The Forum “Russia and the Islamic world: vectors of modernization in the CIS space” was held in Moscow. Interview with Ravil Gainutdinov, Head of Russian Muftis Council.
- The name of the forum is “Russia and the Islamic world: The vectors of modernization in the CIS space”. What are the main vectors of this modernization?
In my presentation I emphasized some very serious questions concerning the modernization of religious organizations and centers, both in Russia and in the CIS. During the last 20 years we tried to live apart and to solve the problems of the Muslim communities in our countries, but then understood that we all encounter the same problems and these problems concern not only the Muslim communities, but the whole society, the people and the state in our countries. It means that we, Muslims, should look for a common solution to the problems that life creates for us today. That is why I believe that we need to fight together against the negative tendencies that we can now observe in the society. I mean here the distribution of drugs, the destructive influence of alcoholism on our youth and, of course, the harmful influence of the radical ideas that spread among our young people. The fact that in our society we see the growth of extremism, even cases of terrorism, makes the Muslim clergy get involved in the struggle against these problems. In order to produce a unified opinion, I proposed the creation of a consultative council of the Heads of the Muslim Religious Administrations and also to create a Council of Ulemas of the CIS countries. It would naturally help to bring together our positions when we develop our responses to the problems of today. I am very pleased that my proposal was supported and accepted by the Muslim Administrations in the countries of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. I am sure that we are all interested in the unification of our educational programs for our Muslim educational institutions, we are interested in the acceptation of fatwa’s, Sharia resolutions on serious questions, in order that all Muslims accept and obey the requirements of the Muslim Administrations.
- Why is the Caucasus so badly represented at the forum? Azerbaijan is not there. The North Caucasian republics are almost not represented.
- You know, we paid particular attention to the participation of our colleagues from Central Asia and Kazakhstan. With them we have no language barrier, it simply does not exist, no legal religious differences concerning our religious schools, maddhabs, and the fatwa’s that would be accepted, they will work for everybody who is present here today. Among them is even Ukraine, where the Muslim community also follows the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam. Concerning our Caucasian brothers, we have here today the Mufti of Kabardino-Balkaria, who represents the Coordination Centre of the Muslims of the North Caucasus. We also have here the President of the Congress of the Caucasian Peoples, who also represents our Caucasian brothers. Not all the Russian Muftis were invited, because we are now particularly aiming at the development of cooperation with the Muslim Administrations of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. I think that the circle of representatives that we have today at our forum is already very good. The forums and congresses that we have been organizing in the last six years were usually very modest and included only representatives of Russian Muslim organizations. Today we have moved to an international level to discuss problems and questions that are common to all our countries of the Commonwealth. Our task today is to strengthen the fraternity between Russian Muslims and Muslims from the CIS countries. And, thank God, we managed to do it today.
- Could you please answer in more detail the proposal of the Federation Council about intensification of ideological work in the North Caucasus. How does the Council of Muftis plan to conduct this work in the local mosques? What can be done on the level of the Council of Muftis?
- The Council of Muftis in Russia pays special attention to the upbringing of the younger generation, to the work with our young people, especially from the North Caucasus. It is incorrect to think that the Muslims of the North Caucasus live only on the territory of the North Caucasus. You see very well that the young people of the North Caucasus are very active today, they migrate and move to the central regions of European Russia, to Siberia and the Far East. And all our Muslim organizations, our spiritual leaders are their teachers at the same time, they teach, educate and enlighten them. I personally, as Head of Russian Muftis Council, constantly have trips to the North Caucasus. My deputies also travel to the Caucasus at the invitation of the regional religious organization in order to support the clergy, to teach and work with the Muslims of the North Caucasus. We had a special Peace Mission, when I visited nine regions of the North Caucasus, meeting Muslims in the mosques, appearing on TV, appearing in the parliaments, meeting the members of the governments and the heads of these republics. Everywhere we, as the Russian Council of Muftis, as the Muslims of Russia were calling our brothers, together preserve unity, peace and stability in our home country. We, Muslims, together with Christians, Judaists and Buddhists, always went through difficult times together. Together we were protecting the interests of our state, together we were building our state. First in the Soviet Union, when we were developing industry and keeping the peace – and Muslims, including the Muslims of the North Caucasus, also participated in it. And today Muslims are proud that they preserve the unity and do not allow Russia to fall apart in the south. The Muslims of Chechnya were the first ones to rise against the attempts of separation. And when I talk to them, they proudly say that the federal forces by themselves would not have succeeded in stopping that chaos, that opposition, that war, without the participation of the Muslims of Chechnya. They say that they rose to save the unity of Russia. The role of the Council of Muftis here is enormous because, although our address is in Moscow, we manage to reach the hearts of our brothers in the North Caucasus, in Siberia and the Far East.
VK
