Maxim Shevchenko: “Prayer cannot be a cause of contention”

Interview by Maria Sidelnikova, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

Yesterday in Moscow 103,000 people took part in the celebrations of the main Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. No incidents were registered. The Council of Muftis of Russia reported that there would be no sacrifices on the territory of Moscow, and that they would instead be done in special places in the region. Journalist Maxim Shevchenko told Vestnik Kavkaza about his attitude to the holiday.

-    Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha. In your opinion, what should be done to make this holiday a common one?

-    This holiday cannot be common, because it is still an Islamic holiday in honor of the sacrifice of Ishmael. Did you know that the Christians think that Isaac, Abraham’s son, was to be sacrificed, but the Lord replaced him with a lamb, right? Therefore, according to the Islamic faith, Allah replaced him with a lamb, and so they slaughter sheep. I have close Muslim friends, I congratulate them, I will surely congratulate them today, I will come to visit some of them and will be happy for them. In a united society, of course, we have to be happy for the joy of our brothers and sisters, our fellow citizens, our friends, and I think it's an important point. I congratulate all Russian Muslims, the Muslims who can hear me through your site in the former Soviet Union, who understand Russian, or who live abroad, on this holiday. I wish them the blessings of the Almighty, I wish that in their affairs, in their families, in their good endeavours, in every way God will accompany them and help them.

-    In particular, in my question I meant that Muslim holidays often cause irritation in the community because of the incursion on the road and the animals slaughtered. What do we need to do so that this would not cause this kind of dissatisfaction among the population?

-    We just need to organize such events. They cannot only be natural. Animals should be slaughtered in certain places, so that it does not shock the people in the big city, kids, for example, who are not used to it or are somehow psychopathic about an animal’s death before their eyes.

You know, it's the difference between rural and urban people. For a villager, a slaughtered pig, sheep, cow or calf is an autumn event. Every fall in the long run it is a holiday. For the city people, a chicken's head cut off is an event overturning all the life of an urban boy or girl.

There is the same difference: the majority of Muslims are still rural residents, visitors, for whom, as well as for Russian peasants, slaughtering an animal to then eat it is not an extraordinary event. Therefore, slaughtering should take place in specially-designated areas.

The second point is the crowd. I drove past the mosque on Prospekt Mira, and everything is very calm there. Some solitary journalists are conducting interviews with some of the Tajiks and Uzbeks. There are some army trucks parked in ranks there.

The flow of people went to the mosque in the second half of the day. I believe that this is normal. Well, I think it is possible. When there is a football match between CSKA Moscow and Spartak, we just suffer from the outrages. And here people are not going to even commit excesses in advance. Among them there will not be any drunken people – that's for sure. There will be no drug addicts, there will not be those who are focused on committing some excesses. Let's be glad for them that they have a holiday. Let's congratulate them on this occasion and wish that everything is orderly for them.

-    Should the city authorities take part in organization of such arrangements?

-    The city, of course, has to participate in such events and allocate police forces or security forces. Muslims themselves, the spiritual administration, before the holiday, before such mass actions, must explain to people what is going on, young charming people able to talk to people and help people get somewhere have to do this; if they see a crowd and its irritation, immediately a young man with a badge should say: "Excuse me, I'll help you to get through it, I’ll explain everything so that you do not worry - everything is fine". If that's how it is organized, then everyone will say: "Well, yes, we cannot fully understand this, they are different, but these are good guys, they are polite."

In my opinion, religious events, at least in the monotheistic religions, should not be a cause of conflict - just the Lord has forbidden us to do it; just the opposite, they should be the cause of building understanding and increasing love - this is the Christian approach, but it is so, by and large. Prayer cannot be a cause of contention.