Islam in Soviet times and in modern-day Russia

04 April 2019

Events of 1917 made huge changes to public life of the peoples of the country. In the first years of the Soviet times the relation to Islam was of tepid effect, in the late twenties the state started Anti-Islamic fight. "Waqfs were sequestered, courts of Sharia were closed, a network of religious schools either traditional, or "of new method " (Jadid), practically did not exist anymore, very little left of 20 thousand mosques and a bigger number of mullahs ". The Bolshevism headed for internationalization of the society. It successfully filled the arisen spiritual vacuum with its ideology.


The concepts of "socialist internationalism", "Soviet people", "socialist way of life" introduced in public consciousness, certainly, atrophied national consciousness. Developed for centuries cultural wealth of the people gradually was lost, or pushed aside to the limited sphere of family and household customs and ceremonies. In the conditions of mass atheism Islam completely lost the value of a sociocultural complex and existed only as a form of observance of certain religious practices.


Believers practically lost ties with the institutional religious organization and official religious ideology. Not numerous mosques tried to keep only religious ceremonialism, in the minimum degree acquainting with religious outlook. Islam moved to household and ceremonial level.


Islam in modern-day Russia


In Russia the followers of Islam live practically in all territorial subjects of the federation and belong to 40 various ethnoses. Regions of compact resettlement of the Russian Muslims are the North Caucasus, the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia.


The most part of Muslims of Russia live in nine republics such as Adygea, Bashkortostan, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Tatarstan, Chechnya.


Other citizens ranked as Muslims live in the territory of various regions of the Russian Federation. In areas of the Central region there are about 3.2 million people, in the Volga region there is about 1 million people, in Siberia and in the Far East there is about 0.5 million people.


In 1937 Muslims made 5.9%, in 1989 – 7.9%, in 1994 – more than 8% of the population of the Russian Federation. Now, by the estimates of domestic experts, their quantity fluctuates within 12–20 million people and it’s about 8 to 12% of the population of Russia, and by 2030 the number of the Russian Muslims can reach 30 million people.


Activities for restoration and construction of mosques became one of the directions of social activity of the Russian Muslims. Before revolution in the territory of the Russian Federation there were about 12 thousand mosques. In 1991 in Russia there were 870 registered mosques, and in 2017 there were about 8 thousand mosques had already worked. Mosques became the spiritual centers of the Muslim population and reference points in the course of mass distribution of Islam and also creation of youth, women's, spiritual and educational, charitable and other Muslim public organizations.


Now in the country there are over 80 independent Muslims Spiritual authorities. There is relatively large number of the Islamic centers in Russia and the intense relations between them demonstrate presence of serious contradictions at the Russian Muslims. In recent years the Muslim organizations of Russia become combined around three centers: Russia's Central Spiritual Governance for Muslims headed by the mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin, Council of muftis of Russia (the Chairman is mufti Ravil Gaynutdin).

 

Muslims of the Caucasus become combined in their Coordination center (the Chairman is Ismail Berdyev). The Spiritual Assembly for Muslims of Russia stirs up its activity (Albir-hazrat Krganov). SGM of Tatarstan, Dagestan and Chechnya have special status. However, it must be kept in mind that for Muslims organizational unity is a conditional concept, as Islam does not assume obligatory and accurate spiritual hierarchy, and also existence of the united spiritual administrative center in scales of the state.

 

The multifaceted nature of Islamic rebirth in modern-day Russia has various consequences. The positive character has increase of activity of Islam in the field of charity and spiritual and moral education of believers. As well as other world religions, Islam promotes social stability, strengthening of family, universal spiritual and moral values. Consequences of activation of so-called "political Islam" in Russia have negative social character. Politization of Islam feeds its radical trends and promotes distribution of radical trends, breaks the principles of tolerance.


In recent years attempts of adoption of the conceptual documents promoting judgment of serious theological problems and association of Muslims of Russia have been made. In 2013 the concept "Tatars and the Islamic world: conceptual bases of functioning and development” was adopted, in 2015 it was "The social doctrine of the Russian Muslims", in 2016 it was the "Grozny fatwa", all of them are aimed at development of a position on the most important issues of Islamic divinity and at definition of the place and the role of Islam in modern-day ideological and political life of Russia.

 

Rafik Mukhametshin. "Spiritual heritage of the Russian Muslims"