On 15-17 March, the ‘Spiritual Service and Social Mission of Religious Organizations in the Context of Forming All-Russian Civil Identity’ All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference was held in Vladikavkaz. The conference was organized by the Coordination Centre of Muslims of the North Caucasus, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania with assistance of the Fund of Support of Islamic Culture, Science and Education. The participants of the events included representatives of federal and regional executive authorities, expert community, as well as leaders of religious associations, public organizations and employees of educational institutions from 25 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
During the conference, the participants discussed a wide range of issues touching upon various aspects of protecting traditional values and consolidating Russia civil identity of the peoples of Russia. The main topic of the meeting was to discuss Russia’s actions in Ukraine and to make a general judgment from the point of view of the Muslim faith.
Thus, Ismail Berdiev, Chairman of the North Caucasus Muslim Coordination Centre and Mufti of Karachay-Cherkessia, stressed the urgent need for a special military operation in Ukraine.
‘Both the Muslim and Christian communities have the same attitude towards this. Where innocent people are killed is a disaster. It is necessary to help people, save them from scoundrels and bandits. Right now, we all need to pray that Almighty Allah will give reason to those bandits who are in Ukraine. They have been warned: if they lay down their weapons, nobody will hurt them. And those who do not want to, those who are holding weapons in their hands – of course, they must be punished. The person who kills the innocent kills all of humanity. This is stated in all religions and confessions: both in Christianity and Islam,’ Berdiev stressed, calling for prayers for the Russian soldiers who are now fulfilling their duty to the motherland.
Talgat Tadzhuddin, Chairman of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims and Supreme Mufti of Russia, supported his colleague. He signed a document expressing the position of the entire Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims on the events in Ukraine. ‘The special military operation in Ukraine is a forced measure. This is our brotherly republic, which we have been living together for centuries with. Nobody is happy about the war, because our ancestors already saw how terrible it is. History is passed on from generation to generation. We have been witnessing for 8 years how the leadership of Ukraine and the western world have tried to stage a genocide and revive fascism. President of Russia Vladimir Putin spoke about it at all conferences and meetings. Russia did its best in order to make the situation be resolved by peaceful political means. But the military operation became the only opportunity to save the residents of Donbas, who are being mocked and genocidal by the Kiev regime,’ the document says.
According to Tadzhuddin, Russia led by President Vladimir Putin does not set out to occupy Ukrainian territories but acts ‘to defend itself against the threats posed by those who have taken Ukraine hostage and are trying to use it against our country’. Besides, the Spiritual Administration unanimously condemned Western countries, which ‘are trying to establish their own geopolitical world order, leaving hotbeds of terrorism and extremism’.
On behalf of ‘millions of Russian Muslims’, the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims led by Talgat Tadzhuddin, expressed their gratitude to President Vladimir Putin for recognizing the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic and their full support for the ongoing military operation in Ukraine: ‘We cannot allow fascism to be built on the bones of our ancestors. When NATO puts missiles near our borders, it is way too much. We believe that the military special operation is justified because the Ukrainian leadership did not want to hear our government. Our troops are now in Ukraine not to occupy the country. They, like the soldiers of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, are saving the people of Ukraine from Nazis, who, on the order of their Western masters want to make Ukraine a bridgehead for an attack on Russia,’ Talgat Tadzhuddin noted.
Mufti Kamil Samigullin, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan, also expressed his support for the position of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. According to the leader of Tatarstan Muslims, the current position of the West is permeated with hypocrisy and double standards, because when Iraq, Libya, Palestine were attacked, nobody condemned the perpetrators.
‘The conflict in Ukraine did not start last week. It has been going on for eight years. As a result of the coup, Ukraine fell into the hands of neo-Nazis. Representatives of all confessions, including Muslims, are suffering from their inhumane actions. We will pray and hope that this will now come to an end. We share the pain of all those touched by misfortune and urge to perform dua for peace, calm and well-being all over the world. The country’s leadership has made a decision, and we now need to unite in the face of the challenges that will be faced,’ the Mufti of Tatarstan explained. Samigullin also called on not to trust unverified information and not to engage in spreading it by insulting each other.
Albir Krganov, Head of the Spiritual Assembly of Muslims of the Russian Federation, also supported his colleagues’ words. In his opinion, for eight years Russia had been patiently waiting for some kind of change in the situation in Donbas and for steps to be taken by the Ukrainian authorities. However, the international community preferred to turn a blind eye to the atrocities taking place.
‘We have been painfully watching the situation in Donbas in recent years. We have tried to provide some assistance as much as possible, but it is not much, of course. These difficult conditions for children, elderly people cause constant concern, and all this is happening in the XXI century, when ‘human rights’ are declared from high rostrums of international organizations. But the international community does not pay any attention to it, for some reason,’ Krganov expressed his position.
