«Voice of Islam» continues and intends to continue exposing the manipulations of pro-Kremlin «Muslim bloggers» towards the Muslim audience. Today and tomorrow we will discuss the new part of Ruslan Kurbanov’s pearls on history and contemporary politics in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war (https://youtu.be/ylRjhmhh6cc). In this publication Kurbanov’s historical manipulations will be examined. Their example shows how an inaccurate assessment of the past becomes the basis for an inaccurate assessment of the present and the future. Tomorrow’s publication will be devoted to this, God willing.
1. Kurbanov argues that with the collapse of the USSR, Muslims in Russia and Ukraine were left behind for decades. To support this thesis, he begins to provide facts about the rollback of federalism and national freedoms in Russia that began in the 2010s. Interestingly, it is clear that Kurbanov either cannot count or is relying on those who cannot count or are unaware of recent history. The collapse of the USSR took place in 1991, and more than a decade passed between then and the rollback of federalism and the beginning of the new policy of russification in the republics. What happened in Russia (excluding Chechnya) in the decade immediately after the collapse of the USSR? There was indeed an increase in federalism, national and religious revival among the Muslim peoples. Again, with the exception of Chechnya, which was drowned in blood for trying to break away from Russia, but that is essentially a separate story of Russian-Chechen relations that needs to be considered separately. Excluding them, it can be said that the situation of Muslims in Russia in terms of nationality, regional politics, and religion improved immediately after the collapse of the USSR. The same can be said for Ukraine, which, as Kurbnov himself acknowledges, has become a laboratory for the most advanced forms of da’wah and Islamic activism in the post-Soviet space. And now let us ask ourselves: what was the situation in the USSR, and did Muslims in Ukraine benefit or suffer from its collapse? Similarly, how were things in Russia under the USSR, and did the situation of its Muslims improve immediately after its collapse? The answers to these questions are obvious to any reasonable person.
And when did the deterioration of the situation of Muslims in Russia, about which Kurbanov writes, begin? The answer is also obvious — it began with the rise to power of Putin and the consolidation of his power («tightening the screws»). It was practically at that moment that the rollback of federalism and political freedoms in general, the fight against the Islamic movement and dissidents, centralization, and the russification of the state began. But is all this the result of the collapse of the USSR? On the contrary, all this is a consequence of the coming to power of a person who wanted to revive it in a new form and who considered the collapse of the USSR «the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century». It was with his coming to power and the revival of neo-Sovietism with its manifestations such as the return of the melody of the USSR anthem, the introduction of St. George’s ribbons, the rehabilitation of Stalinism, etc. that the situation of Muslims in Russia began to deteriorate.
2. Kurbanov claims that the bloody conflict in Ukraine occurred solely because of the leaders of the three Slavic republics who caused the collapse of the Soviet Union. Again, this is a cheap manipulation aimed at the illiterate. The fact is that there was no bloody conflict between Russia and Ukraine until they, especially Russia, were led by the very leaders of the republics that caused the collapse of the USSR. And why was there no conflict? Because they agreed to recognize the existing borders between them within the USSR and to separate into independent states while maintaining close cooperation. When did the bloody conflict between Russia and Ukraine start? Again, it began when Putin came to power and decided to abandon the policy of recognizing Ukraine’s borders and independence.
3. Kurbanov states that the Soviet Union was a counterbalance to American hegemony, that Moscow checked Washington’s bloody advance in the Muslim world, and that with the collapse of the USSR, the Americans shed the blood of millions of Muslims. The truth is that the Soviet Union was an atheist state that not only eradicated Islam from its territory, but also sought to export its ideology worldwide. On the contrary, it was the West, in confrontation with the USSR, which, among other things, supported religious-conservative forces in Muslim countries — the Salafist Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other religious emirates and sultanates of the Gulf, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which adhered to the Turkic-Islamic synthesis, and later Turgut Ozal in Turkey, Suharto in Indonesia, Jihad in Afghanistan, and so on.
By the way, can we remind Kurbanov and all those with short memories who shed rivers of Muslim blood during this period? It was the USSR in Afghanistan, trying to impose godless communism, while the West helped Muslims there, as well as pro-Western governments in the Muslim world. And then the same policy continued in Tajikistan with Yeltsin’s Russia, which supported the local communists in their struggle against Islamic forces, and then turned its attention to Chechnya. This is not to say that we idealize Yeltsin — no, he was better than Putin, but this imperial abomination continued under him and eventually consumed the fragile seeds of democracy.
So when the USSR was shedding the blood of Muslims in Afghanistan, the West was supporting them. At the same time, while Russia, which continued its policies, warred against Muslims in Tajikistan and Chechnya, the West helped Muslims in the Balkans resist the genocide perpetrated by Russia’s «brothers,» the Serbs. Did America then invade Iraq? No. But at that time, Iraq, a socialist state, invaded Kuwait, a Muslim emirate, and the Muslim kingdoms of the Gulf asked America for help.
It was only when America really began to shed blood in the Middle East under George Bush Jr. And now pay attention, question — who was in power in Russia at that time? It was the very person whom Ruslan Kurbanov, in all his musings, carefully protects from criticism and blames for the collapse of the USSR. It was the person who, even before Bush’s bombing of Chechnya, led a witch hunt against Muslims in Russia that was even bigger than the one that took place in the US after September 11 (where, unlike in Russia, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Tabligh, Nurdzhular, etc. were not even banned). It was the person who now says that he invaded Ukraine to prevent NATO from having a base next to Russia, but at that time he himself provided NATO with direct access to Russian territory for the convenience of Bush’s crusade in Afghanistan.
4. Furthermore, Kurbanov falsely tries to blame the USA for the bloodshed in Syria and Libya. However, the blood in Syria is mainly on the hands of Iran and Russia, which tried to keep Assad in power at any cost and shed rivers of blood. The US and the West in general can be blamed for allowing this situation to happen. As for Libya, where they provided operational support to the uprising against the tyrant Gaddafi, they managed to avoid such rivers of blood. But then Russia also arrived there to support the coup leader Haftar against the established Government of National Accord, and the bloodshed resumed.
5. Kurbanov claims that as long as the Soviet Union existed, the Palestinians successfully resisted Israeli aggression, and with its collapse, Israel immediately blockaded the Gaza Strip and began colonizing Palestine with settlers. Another lie. The Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 on the basis of the agreements reached in Oslo in 1993. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, negating Kurbanov’s entire scheme. It turns out that the Palestinians achieved their greatest political success precisely after the collapse of the USSR. By the way, with the participation of the same Clinton who helped Bosnians and Albanians at that time. And when did the blockade of the Gaza Strip and the colonization of Palestine by settlers begin? It was not «immediately» after the collapse of the USSR, but exactly when who was in power in Russia? Right, the person Kurbanov always protects from criticism. It was under Putin that Russia established excellent relations with the Sharon and Netanyahu governments in Israel, which set a course to sabotage the creation of a Palestinian state as envisaged by the Oslo Accords. And one of the most enthusiastic promoters of this policy in Israel was the «Russian Jewish» party of Avigdor Lieberman, which linked the Kremlin with Israeli militant Zionists.
This is the substitution of historical landmarks by Kurbanov, through which he attempts to manipulate the Muslim audience regarding present-day issues and possible future scenarios. This will be discussed, God willing, in the next article.