There were too many really important events last week to waste time on this, but as it draws to a close, perhaps a little attention can be paid to the campaign launched by some Russian Muslims in defense of the famous Russian Orthodox priest Dmitry Smirnov (pictured).
The background is that this figure, who often provokes with his statements, which today are fashionably called «hype», first called civil marriages «free prostitution», then declared that he could be killed for it, but Muslims would protect him, and at the end of the week he called Russian men a national disaster and recommended Russian women to look for husbands in Africa. And when he said that Muslims would protect him, there were those who were ready to come to his defense — who else in Putin’s Russia would defend the priest of the Russian Orthodox Church if not them?
And it’s not even about the official position of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Russia, which many have long perceived as the «Muslim branch of the Russian Orthodox Church» — that’s clear to them, that’s their job. It’s about people who position themselves and are known as Muslim public figures, including those who speak out in defense of Muslims in unsafe situations. It is these people who have launched a social media campaign with the slogan «I am Dmitry Smirnov».
And so I would like to ask them: what was this all about? The desire to demonstrate that Muslims are ready to come to the defense of an elderly Orthodox priest in need of protection? Have you not confused this figure, who is in fact part of the ruling body and travels in expensive official cars, with a starving grandmother or an old man who cannot get insulin because of the sanctions imposed by the authorities?
Or does anyone in his right mind believe that an employee of the ideological committee of the ruling party, to which the modern Russian Orthodox Church belongs, would not turn to the special services if he was faced with a real threat, who have been carrying out their orders for a long time and would need the help of powerless Russian Muslims?
Or was it an attempt to demonstrate an alliance of defenders of traditional values and the family? But this alliance exists only in the imagination of naive Muslims. The Russian Orthodox Church, which, let us repeat, is the de facto dominant church in Putin’s Russia, does not need Muslims as allies. Moreover, the traditional Islamic view of the family, at least in the aspect of recognizing the legality of polygamy, is directly rejected by the Russian Orthodox Church, as its high-ranking representatives publicly and unambiguously state.
Put simply, for the Russian Orthodox Church, whose position is expressed by Smirnov, Islamic marriage, especially polygamous marriage, is the same «adultery» as «civil marriage». So what values did you want to defend together and with whom, and who asked you to do so?
Now let’s talk about the issue of «civil marriage» itself. Strictly speaking, from the ecclesiastical point of view, an Orthodox priest should not be concerned with the non-registration of a civil marriage, but with the registration of an ecclesiastical marriage, because couples who are officially married for the state, but still unenlightened for the Church, are still considered adulterers. However, Smirnov emphasizes the need for a civil marriage, not a church one, and this is logical — because he is an employee of a company that primarily protects the interests of the state (as it understands them), not Christian teachings.
And what about Muslims? Is a person who enters into a Sharia marriage (Nikah) but does not register it at the registry office considered an adulterer? No, according to Islam, such a person is considered to be in a marriage, while a Muslim who registers a marriage in the registry office if it does not meet the requirements of Sharia is considered an adulterer. According to Smirnov’s logic, the Sharia marriages of thousands of Muslims that are not registered at the registry office are also «civil marriages» and therefore «free prostitution. Do our Muslim public figures who supported Smirnov defend this position?
Moreover, is Smirnov right in the essence of the question, in the non-religious and secular aspect, regarding non-religious people, who are the majority among Russians? Is it true that the so-called «civil marriages» in which many of them live are «free prostitution»? Well, first of all, at least it’s not free, as many joked when commenting on his words, since maintaining a common household, presumably in a «civil marriage» or cohabitation, already entails considerable expenses. Second, it is precisely this «civil marriage» that is different from casual sexual relationships, since it always implies obligations between the people involved, both personal and material. For this reason, some Islamic scholars in the West consider non-Muslim couples (note that we are not talking about Muslims) in such permanent cohabitation to be in a marriage, especially regarding the need to observe Idah (the waiting period after such relationships) before entering into an Islamic marriage, or recognizing such marriages (under certain conditions) as couples embracing Islam, etc. And thirdly, if someone claims that such relationships are short-lived, it can be argued that today every second officially registered marriage breaks up, and many Islamic marriages unfortunately also end in divorce, especially since Islam does not regard marriage as a «sacrament» and looks upon divorce more leniently than Christianity.
Finally, what exactly is this Russian Orthodox priest asking of the Russian people? Is it for them to perform civil marriages or for them to go to church? Judging by his preaching style, he is more concerned with the former, because with his controversial statements and insults, he is essentially pushing people away from the Church — both women and men, to whom it would be logical to explain the rules of marriage according to their religion, having accepted the teachings of this Church, because otherwise it makes no sense to them.
In this case, we will certainly not worry about him alienating Russians from his church. But why should we repeat their mistakes instead of learning from them? Has it not been said to us: «Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good guidance» (Translation of the Meanings of the Qur’an, Surah An-Nahl, verse 125)?