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Islamophobia Pays No Dividends 115 text-4.qxd 8/23/2006 10:55 AM Page 115 Islamophobia Pays No Dividends 115 Islamophobia Pays No Dividends Mintimer Shaimiev President of the Republic of Tatarstan ISLAM IS A DEEP-ROOTED RELIGION in the Russian Federation. The ances- tors of the Tatars adopted Islam in the 10th century, specifically, on May 16 of the year 922, in the town of Bulgar near Kazan. The Tatars became the northern outpost of the Islamic world and still are. Islam came even earlier to Dagestan, in the 7th century in the wake of the Arab conquests. We know that Rus embraced Orthodox Christianity in the year 988. Thus, the country's history has been drawing, since the olden times, on the two sources - Islam and Orthodoxy. RF President Vladimir Putin said in an interview for Al Jazeera TV: "Our Russian Orthodox Church hasn't merely been coexisting with Islam for 1000 years, these religions have been in contact with each other and they enrich each other. Frankly speaking, I don't even know of such an instance of interaction between religions which we have in Russia." The current "Golden Horde" exhibition in Kazan arranged by Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg features, among other things, an interest- ing icon of the Mother of God. The icon was painted in Italy and its gold frame has the word "Allah" stamped many times along its perimeter. This means that back in the Middle Ages people already realized that God was one and religions were many. It is people who invented barriers between cultures and it is they who are supposed to remove them. Our country's history also had dark periods of persecution of Muslims, but following the edict of Catherine II on religious toleration relations between the Christians and Muslims were steadily growing stronger. Russia came to be an example of religious toleration. Having lived for centuries next to Orthodox Christians, not only did we learn tolerance, but also how to understand and help each other. We don't even give a thought to the meaning of relations between dif- ferent religions in the Republic of Tatarstan. They are a matter of fact for us while in many places around the world ethnic and religious conflicts continue unabated. Based on our own experience, I can say that one cannot rely on tradi- tions alone; one should make considered political decisions based on a balance of the interests and approval of people. Side by side in the ancient citadel of Kazan you can see a Christian Orthodox church and the Qul-Sharif mosque. They are symbols of understanding and harmony. The archbishop and the mufti text-4.qxd 8/23/2006 10:55 AM Page 116 116 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS of Tatarstan turn up together at all important public events and are sometimes joined by the local rabbi, the Catholic and Lutheran priests. While Moscow does- n't always pay attention to such details, ordinary people are sensitive to such things so much so that the prestige of political leaders sometimes depends on such seemingly small things. Democracy is supposed to take account of the interests of the minorities but it should not turn into mere machinery for voting. It seems sometimes easier to make decisions based on the majority of votes, but in ethnic and religious environments it is much more effective to achieve maximum agreement. Tatarstan's multiethnic people have formed common values over recent years. We have renounced going to extremes and practicing extremism in the form of nationalism, fascism or religious extremism. It stands to reason that Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles says in his report that Tatarstan is one of the examples to be emulated. This is a high appraisal entail- ing great responsibility. The mass media have contributed to an image of Islam as being some- thing carved in stone, rigid and even cruel. In actual fact, Islam is remarkable for pluralism. There are Sunnites, Shiites and followers of different other schools. Living thought has been in evidence in Islam for many centuries. Before the 17th century, it was the most advanced in the world because it was absorbing and spreading superior knowledge. European Renaissance began with the great the- ologians, such as Ibn Rushd and Avicenna, among others. Our task today is to keep up these glorious traditions. The Tatars practice a special brand of Islam. 200 years ago, a reform of Islam began in Russia. This phenomenon came to be called "jadidism" (al jadid means a new method or renewal in Arabic). Tatar theologians proclaimed open- ness with regard to different cultures, first of all to Russian and European cul- ture. It is openness that creates understanding between people. One of the merits of jadidism lies in the fact that it assigned primary importance to the acquisition of knowledge, education, sciences, religious toleration, it liberated women, gave the young people not only morals but also advanced knowledge to make them competitive. It is not coincidental that all progressive Tatar intellectuals, writers, outstanding political figures, and the best business people had their training in jadid schools. Jadidism created a tolerant, moderate and enlightened brand of Islam. The Russian Islamic University in Kazan and the system of Muslim edu- cational institutions of Tatarstan are committed to carrying on these remarkable traditions. The Prophet said: "There's its own path for everything. The path to Paradise is only opened through knowledge." It is ignorance, not Islam, that explodes the world and makes it a dangerous place. And the only way to fight ignorance is through education. Islam is not a hard-and-fast religion, it can find answers to contempo- rary challenges, it is fundamentally flexible, it responds well to the ideas of democracy and liberalism. Studying the experience of Islam in the Volga-Urals text-4.qxd 8/23/2006 10:55 AM Page 117 Islamophobia Pays No Dividends 117 region one can find answers to many of today's questions. This is our contribu- tion to understanding between nations and civilizations. Islam is tolerant. Those who portray it as militant, haven't read the Koran well enough, which reads: "Verily, they who believe (Muslims), and the Jews, and the Sabeites, and the Christians - whoever of them believeth in God and the last day, and doth what is right, on them shall come no fear, neither shall they be put to grief" [5:69]. The very words "Assalam Aleikum" used by Muslims in greeting translate as "peace be upon you." The Prophet said that the best among men is the one who institutes peace among people. The highest form of jihad is waging war with one's own inner lack of faith, rather than with infi- dels, as it is not infrequently portrayed in the press. Islam only permits taking up arms in self-defense. Toleration and understanding the different ways of life is the essence of preventing clashes of civilizations because God indeed created people who are different and who speak many different tongues. Islam forbids imposing one's view on others by force. Great Russian poet Pushkin realized this very well, which you can see in his "Imitations of the Koran" verses. Toleration is not only for Muslims to be committed to. When in Denmark they drew caricatures of the Prophet, they were guided by less than good intentions. Freedom of speech should go hand in hand with respect for reli- gious values. This freedom cannot be boundless. In this life, we have some sacred subjects which cannot be touched with impunity, among them are the prophets ranging from Moses to Christ to Muhammad to Buddha. At the same time, Muslims should competently defend their interests, without fanaticism and threats. The world community has devised mechanisms to protect human rights, but Muslims' rights also need to be protected, otherwise injustice would breed injustice. The great theologian, Abu Hamid al-Gazali said: "One hour of justice is equal to a prayer lasting one hundred years." Muslims of the Russian Federation often run into problems trying to get plots of land to build a mosque on, or trying to have instruction in Islam at schools. This means they should be able to prove their case to the authorities. To make this possible they should take a more active part in the politi- cal processes, including those at the federal level. Otherwise what we have is that the Islam banner is being used by terrorists while the interests of Muslims are being poorly protected. The spiritual leaders have until recently been mostly con- cerned with building mosques which today number more than 6,000 all over Russia, including 1,100 in Tatarstan. The period of rapid building of mosques must be over and we now should be making a more active use of the newspapers, magazines, radio and TV broadcasts. The standard and the number of copies of Muslim publications are seriously below those of the major Russia's papers, not to mention radio and TV. Islam has come to be a component part of Europe. Children of Muslim parentage in Europe are no longer immigrants, and their number is climbing steadily. Britain now has 1,600 mosques; France has 1,500; Germany, more than text-4.qxd 8/23/2006 10:55 AM Page 118 118 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 1,000 with further 2,000 places of worship; Holland, 450; Spain, 12 mosques. There are very many believers who do not practice their faith. All over Europe, Muslim schools spring up. The Islamization of Europe will be growing. Muslims in Europe today run into tens of millions, including ethnic Germans and French.
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