Many of our readers already know that last Friday the parishioners of one of the Moscow mosques were subjected to humiliations and beatings, including electric shocks, as a result of a raid carried out by the security forces. Almaz Abdrahmanov, a representative of the administration of this mosque located on Basovskaya Street and the leader of the organization «7th Generation,» told the media that during a formal document check many of his parishioners were not only subjected to unprovoked electric shocks, but were also forced to listen to insults against their religion.
In principle, such behavior by the security forces does not surprise us at all — as we have written before, conducting raids after Friday prayers has long become an unwelcome tradition in Russia. Therefore, this event could be considered quite normal. In this case, however, something makes us think that this is not just a particular raid on a particular mosque.
In this case, the raid was conducted against a mosque belonging to the local religious organization «7th Generation,» which is part of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Moscow (DUMM). Just two weeks ago, the DUMM and its leader, Ildar Alyautdinov, were held administratively liable and fined 30,000 rubles for, among other things, «publishing or distributing literature, printed, audio, and video materials in the course of missionary activities without marking them with the specified name or with incomplete or knowingly false marking». Shortly before, the Islamic Cultural Center «Dar», headed by Ildar Alyautdinov himself, was closed and officially suspended its activities as a result of the prosecutor’s control. The mufti denied rumors that the closure of his center was due to pressure from the security forces. However, in light of a series of subsequent events, his assurances no longer seem so convincing.
In this regard, we would like to remind you that at the end of July, an official document of the Russian Orthodox Church entitled «Plan of anti-sectarian activities» became known to the public (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=36932), in which Muslims in Moscow are also included in the list of «sectarians» to be countered. In such a case, could all these synchronous actions of the security forces be considered the implementation of a similar plan in its unofficial, non-public part?
At the very least, it is known that the Council of Muftis of Russia (CMR), under whose jurisdiction the DUMM falls, is considered by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) to be a hostile organization capable of achieving its goals through the security forces. As an alternative to the CMR, the ROC has long sought to establish the so-called «Moscow Muftiate,» headed by the fully loyal Albir Krganov.