The Kremlin’s propaganda campaign in favor of Putin’s constitutional amendments is gaining momentum ahead of the July 1 vote. It is interesting to see how the ideals declared in these amendments correspond to reality. Especially in relation to us, Muslims, whom some also suggest to support them.
One of them says: «The Russian Federation, united by a thousand-year history, preserving the memory of the ancestors who passed on the ideals and faith in God, as well as the continuity in the development of the Russian state, recognizes the historically established state unity».
Let’s leave aside the «historically established state unity» and the «thousand-year history» of the Russian Federation, which came into being after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Let’s talk about the «belief in God» whose inclusion in the Constitution the Kremlin propagandists, including those working among Muslims, try to present as a confirmation that Putin’s Russia is its stronghold in the modern world, where faith is under attack by atheists.
But what is the reality of the attitude toward belief in God in Putin’s Russia, especially among the second largest religious community in the country and clearly the most religious — Muslims?
In order to answer this question, it is not necessary to refer to the lists of banned literature filled with Islamic works, including classical theological literature. Because the answer is that these are controversial works. A characteristic illustration of this attitude, another one among many, can be observed right now through the example of a story where no complex dogmatic questions are involved, but only practical and indisputable history.
For example, Alina Navruzova, a student at the Omsk Medical College, with the help of a well-known Muslim human rights activist and lawyer, Ruslan Nagiyev, is fighting in court for the right to wear a hijab and continue her studies at this college.
The situation is quite typical — Muslim women have faced it before in Nogai villages in the Stavropol region and Tatar villages in Mordovia (by the way, let’s note — on historically Muslim lands, which includes the land of the Omsk region).
But what is significant in this case is that the judge, in addition to confirming that Islam requires adult Muslim women to wear a hijab, demanded from Alina a written confirmation not only that she is a Muslim, but also that she wears a headscarf out of sincere faith in God.
So these are the realities of protecting faith in God in Putin’s Russia. Do you believe in God? Please present a document proving that you sincerely believe and that your faith dictates the way you dress. Whether Alina’s faith will be protected after she presents such documents (and where will they come from — a lie detector?) raises big questions.
But what does not raise any questions is that after the adoption of Putin’s amendments, faith in God will not receive any protection in this country, and the only person who will receive additional protection is someone who probably does not believe in anything himself. And you know him.