May 14, 2012 - 21:38 AMT
ARTICLE
Islam threatens Russia with loss of identity
We have to admit that in 50 years Russia will truly be a Muslim country, as claimed by U.S. experts still at Soviet times.
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), according to Russian media publications, is rapidly losing its place in society, making way for Islam. Of course, there may be an element of exaggeration and distortion in press reports, but it’s an obvious fact that at a time when Europe is hastily trying to distance itself from multiculturalism, the latter is actively penetrating into the social environment in Russia.

Recently, a Muslim lawyer and an aide to the Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy and Healthcare, Dagir Khasavov promised to shed blood on Moscow and turn it into a second Dead Sea. “You think that we come here to Russia as to some foreign place. But we believe that we're at home here. Perhaps you're foreign and we're at home. Any attempts to prevent the creation of Sharia courts would end in bloodshed and a second Dead Sea. We are going to expand this net to the size of the Arab Caliphate. All Muslims must be united. I think Russia should give us that opportunity,” said Dagir Khasavov in a program on REN-TV on April 24.

All of these horrors, according to the lawyer, will threaten the capital in the event that someone in the capital dares to prevent the Muslim community to introduce Sharia courts. In the words of Khasavov, Muslims do not want to get involved in the “multi-layer Russian court system”, which is alien to them. In fact, with his statement Mr. Khasavov withdrew Russian Muslims from the jurisdiction of the Russian judicial system.

According to Azerbaijani journalist Hamid Hamidov living in Moscow, the Russian Orthodox Church is behind this TV program. “Recently ROC has been hysterical about oppression of the church and is speaking of the need for almost a crusade in response. And even though today it supposedly supports the Muslim clergy, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if Metropolitan Kirill simply wants to show what is truly “evil” in Russia (Islam) and what is good (Orthodoxy).” Hamid Hamidov calls the proposal of introduction of Sharia courts “utter nonsense”. “Muslims in total will never support it. This is what I, being Muslim and Azerbaijani, tell you. Some radical groups may support this proposal, but the Muslims of Russia as a whole - never.” But should we believe Hamidov? Of course, not. Russia’s transformation into an Islamic country is a very likely development of the society, in which the concepts of good, evil and sin have really merged into one another. The most interesting thing in this story is the statement of Head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin. Press Secretary of the ROC was not outraged by the promises of the Islamic leader to cover Moscow in blood. “We should not limit the freedom of the Islamic community to live by their rules,” said Vsevolod Chaplin in an interview to RSN. In other words, if, say, someone in Moscow is subjected to public flogging in accordance with Sharia laws, Russian Orthodox Church will not condemn the act. Moreover, it will not entail any legal liability because of the Sharia court.

However, religious leaders of Muslims in Russia immediately dissociated themselves from the idea of ​​introducing Sharia courts. “Under the Constitution, religion in Russia is separated from the state. The country has a judicial system which is used also by the Muslims as citizens enjoying equal rights,” said Head of the Central Muslim Spiritual Board of Russia, Talgat Tadzhuddin. The Party “Yabloko” also intends to apply to the Prosecutor General’s Office, demanding to institute criminal proceedings against Khasavov for inciting hatred and calling for extremist activity. ROC obviously realized that Vsevolod Chaplin said something “wrong” and called Khasavov’s threats unacceptable. Nevertheless, it must be noted that if such statements can be made on the air of quite a popular TV channel, the Russian state definitely has something to worry about. In any other country, even famous for “tolerance” of Islam, such a “lawyer” would immediately be put behind bars. However, such measures in the U.S. and Europe began to be applied only after September 11, 2001. We have to admit that in 50 years Russia will truly be a Muslim country, as claimed by U.S. experts still at Soviet times. Demography plays into the hands of Muslims and no matter how stubbornly the new old president of Russia calls for increase of the birth rate, his advice is so far followed by Muslims, which is fraught with the Russian people losing their identity.

Karine Ter-Sahakyan