What Islam should exist in Russia?

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Six weeks ago, President Vladimir Putin met muftis of Muslim spiritual departments of Russia in Ufa. They discussed cooperation between the state and Muslim religious organizations.

According to Putin, the politicization of different religions in different directions, including Islam, is taking place in the world. Some political forces use Islam, more precisely its radical movements which are not historically typical for Russian Muslims, for a weakening of Russia, setting up conflicts on its territory, which are controlled from abroad, splitting various ethnic groups inside of the Muslim community, and stirring up separatist views in regions.

There are 82 registered Islamic corporate religious organizations in Russia. And Putin thinks that for a successful resistance to modern challenges, the high status of muftis and Russian Islamic theological school should be provided. It means, for example, establishing our own theological school which will provide independence of Russian spiritual space and will be recognized by the majority of Islamic scientists of the world. “Today the state has to take restricting measures against such literature, but it doesn’t always bring results, sometimes results are contrary,” Putin admitted, saying that it is necessary to develop a positive image of traditional Islam as an important spiritual component of an all-Russian identity.

Yuri Mikhailov, the editor-in-chief of the ‘Ladomir’ center, commented on the recommendation by Putin at the round-table “What Islam should exist in Russia?” “Not everybody is able to realize the situation with Vladimir Putin’s speech; it is absolutely unique,” Mikhailov stated. “Proposals which were presented in the program speech are unique not only for the modern history, but for the whole traditional history of Russia. Russia is suggested to go to the future, considering Islam as an instrument of uniting the society. Islam should be an ally of development.”

Speaking about this ally’s liabilities, Mikhail expresses the idea that “a clear, positive, constructive civil position should exist in the situation when discussion of stagnation in the Islamic civilization is a common thing. Imaginethe  intuition of our President who, despite being a part of the information space, makes a decision that Russia should be an observer in the Islamic Conference Organization, it is called the Organization of Islamic Cooperation now. Today he proposes a unique idea, and he does it not only for prevention of terrorism. He says: “No, we will build our state on these fundaments, otherwise Russia will collapse.” In fact it is the main refrain of his speech.”

Mikhailov is sure that “we all face the problem of understanding of everything which the Islamic civilization created and development of the positive doctrine which will be important for the whole Islamic world. If Russia shows how to turn Islam into an instrument of social modernization, implementing innovations which are normal for Islam, it will be a centre, an axis of the world which is discussed by political and geopolitical scientists. The idea is expressed in Russia from geographical point of view; but we don’t see it politically. When the West and the East will be wings of Russia, the Christian and Muslim worlds will be a support which Russia will rely on and take the lead in these two worlds.”