alienability. The waqf agreement contains a clear-cut description of the rights and liabilities of the parties to it.
But a real obstacle on the development way of waqf is the loss of Muslim legal culture not only in the Volga region, but also in other Muslim regions of Russia.
Thus, in the 1990s a number of rural administrations in North and Central Daghestan, contrary to the Russian legislation, transferred part of waqf estates given them prior to collectivization to newly opened mosques. This transfer was registered as long-term lease. In turn, mosques began to sub-lease these plots of land to their community members.
The Supreme Soviet of Daghestan discussed the question about the inclusion of the premise on waqf in the constitution of the Republic in the first half of the 1990s. However, the results of the first republican referendum on June 28, 1992, showed that 83.7 percent of those taking part in it were against the division of collective farm lands into private holdings. Thus, the revival of the waqf system in the Republic was given up as a lost case.
It is indicative that the legal rules regulating the problems connected with waqf property revived in the rural districts of Daghestan in the 1950s - 1980s, and were gradually adapted to the new conditions of life. The material collected by the Russian scholar of the Orient V. Bobrovnikov and by Daghestan ethnographers confirms that mountain dwellers in some districts of Middle and Northern Daghestan continued to receive incomes in cash and kind from former waqf property. Of course, there can be no talk of the emergence of new waqf property. But a small part of waqf property, which merged after collectivization with personal property of collective farmers was secretly used, with silent approval of collective farm chairmen, for religious and charitable needs of collective farm communities. From 1960s there have been cases of the illegal lease of former waqf fields and pastures.
Analyzing the modern experience of the revival of waqf property in Daghestan, where few waqf holdings began to appear in some mountain districts, V. Bobrovnikov came to a conclusion that there were no special prerequisites for the development of the waqf system in this most Islamized republic of Russia.
Similar conclusion can be made concerning Tatarstan, where the waqf system ceased to exist even earlier than in Daghestan.
Does this mean that the waqf system has no real prospects in modern Russia? No. In our view, the fact that Russia has lost this
system, which existed before the 1917 revolution, should be regarded positively, rather than negatively. In our day Tatar historians often turn to the experience of the functioning of the waqf system in the Volga region in the mid-19th century. However, they tend to forget that a considerable part of waqf property was used with the violation of the fundamental Islamic premise on banning loan interest. A great part of incomes from waqf in the Volga region was a result of usurious operations. This means that Russian Muslims have an opportunity to begin from scratch the process of creating a new waqf system answering the challenges of the 21st century, one of which is the need to finance small and medium-size business belonging to Muslims.
It looks likely that the first serious step in this direction has already been made. In February 2010, more than ten years after the publication of the rules and regulations on waqf in the Law of the Republic of Tatarstan "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations" in 1999, an official announcement was made in Kazan (capital of Tatarstan) about the foundation of the Muslim religious organization "Waqf". This organization is actually the manager of plots of land granted by Tatarstan's authorities as waqf.
The first waqf managed by this organization was a plot of land with an area of 10,280 square meters in Kazan. It was a complex for sacrificing animals during the celebration of "Id al-adha" (Kurban Bairam), storing meat and distributing it among people. Evidently, the state will act as the founder of more than one waqf property in the future, at least those based on real estate.
The institution of waqf in our days will inevitably change. There is a possibility for a broader interpretation of the premises of the Koran and sunna dealing with charity.
In view of the fact that the problem of waqf is often raised by the Muslim clergy and people close to it, the concept of waqf is interpreted in Russia not in a charitable, but in religious meaning.
As far as we imagine, direct waqf is ignored in modern Russia, although it is an example of anonymous help to the poor. Even if we deal with a waqf in the form of a public library, the latter can serve, in the conditions of high prices of books, as almost the only opportunity for the poor to raise their social status by acquiring new knowledge.
It is known that the income from waqf can be given over to those who are unable to earn their livelihood themselves (children and the disabled), and also to those who want to implement concrete projects.
However despite the fact that the main task facing the umma of Russia is the development and promotion of charitable waqf, one should not forget other philanthropic bodies whose aim is to offer various types of service, but not to draw income. It is difficult to deny the importance of waqf in the form of a public library where visitors, apart from books, will also get free access to the Internet and, consequently, to scientific and popular science material. As it was said earlier, an agreement on the foundation of waqf and benefits from it can be concluded and used not only by Muslims.
The institution of waqf can also demonstrate its effectiveness in such a sphere as help in the adaptation of migrants from Muslim countries in Russia. As is known, a considerable number of people from the Central Asian republics of the former U.S.S.R. are working in Russia today. For instance, according to certain data, from 500,000 to one million citizens of Tajikistan are now living and working in Russia temporarily. Most of them speak Russian from bad to worse and do not know the basic laws of Russia, etc. Migrants from the former Soviet republics have been drawn in small and medium-size business. Their higher educational level will unquestionably contribute to greater
effectiveness of their business, which in turn will have a favorable effect on the revenue of the Russian state budget.
In order to help Muslims from other countries to adapt themselves to the Russian conditions it is necessary to organize a nongovernmental center in which migrants could study the Russian language, legislation and, possibly, to learn a new trade. Such quasiwaqf could also pay grants to poor Muslim students. This center can be set up by a legal entity, or several physical persons. Evidently, such center should work in close contact with the Federal Migration Service.
Real assistance to small and medium-size business belonging to Muslims is rendered by their coreligionists in Moscow and other regions of Russia. Taking into account the high rates of rent in the sphere of commercial real estate, some owners and leaseholders of buildings give them over to small and middle entrepreneurs free of charge. For instance, there are cases of publishing houses, which print Islamic literature, getting premises to be used for quite some time free of charge to sell books and other printed matter.
In other words, assistance to small and medium-size business should not necessarily be in cash, it can also be given in the considerable lowering of expenses of small and middle entrepreneurs. Information and consulting services financed by waqf or quasiwaqf can be of invaluable help.
As to the spiritual boards and mosques, the most effective source of financing Muslim religious organizations in Russia has so far been sadaka, but not waqf.
Islamskaya ekonomicheskaya model i sovremennost, "
M, 2010, p. 292-299.
