Yesterday, 40 Muslim leaders from eight of the CIS countries, the
leaders of the other “traditional” confessions of Russia and
senior Muslim leaders from the “far abroad” participated in a
scientific-practical conference in the Russian capital entitled
“The Muslims in the CIS for Inter-Confessional and Inter-National
Accord.”
The
meeting, the possibility of which has long been discussed, was
organized at the Initiative of the of the Muslim Spiritual
Directorate (MSD) of the Caucasus and the International Islamic
Mission, with the backing of the Russian government Foundation for
the Support of Islamic Culture, Science and Education
(www.islam.ru/rus/2009-06-17/#27296).
In a
message to the conference, President Dmitry Medvedev noted “the
importance of the rapprochement of the Islamic communities of the
CIS and the contribution” of this meeting to that end. And Russian
Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Saltanov said that coordinating
the efforts of the Muslims of the CIS “corresponds to [Moscow’s]
foreign policy line.”
The
moving spirit behind both the meeting and the idea of creating a
consultative council of Muslims of the CIS was the chairman of the
Baku-based Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD) of the Caucasus,
Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pasha-zade, whose institution in
Soviet times administered all Shiia Muslim communities in the USSR
as well as the Sunnis of the Caucasus.
In
his opening address, Pasha-zade said that a consultative council
for Muslims of the CIS would reflect the reality that “the CIS is
the homeland for Muslims who sometimes were citizens of a single
state” and who recognize that “good relations between the peoples
of the CIS is an important historical achievement”
(news-ru.trend.az/society/religion/1489413.html).
“We,
the spiritual leaders of the CIS decisively oppose forces which
seek to undermine the territorial integrity, security, and
stability of states,” Pasha-zade said, because he and his
colleagues are “deeply convinced that “only by uniting our forces
and religious organizations will we be able to effectively respond
to the ideological aggression against the space of the CIS.”
In
addition to the support Pasha-zade received from Russian officials
and leaders of the Orthodox Church, the Azerbaijani Muslim leader
was given enthusiastic support by the Muslim leaders in
attendance. Talgat Tadjuddin, the head of the Central MSD, said
that united, the Muslims of Eurasia could never be defeated.
And
Ismail Berdiyev, the head of the Coordinating Center of Muslims of
the North Caucasus, was even more supportive. He said that such
unification should have taken place “yesterday,” and he denounced
those Muslim leaders from across the region for failing to take
part (www.islam.ru/rus/2009-06-17/#27296).
That
Moscow is interested in building a single “power vertical” not
only across the CIS but within Russia was suggested earlier this
week when Kremlin ideologist Vladislav Surkov met with the leaders
of the MSDs of the North Caucasus and said that uniting the
community of believers was something Moscow wants to see
(www.islam.ru/rus/2009-06-17/#27294).
That
the Russian authorities would like to have a single structure for
Islam within the Russian Federation is no surprise, although most
Russian experts have stressed that the creation of such a
structure is almost certainly impossible given the very different
ideas and interests of Muslim communities in various parts of the
Russian Federation.
Consequently, Moscow’s new interest in promoting Muslim “unity”
across the former Soviet space must be understood less in terms of
any Russian belief that there is a single Muslim community there,
whatever Pasha-zade and the other say, than in a conviction in
Moscow that such cooperation could promote Moscow’s political
interests.
On
the one hand, using Muslim groups to extend Moscow’s interests in
these former Soviet republics, in particular Ukraine and
Azerbaijan, is an obvious tactic. And on the other, by playing up
certain ideas such as opposing extremism, Moscow appears to be
seeking the good opinion of the secular governments of these
post-Soviet states.
But
if those goals make sense from Moscow’s point of view, the Russian
government is taking a very serious risk by playing in this area.
First, there is the danger that Muslims inside the Russian
Federation will use such contacts as a lever against Moscow, a
danger already in evidence this week in Kazan where there was a
meeting of Islamic cities from around the world.
Second, there is the chance that Muslims in the former Soviet
republics and the governments of these states will view any such
cooperation as a means of putting pressure on the Russian
government, especially when Moscow cracks down on Muslim groups
that it views as a threat or when Moscow has a different view on
issues like self-determination than Muslims do.
And
third, and perhaps most important, Moscow’s playing with the
concept of Muslim unity in the former Soviet space will represent
a challenge to Russian nationalist thoughts and open the way to
the rise of a Muslim-Christian Eurasianism that at the end of the
day – or even at the beginning – the Russian Orthodox Church will
feel itself compelled to oppose.
|