So, although in the middle of last week it seemed that a military escalation around Ukraine had been avoided, in the end it becomes clear what we wrote about at the beginning — with a high probability a Russian-Ukrainian war in one form or another will start. However, God willing, or rather God forbid, we may have a chance to talk about the war later. For now, let’s return to our Muslim agenda.
Under the conditions of Russia, in the same week, it was discussed why a Russian-Tatar figure skater, Kamila Valeeva, was supported at the Olympic Games by an Orthodox priest and the spiritual advisor of the Russian team under the Olympic flag, and not by a Muslim mullah. Here’s what the deputy chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, Damir Mukhetdinov, wrote in this regard: «The ‘Spiritual Advisor of the Olympic Team’ sounds just like the ‘Main Temple of the Armed Forces’ and the ‘Deputy Group for the Protection of Christian Values.’ It is ambiguous with regard to the principle of freedom of conscience (do all athletes/soldiers and deputies believe in God?) and derogatory towards the religious beliefs of people who do not belong to the Orthodox culture. It looks like a signal: the views, spirituality, religious beliefs of people outside a particular denomination have no value or significance; they are not worthy of protection or symbolic recognition, or to be embodied in practical care for the spiritual state of their bearers».
Well, let’s respond to Damir Mukhetdinov in the spirit of «new sincerity,» as it is now customary to say. Young and not-so-young people who are immersed in Internet culture, of course, know the meme «Erzhan, wake up!» and its sequel. So, to use an analogy, let’s say «Damir, wake up!» because «Muslim leaders of Russia» today find themselves in the same position as Erzhan in this meme. Moreover, we don’t have to look far for the reasons, as Mukhetdinov himself points them out in the following lines of his text: «Yes, we voted to change the constitution, and Muslims supported the mention of God in the country’s main law. But when we went to the polling stations during the referendum, we were not voting for the ‘God’ of a particular religion or denomination, but for the very idea of faith in the Almighty as the highest moral guide and foundation for all human relations with the world around them».
Seriously, Damir? You voted for constitutional amendments, for Putin in every presidential election, for United Russia in every parliamentary election. But, of course, you did not vote for the opportunity to ban Muslim literature, to imprison and kill Muslim preachers and human rights activists, to bomb Muslims in Syria, and to terrorize Muslims in the Caucasus and Idel-Ural. And not so that the Russian Orthodox Church could gain de facto status as the state religion since 2008, build temples for the armed forces, and bless them for «holy wars. So why did you do it? «For the very idea of faith in the Almighty as the highest moral guide and foundation for all human relations with the world around them»? In the execution of the KGB and the Russian Orthodox Church, right?
And people like you also supported Stalin, not for the purpose of throwing millions of people into the Gulag and deporting entire nations, probably for some «noble» purposes as well. But to anyone with an ounce of common sense (which, theoretically, a Ph.D. like Mukhetdinov should have), it should be clear today that it was naive and a mistake. The only way to admit it is to repent for it, instead of exclaiming how it happened that they supported something for one purpose, but something else happened.
Moreover, it is clear that the «Muslim factor» in the Olympics is not an issue on which Russian Muslims should waste their time, for many reasons — from the ideology of this event to the immoral and harmful nature of the sports in which Muslim girls and boys should be discouraged from participating, rather than supported in their commitment. Much more important is the fact that this week, with the participation of Muslims, Putin’s Russia continued its active preparations for the war in Donbass, the beginning of which, according to everything, will be attributed to the «Ukrainian aggression». Preparations were made on many levels, starting with the State Duma, which addressed Putin with a demand to recognize the DPR and LPR. So, out of the numerous deputies with Muslim names and surnames, only one voted against it, respect to him for that — Amir Makhmudovich Khamitov of the New People’s Party. The rest of the «Muslim deputies» voted for it, and this is a direct answer to Damir Mukhetdinov’s question why there is a Christian inter-party group of deputies in the State Duma, but no Muslim or general Christian-Muslim group. Yes, that’s why there isn’t one, because «Muslim deputies», like «Muslim officials» in the Russian system, always occupy a position of «whatever you prefer» and try to prove their loyalty.
But what’s even worse is that there are videos of Russian Muslim military personnel on the border with Ukraine, ready for combat. And they’re shouting war cries, which they demonstratively do for the cameras. And none of the muftis are in a hurry to speak out against this, nor are they in a hurry to address the Muslim soldiers and urge them not to risk their earthly and eternal lives for purposes that are incompatible with Islam.
That’s why Muslims in Russia are in the position they are in. The position in which they can simply be disregarded and in which, against the backdrop of an impending war in which they are involved, they are asked to discuss why an Orthodox priest supports the «Russian Muslim Olympian».