Within the walls of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan the presentation of the textbook ‘Civil Identity of Muslims in Russia’ was held. It was attended by the authors themselves: ‘Ali Vyacheslav Polosin, Doctor of Philosophy, PhD in Political Science, professor at the Bolgarian Islamic Academy, Professor Rafik Mukhametshin, Chairman of the Islamic Education Council, Rector of the Russian Islamic Institute, Deputy Mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan for Education, Rector of the Kazan Islamic University, as well as by Ibrahim Ibrahimov, Executive Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Coordinating Council of Muslims of the North Caucasus, in an online format.
The authors, presenting their book, told that the textbook had been created for 2 years at the request of the Bolgarian Islamic Academy. The ‘civil identity’ discipline has been already introduced at the Russian Islamic Institute, Kazan Islamic University, the Bolgarian Islamic Academy and 8 madrasahs in Tatarstan. According to Rafik Mukhametshin, ‘approbation of the textbook will now take place at these Islamic educational institutions’. After the textbook is certified by the Russian Ministry of Education and finalized, it will be used also at theological faculties of secular universities and colleges.
According to Mukhametshin, the development of unified standards for Islamic education began back in 2017, and two years later they were officially adopted. ‘We considered each subject in terms of how we would form in our Muslims an attitude towards the homeland, develop a sense of patriotism and popularize the knowledge of their theological traditions. At the same time, the problem of civil identity came up. To date, this discipline has already been included in the curriculum, while the approbation of the textbook will take place at Islamic educational institutions’, Mukhametshin noted.
Addressing the colleagues, Ali Vyacheslav Polosin reminded that the original concept of traditional Islam comprised a number of prominent thinkers, theologians and philosophers who had epitomized the traditional school. ‘There has always been a sense of civic responsibility among Muslims. There are certain manifestations of this in history: in the existence of the oath text for Muslims, and in the fact that they served the Tsar and the Fatherland, showed heroism at the fronts of different wars and defended the common Motherland. There was such awareness of their social duties to society and the state’, the author of the textbook highlighted.
But due to the revolution, all religions were persecuted and the theological school was physically destroyed. When we talk about religious revival that took place in the 1990s, we must not forget the revival of the consciousness of civic responsibility from Muslim positions, especially in a completely new environment. ‘Now people have different consciousness, different attitudes. There has to be self-consciousness of Muslims as citizens of the state. Hence the need to form our own position in relation to the state in which we live. To this end, the Ibn Sina Islamic Culture Research Fund initiated the creation of a working group on its venue that developed the Social Doctrine of Muslims, adopted in Bolgar in June 2015, signed by all the Muftis. The Doctrine then clearly outlined civil positions. But now we are facing another issue – how to bring these norms of civil consciousness to public. It can be done through Islamic education, thus building a bridge from the social doctrine to ordinary believers’, Polosin concluded.
In his turn, Kamil Samigullin, Mufti, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan, stressed the fact that Muslims were a part of the Russian society. ‘We proved this during the Great Patriotic War. We are not strangers here, this is our Motherland – we have no other Motherland. But here there is another side of this issue – how the society, other nationalities and religions perceive us’, the Mufti noted.
Azat Gafurov, Head of the Confessional Situation Monitoring Unit of the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs, also welcomed the authors of the textbook. ‘Islam is one the traditional religions in Russia. The peoples practicing it have made a significant contribution to the development and consolidation of Russian statehood and its spiritual culture. The events of recent decades have shown that religion is not on the periphery and does not recede into the background of society. Religion is one of the significant factors in development of human society.
The greeting of the Federal Agency says, the publication of the textbook is an important step towards educating young people on the basis of the traditions of our ancestors and in the common interests of the multinational people of Russia. ‘The work has managed to show the historical peculiarities of the development of Islam and Islamic culture in Russia and to combine the experience of the main regions of the traditional spread of Islam in Russia – the Volga Region, Siberia and the North Caucasus. This is a significant step in the development of Islamic education in Russia and the formation of the All-Russian civil identity of those Muslims who live in our country, including the younger generation. This is a huge contribution to building relations between Muslim and non-Muslim population of the country’, Gafurov concluded.
We would like to stress the fact that the textbook ‘Civil Identity of Muslims in Russia’ consists of 6 chapters: ‘Citizenship’, ‘Muslims’ Attitude towards the State and Politics’, ‘Russian Muslims Defending the Fatherland’, ‘Muslims in Public Life of Russia, the Contribution of Muslims to Culture, Science and Education’ and ‘Interreligious Relations in Russia’.
Ilmira Gafiyatullina
Photo in slider: RBM RT