The scandal about the withdrawal of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Ivanovo region from the jurisdiction of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=38882) is gaining momentum. We have no desire to repeat the details of this scandal or to take sides in it. However, we cannot but note the inappropriateness of certain participants in this «tempest in a teapot», who for many years have behaved as if they were the axis around which the entire Islamic world and Muslims in Russia revolve.
Again, we do not judge what would have been better in this case for the Muslims of the Ivanovo region — to remain under the wing of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia or to go an independent way. This is a practical and local matter and should be decided by those who are on the ground and involved in these matters.
Another thing that creates confusion is why representatives of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia turn this technical issue into a question of a dramatic political and even religious nature? How else can we assess such demands as those made by Damir Mukhetdinov, a representative of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, to Farit Lyapin, the head of the separate Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Ivanovo region (who himself has serious questions of a religious nature — https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=31079): «Farit Usmalovich will repent. He will personally return to the bosom of our organization, the united Ummah, and that’s it.
It seems that Damir Vaisovich, as the «Muslim Metropolitan» and the «Custodian of the Patriarch of the Muslim Church», has gone completely too far, beginning to bring Christian sayings such as «If the Church is not your mother, then God is not your father» into the Muslim reality, equating the «Mother Church» of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia with the «United Ummah».
However, if we are not talking about the more and more grotesque rhetoric (let us remember that in his time even the competitor of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, Talgat Tadzhuddin, called his Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims the «Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Holy Russia»), but about the essence, this organization has been doing this for a long time. But for what reason?
In Islam there is no such concept as ordination of clergy, ecclesiastical councils, etc., and the organization of the Islamic Ummah is based on different principles. Muslims are led either by the ruler of the righteous or by the sultan who has power over a certain territory. If we are talking about a Muslim minority community in a non-Muslim state, it can theoretically be led by a leader appointed or recognized by that state, as was the case in the Russian Empire in the past, or as is the case today with the Muslims of Greek Western Thrace.
However, the spiritual administration of the Muslims of Russia has not had such a monopoly from the Russian state for a long time, neither formally nor actually. Therefore, their cohesion can only be based on a voluntary basis, driven by the awareness that this organization protects their interests.
But in this case a question arises, which we asked about a year ago on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the service of the head of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, Ravil Gaynutdin (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=37253): «The 7th Congress of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation re-elected Ravil Gaynutdin as its head. At the same time, his colleagues celebrated his 60th anniversary and 30 years of «service» as the unchanging leader of the Council of Muftis of Russia.
Well, there was no lack of congratulations and recognition of Ravil-khazrat’s merits during these days, and we did not want to spoil his celebration. But we cannot ignore this event, and here is the reason why. All SMR media and bloggers presented the Congress of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia as the «Congress of Muslims of Russia» and its unchanging leader as the «Head of Muslims of Russia».
But if it was a Congress of Muslims of Russia and not an internal meeting, why was there no discussion of their, to say the least, very problematic situation? And why did representatives of Muslims in Russia not at least ask the «Head of Muslims in Russia» questions about how he intends to respond to the challenges they face before electing him?
Let us repeat what we recently wrote in the article «The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia Has No Future, the Future Belongs to the Muslim Opposition» (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=38442): «Prowling government ideologues continue to take revenge on the SMR for daring to be what it had long ceased to be — a center of attraction, including for such bright imams and preachers who were an eyesore for the authorities and the Russian Orthodox Church. Later, they rushed to get rid of them — including the «young successors» who considered themselves the «light of Tatar theology», apparently thinking that it would be easier for them to succeed without this «ballast».
But it is already obvious that these hopes were in vain. Under this regime, there are no prospects for even minimally intelligent and independent Muslim activists. The future prospects can only be for the Muslim opposition — those who do not serve any power, but represent and defend the interests of their co-religionists, even if it means coming into conflict with that power.
Once upon a time, the SMR could have been the center of such opposition. Now, if you want to stay on the right side of history and be part of its new chapter, you have to work hard to correct your mistakes and earn that right.»
However, instead of reasonably assessing the rapidly changing circumstances and turning to the real Ummah, the leaders of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia continue to entrench themselves in the comical niche of the Muslim «mother church».