According to the Muslim leader, he West by its actions is forcing Russia to the only right decision, which coincides with the opinion of both Russian society and expert community. ‘We, Russian Muslims, are praying that the Almighty will grant peace and harmony, and understanding to everybody who makes decisions. We are praying that the Almighty will protect people from misfortune and suffering and that this kind of mocking attitude to people will not occur in the world again,’ Albir Krganov added. At the same time, he drew special attention to the fact that nowadays it was really difficult to find the truth, since fake news is widely spread, Russian information social media channels are blocked on a massive scale, which makes it possible to successfully manipulate human consciousness.
Opinions of Muslim leaders of Russia on the difficult situation in Ukraine were reflected not only in their personal statements and positions, but also in a collective appeal by the leaders of Muslim religious organizations, in which all the conference participants voiced their attitude towards the Russian military operation in Ukraine and expressed their hope for a speedy resolution of the situation.
‘There have been many difficult times in Russia’s centuries-long history. But whatever difficulties we have faced, our people have always successfully overcome them. The current events confirm that the strength of our country lies in its multinational people, in the unity of people and their genuine love for the motherland. Russia has always been rich in sincere, pious and strong-willed people who, following the precepts of Islam, valiantly defended their fatherland, giving the enemy a worthy rebuff…
Today there are many Muslims from different Russian regions in our Armed Forces providing peace, security and well-being to people in Donbas.
On this day we are paying tribute to our courageous compatriots who put people’s interests above their own ones. We would also like to express our gratitude and respect to their parents for bringing up such sons, who entire Russia can be justly proud of. I have no doubt that families of the fallen soldiers will be surrounded by comprehensive care on the part of the state and society,’ Ismail Berdiev read out the excerpts from the address.
During his speech, the Mufti of Karachay-Cherkessia also stressed that the situation in the world had become tense, with increased hostility and confrontation, as well as information and economic pressure on Russia from countries of the ‘collective West’, which are taking advantage of the situation in Ukraine for open discrimination against Russian citizens and to exert political pressure for their own purposes.
‘We, representatives of the main religious Muslim organizations in Russia, want to support the leadership of our country and fully endorse the concept of Russia’s military doctrine as defensive. Nationalists, allegedly representing the Ukrainian people, have for eight years continuously violated the Minsk Treaty, to which Russia is also a party, and have been preparing to break it completely. The leadership of Ukraine has been killing civilians for eight years and further intended to destroy the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in order to then bring NATO with nuclear and biological weapons close to Russia’s borders, posing a direct threat to the security of our country, all of our citizens. We know how the ‘collective West’ illegally and inhumanely, violating all moral and legal norms, suppressed such countries as Iraq, Libya and Syria, and therefore its ‘coming closer to our homes’ is not a theoretical, but a direct military threat. Therefore, a preventive strike in order to avoid a repetition of 1941, but with the use of weapons of mass destruction, is a legitimate and morally justified method of defense policy,’ the Chairman of the Coordination Centre of Muslims of the North Caucasus concluded.
Berdiev reminded the audience of the words of Mufti of the Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly Muhammedyar Sultanov, who emphasized that throughout the history of the Russian state, Muslims had always been as one with their country, defending their fatherland and showing patriotism.
The outcome of the conference was the adoption of fatwa ‘On Those Killed Defending the Fatherland and Civilians during the Russian Military Operation in Ukraine to Force the Aggressor to Peace’. The document was signed by Mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan Kamil Samigullin, Mufti of Saratov region Mukaddas Birbarsov, Mufti of the Republic of Mordovia Fagim Shafiev and Deputy Head of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol Esadullakh Bairov.
According to the adopted fatwa, all the participants and guests of the conference, as well as signatories to the document, confirm that the Russian military operation in Ukraine to force the aggressor to peace is a forced defensive and preventive measure to protect Russia and all its citizens from the real threat of nuclear and biological weapons use by NATO and the ‘collective West’. Based on the text of the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, as well as on the agreement of ulema regarding the position of shahids, it was decided that all Muslims who were killed with faith in Allah while performing their duty to defend their homeland and their fellow citizens, are shahids.
‘At the same time, we deeply respect representatives of other religions in Russia who died while performing their duty to defend their homeland and its fellow citizens, and we believe that they will also be rewarded by the Almighty. We urge all Muslims of Russia to consolidate the unity and to be more active in explaining and defending their position and interests of their homeland in communication with Muslims from other countries, to rebuff all those who are trying to smear the feat of our brothers,’ the fatwa text says.
After the conference, a collective prayer for all those involved in the Russian special operation in Ukraine and those killed in it took place at the central mosque in Vladikavkaz.