The case of Aslambek Yezhaev remains in the spotlight for thousands of Russian-speaking Muslims. And this is understandable, because it essentially reflects their situation. The fact that it is not a «mistake of the security forces», but a coordinated political move, is shown by its coverage by the regime’s central television channels. Reports on the arrest of this «terrorist,» who turned out to be the head of the country’s largest Islamic publishing house, were broadcast by both Channel One and Russia-24.
The position of the accusation is clear — what is more interesting is the position of those who could be expected to defend themselves in such situations. And we are not talking about those who openly supported their fellow Muslim Murad Musaev, who volunteered to be Aslambek Yezhaev’s lawyer, or about controversial Russian Muslim figures such as Ali Evteev, who himself was forced to leave the country to avoid sharing his fate.
Among those who have publicly expressed doubts about the official version of the reasons for the arrest are conscientious members of the expert community such as Ahmed Yarlykapov, publisher Yuriy Mikhailov, and human rights activist Vitaly Ponomarev.
The head of the pro-government Islamnews website, Muhammad Salakhutdinov, dared to say that he found it «difficult to imagine that Yezhaev would finance terrorists. He expressed regret that «this is happening so tragically for Muslims,» noting that «no holy place is ever empty» and that «Islamic publishing will continue with adjustments for what has happened.
This is yet another «silence of the lambs» demonstrated by representatives of the «official clergy,» including previously principled defenders of Muslims and those who knew and worked with Yezhaev personally.
The position of the «Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia» initially seemed indecent, as its deputy chairman, Damir Mukhetdinov, initially said nothing except that Yezhaev was not their employee. A few days later, however, Mukhetdinov expressed solidarity with Yezhaev on his personal Facebook page, informing the public that searches had also taken place in the building of the Moscow Islamic University, which had collaborated with him until 2011. Another deputy chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, Rushan Abbyasov, also gave a positive characterization of Yezhaev on his personal page. He had enough courage to formulate it as follows: «We have no doubts about the professionalism and competence of our law enforcement agencies, and at the same time we hope that they will draw conclusions based on concrete facts, verified information and witness testimony, without haste and slander». One might have been pleased that Rushan-Khazrat at least managed to clear his conscience with such a demonstration of solidarity, which other Imams lacked. However, this will clearly not help Aslambek Yezhaev, who faces up to 20 years in prison on the charges brought against him. In this situation, he could only be helped by the explicit and consolidated support of his influential acquaintances who claim to represent Russian Muslims and speak on their behalf.
Moreover, there was technically a perfect opportunity for this — at that very moment, in a fashionable hall in Moscow, an iftar was being held, attended by the entire «elite of Russian Muslim leaders,» with representatives of Russian political and non-Muslim religious circles invited as guests. The opportunity to draw their attention to the lawlessness against Russian Muslims, not just any Muslims, but prominent ones, could not have been better. However, the «leaders of Russian Muslims» apparently decided not to spoil the appetite of themselves and their guests, and instead confined themselves to demonstrating in their photo reports the richness of the interiors in which they gather and the dishes on which they feast.
Well, one can wish them a pleasant appetite and a few more things together. If they lack the courage to openly stand up for their prominent fellow believer, even during this month when there is such a perfect opportunity, let them stop playing these games with the representation of Russian Muslims not only within the country but also in front of the outside world, and let them in the future position their gatherings as culinary events, which is what they are, and not as some political events, which they try to present them as.
After all, political weight is not determined by the richness of the interiors in which they gather or the dishes they consume in public, but rather by whether the power in their country takes them into account or not. Or at least if they are able to demand to be considered when it is really necessary. At least to have someone to stand up for them when it is their turn to have an Iftar not at a fancy banquet but in a Russian prison. If the political weight of these «leaders of Russian Muslims» in their country is zero according to these real indicators, they should at least have the courage to admit it to themselves and others, instead of confusing people’s minds by trying to compensate for their political helplessness and apathy with demonstrations of interiors and dishes.
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