We are closely following the events surrounding the ban on one of the translations and publications of «Sahih Bukhari». What can be said about it? Of course, we can see different kinds of reactions from different muftis and religious boards. For example, we can note the militant reaction of Mukaddas Bibarov, the toothless Religious Board of Russia and the Religious Board of Tatarstan, and the predictable leak from the Moscow Religious Board.
We can speculate with a wise eye, as theologians do, as to what should be the practical solution to such problems, whether it be the mandatory involvement of religious scholars delegated by the Muslim community for judicial examinations, as some suggest, or the mandatory state review of Islamic literature before its publication, as others suggest (kudos to the guy who suggested this).
But we really want to draw attention to something else. After the news broke that Abdullah Nirsha’s translation of the Sahih Bukhari had been added to the Ministry of Justice’s list of banned materials, the blogosphere was slow to discuss it. The information breakthrough came only after Ramzan Kadyrov posted on the topic in his telegram channel, with a rather strong reaction.
Now let’s look at when and after what happened and analyze it. On August 31 at 12:42 the article «What Muslims are fighting for in Russia» appeared in our Telegram channel «Islamist» (https://t.me/newsislamist/6852). And at the end of the same day, at 23:16, a post on this topic appeared in Kadyrov’s Telegram channel (https://t.me/RKadyrov_95/2773).
By the way, if we digress a bit, we would like to send a special greeting to those cotton-wool Muslims who, for half a day after our publication and until Kadyrov’s publication, argued with froth at the mouth that nothing bad had happened to Muslims because it was not the Sahih Bukhari itself that was banned, but only its translation, and they suddenly fell silent after Kadyrov took a completely different position.
But let’s return to the main story. On the one hand, we don’t suffer from star disease and won’t claim to have directly influenced the media reaction to this issue. On the other hand, we don’t think it’s a coincidence that it got so loud after our release. Again, we don’t want to overestimate our influence, but it is a fact that many influential figures of the «Muslim establishment» or their press services read us carefully. And it is also a fact that many scandals around them happened after we drew attention to certain issues.
Regarding this situation, without false modesty, we simply hit the nail on the head by asking not why such bans exist (this is already clear), but why those who call themselves Muslims fight for such a country. In Kadyrov’s subsequent post, we saw an attempt to answer the same question and look at the situation from the same angle: «Islam obliges Muslims to protect the interests of the state, even on the front lines, if the state does not suppress religion. Look at what is happening in Europe. Caricatures of the best people, campaigns against the hijab, protests against Muslims — all this has led to the degradation of society to a level lower than animals, which is what we are fighting against in Ukraine today. The reasons why thousands of Muslims are currently on the frontlines against Europe on Ukrainian soil are the fight against Satanism and the defense of religious values. How can they now explain that their own holiness is being violated in the rear? If this decision is not revised and competent experts are not involved in the analysis of religious literature, I’m afraid that Muslims will not feel at home in Russia. And here the religion already prescribes a completely different action for a Muslim».
In other words, we know how the coverage of this story will be presented. They will show it to the curators and say, «Look, such bans benefit Russia’s enemies and undermine the positions of those who argue that Muslims should be on their side.
Please use it as you see fit. Besides, this trick will most likely not work on you. And it will not work precisely because you put yourself in a position of indispensability that can be ignored. Deep down, you must understand this yourself, and if we believe the sincerity of the quotes, it even seems like a cry of the soul, because you see and understand that we are right. At least we would like to hope for such sincerity, even though it may be naive on our part.
So the fact that such a fuss has been made about this ban is most likely not a consequence of the ban itself, but of the fact that it can hinder those who call you to fight «for Russia». After all, nothing has really happened that hasn’t happened before.
And what, weren’t collections of hadiths banned before? They were forbidden — 40 hadiths of Nawawi. Also, interpretations of the Koran were banned, and even its verses were considered extremist, although they eventually withdrew that, by the way, even after Kadyrov’s intervention. Not to mention the dozens of Islamic theological works that were banned.
And to be honest, we didn’t even expect such a reaction, because the issue of banning Islamic literature is yesterday’s news when you’ve already resigned yourself to the fact that the state will ban whatever it wants. And those who didn’t resign either drowned on the way to court, like human rights activist Rustam Valiullin, or were locked up, like publisher Aslambek Ezhaev. And after they turned in not only the theologians but also the «Muslim activists,» there was no hope of a new wave of indignation caused by another ban.
It wouldn’t have risen if we and other «extremists» hadn’t begun to write about it as an illustration of how absurd it is that Muslims not only fight for such a country, but simply support it instead of wishing for its defeat. And it was only when we and others started writing about it that it caused a loud reaction from those who are trying to prove the opposite.
Therefore, the main thing now is not to be confused by the search for a solution in an imposed coordinate system where it cannot exist, and not to allow them to present as a solution what is not. The solution to this problem can only be the dismantling of the existing Russian political system, which requires its defeat in the ongoing war.
Therefore, we advise you not to even bother with the excitement that will now be created around attempts to find some formulations or procedures and to present another false victory in the struggle for the interests of Islam and Muslims. There can be no victory for Muslims in a hostile coordinate system. Our victory requires their defeat. And no other way.+