Almost a year and a half ago, we appreciated the courage and sharpness with which the usually cautious Shamil Alyautdinov reacted to the arrest of Gabdrakhman (Albert) Naumov, his colleague in the Council of Ulema of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia. At the time it almost caused a scandal, but here a much more significant outcome of this story went almost unnoticed — this week Naumov was sentenced to 6.5 years. The reason — organizing the activities of the «extremist organization «Nurdjular» (of course, banned in Russia).
Again, attention — it’s not just a graduate of Al-Azhar or an ordinary preacher who was sentenced, but a member of the Council of Ulema of an organization that claims to be the largest nationwide centralized organization of Muslims, whose leader, Ravil Gainutdin, calls himself «the spiritual leader of Russian Muslims». This is not someone who ended up in this Council of Ulema by chance, but someone about whom its chairman said that he knew him well and vehemently protested against his arrest, rightly calling it a return to Stalinist times.
And what do we see from the side of this organization, this council and its leaders in connection with this? Grave silence… Of course, this could be justified. Well, what can they do? What do you suggest? And you are brave because you write from abroad. In general, the usual songs…
But the point is not what they are not doing. But what they do. For example, the same shining and preaching joyful optimism «the trillionaire», who in front of the camera friction with a gym ball for pregnant women, then screams in front of the camera for no reason, thus relieving stress. Does this radiate his so-called joy and positivity, as if he lives, if not in the Righteous Caliphate, then at least in a free democratic country, when his friend is sentenced to six years and he can no longer react to it? Especially considering what is happening in Russian prisons today, including with Muslims.
Moreover, this week it became known that the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, instead of defending oppressed Muslims, has itself initiated another repressive measure against Muslims. Also against their fellow Tatars. Thus, the Russian Ministry of Justice demanded the liquidation of the «Tatar Headquarters in Moscow,» which in recent years has become an intellectual meeting place for Moscow’s Tatars, including prominent Islamic intellectuals. And according to the head of the Tatar Headquarters, Rustem Yamaleev, this was done on the basis of a denunciation by Faris Farisov, deputy chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia (the same Ravil Gainutdin), who saw the Tatar Headquarters as a competitor for the minds of the Moscow Tatar diaspora.
What can one say about this… no words… And at the same time, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia is creating scandals in one Russian region after another, right under the noses of the regional Spiritual Administration of Muslims, which for years were its partners, local communities directly subordinated to it, not them. Is it any wonder, then, that earlier this week the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Bashkortostan, which used to be part of the Council of Muftis of Russia, signed a cooperation agreement with its long-time competitor, the Spiritual Assembly of Muslims of Russia, headed by Albir Krganov? And you know what? A few years ago, if someone had joined Krganov’s or Tadzhudin’s structure, we would have considered it the worst option. But now we have come to the point where, compared to the Council of Ulema of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia in its current form, even that is perceived with satisfaction. For in terms of political position, i.e. unquestioning obedience to the authorities and lack of struggle for the rights of Muslims, there is no difference between the «religious leaders» Krganov and Tadzhudin on the one hand and Gainutdin on the other. But at least they do not spread the heresy that the sect of Damir Mukhetdinov, the deputy head of this organization and the probable successor of Gainutdin, systematically and purposefully spreads under the auspices of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia. And the political clowning of Krganov and the madness of Tadzhudin do not look so grotesque against the background of the friction with a ball and the shouting into the camera of the «Chairman of the Council of Ulema» and, at the same time, the chief «trillionaire». And in the end, these old clowns are harmless because everything about them has been clear for a long time. While the new ones, as they say now, sell their clowning under the guise of trendy trainings, coaching and all sorts of psychology, accompanied by feminism and other diseases that affect not the Babayevs, but the youth interested in Islam.