Shafig Pshihachev: “Sometimes ordinary people are keener on strong government than politicians”

Interview by Daria Melikhova, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

After the October meeting between Putin and muftis of Muslim spiritual departments of Russia, the Islamic clergy began to solve the problem of establishing the Russian school of Islamic theology, improvement of the Muslim community’s role in settlement of all-Russian problems, including territorial integrity and security of the state. Shafig Pshihachev, the chairman of the religious organization "International Islamic Mission", told Vestnik Kavkaza about the issue.

-          What can Islamic clergy do to change the negative attitude towards Muslims in Central Russia?

-          The work of the Interreligious Council of Russia, which has existed for 15 years, has a great influence on society today. Religious leaders, realizing that they cannot at all split on any religious grounds in one country, founded the Inter-Religious Council of Russia 15 years ago. It is working today. If religious organizations representing traditional religions of Russia (I am talking about Orthodox Christianity, as well as Islam, Buddhism and Judaism), if at an early stage of the development of our country they had not joined their efforts, had not united and had not worked together effectively, the level of misunderstanding in society would have been much higher, this is what I have to say. We have never stopped calling on our parishioners to understand each other. We have nothing to fight over, we have never divided anything, our state remained ours and united and we realized that we needed to develop together.

-          What can the state do?

-          Our politicians need to stop speculating on national and religious feelings. Why? Because it creates certain difficulties, certain problems. When a federal politician talks about his dislike of or urges to separate some Russian region with a barbed wire fence or vaccinate a whole people in order to stop them from breeding, it naturally remains in the minds of a certain part of our society. This does not create a favorable environment for mutual understanding, and that is why I think that first of all our politicians should stop speculating, either for the sake of elections, or for anything else. We need to understand one thing: we are all in the same boat.

-          What do you think about the situation with mosques in Moscow?

-          The amount of mosques in Moscow is not enough. It causes incomprehension among Muslims. If we look at European cities, there are many more mosques there – in London, Paris, in various cities of Germany. There is a demand to have more mosques. If we consider a mosque to be an Islamic institute, I think the building of mosques will contribute to peace in Russian society. I think inter-ethnic and inter-religious mutual understanding should be improved in Moscow. The situation is urgent for Moscow, as there is no sharp need in mosques in other Russian cities and towns.

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Touching on statements by Vladimir Putin at the meeting with Muslim leaders in Ufa, Shafig Pshikhachev called the speech epic and a program: “A Muslim religious activist could urge our state leaders to think about the role of religion in the development of our society; as we understand and admit the democratic development of our society, but we often think about the question: what is the role of religions? How do our state leaders see the role of religion in our developing society? After this speech, I have no question about our state’s view on the role of religion in the development of our society. The speech reflects the internal situation in Russia, the international situation; Putin’s appraisal is right – what position our state should take, what our role is and how the President considers our role. At the same time, the President urged Muslim society, the Muslim Ummah of Russia, to use modern tools for working with society. The President pointed out that it is necessary to communicate and work with society, using modern instruments and high technologies and modern methods of communication with these or those communities. The speech is a program and epic. At the same time, I think that we, religious activists, should feel more responsible after this speech. We have to implement the program, and today it becomes clear what the direction of the program is. In many Muslim countries our Muslim brothers could only dream about such an attitude. Such a vision, such an attitude, such a positive position toward religion which was declared in the speech are very important for us, and at the same time it puts great responsibility on Muslims.”