This week, a landmark event for public space in Russia occurred — one of the most popular clothing chains, Gloria Jeans, released an advertisement for its products featuring a model wearing a hijab.
«We have a multinational country, and by featuring a girl in a hijab in our campaign, we wanted to show respect to those who practice Islam and also make it known that we make clothes for everyone,» said the company’s founder, Vladimir Melnikov.
This name, as well as the name of this brand, should be remembered as a rare and valuable exception, for inclusion in a kind of «Friends of Islam» list.
The fact that this is indeed an exception to the rule, and that Muslims in Russia live amidst Islamophobia, has already been demonstrated by the reaction of clothing buyers to this advertisement, examples of which are highlighted in an article by Lenta.ru.
Nevertheless, one should not be deceived — such a reaction could have taken place not only in Russia, but also in many other countries — both Western and, unfortunately, many Muslim countries that have undergone de-Islamization.
However, if we disregard the latter for a moment, as far as the former is concerned, Muslims in Russia have a difference and a trump card that must be recognized and used.
Unlike in France or Poland, for example, the majority of Muslims in Russia did not «come from somewhere else» — they live on the lands of their ancestors, which were incorporated into the Russian state, or they moved from these lands to other parts of the country by birthright.
And if other residents do not want Muslims living next to them, it would be logical for them to separate these territories with a state border.
However, since at least 7 republics of titular Muslim peoples are still part of Russia (not to mention historical Muslim lands like Siberia, Kuban, etc.), the presence of the hijab in Russian advertisements has the same right as, for example, the Russian kokoshnik.