Talgat Tajuddin, the chairman of the Central Religious Muslim Board, categorically disagrees with remarks by Ravil Gainutdin, the head of the Council of Muftis of Russia, that Islam is being suppressed in Russia.
"It is stupid and blasphemous to talk about suppression of Islam in Russia. What Gainutdin has said is just untrue," Tajuddin told journalists.
"I have chaired the Central Religious Muslim Board for more than 30 years and can say how everything has changed in the past years. We, the Muslims of Russia, had only 94 mosques, and there were about 300 mosques in the entire USSR. Now there are more than 7,500 mosques here. This means more than seventy-fold growth. There used to be 16 mosques and there are 1,016 of them now in Bashkortostan alone. There were 15 mosques in Tatarstan and there are 1,300 now. What can you talk about here?" Tajuddin told journalists.
There are seven Islamic universities and dozens of madrasahs in Russia. Each mosque has a Sunday school teaching traditional Islam. With support from the presidential secretariat, the Fund in Support for Islamic Culture, Science, and Education has been set up, which provides enormous assistance to Muslims, Tajuddin said.
"By the way, the leader of one of them is [Alexey] Grishin mentioned by Gainutdin. He has been called an Islamophobe. I wish there were more such Islamophobes," he said. "Gainutdin has never had a monopoly to speak on behalf of all Muslims in Russia. He often travels abroad and tries to speak on behalf of all of our Muslims, although he heads only a small amount of communities," he said.
"Russia currently needs peace so much as never before. It is unacceptable to rock the boat in which the Most High has gathered us all. This is a sin and a crime in line with the law and the Sharia rule," he added.
All religious leaders bear huge responsibility for peace and order between peoples and adherents to this country's traditional religions, Tajuddin said. "These internal problems can be solved at home through dialogue and communication. The global community, especially the Muslim community, has enough of its own problems. Therefore, it is shallow and indecent to appeal to the global and Islamic community to resolve our internal problems," he said.
It was reported earlier that Gainutdin accused the state of thwarting the unification of Muslims and attempts to "suppress Islam in Russia," and called the members of a recently formed the All-Russian Muslim Board "puppets" and "sleazy people."
"In 2009, during the Kurban-Bairam (Eid al-Adha) mufti Talgat Tajuddin suggested a merger of three centralized Muslim organizations. After this proposal was studied, head of the Caucasus Muslims Berdiyev and I held a meeting with Talgat Tajuddin. We set up a working group and started the work of unification. However, the state did not like this decision. It was made known that the opinion of Tagat Tajuddin's proposal was not consistent with the state policy," Gainutdin said in an interview with the Tatar edition of Radio Liberty.
Ravil Gainutdin's criticisms against the state were also prompted by the recent formation of the fourth All-Russian Muslim Board - the Russian Association of Islamic Accord, aimed in particular to oppose the unification process.
"The newly made 'pocket' muftis, opposing the growth of Islam will become strident "puppets." These puppets who are working in the government, such as Islamophobe Grishin [Russian Presidential Administration Advisor in charge of liaisons with Islamic organizations], for instance, will no doubt try to suppress Islam in Russia, particularly being aware that currently Islam in Russia is a big factor, and focusing specifically on this will attempt to stop the growth of Islam. This has already started to materialize," Gainutdin said.
Commenting on the recent riots in Moscow motivated by ethnic animosity, Gainutdin said that a very strong pressure is being felt in the capital where more than 2 million Muslims live.
""Due to the lack of mosques Muslims have to perform festive prayers on the street, on tram rails, even at church courtyards. Thus, the humiliation of Muslims, the discriminating policy against civil rights continues. All Muslims, the whole Islamic world can see that," the Mufti said.
"The unrest in St. Petersburg, Moscow was prompted by attitudes towards Islam. One might say that the disaster as a result of which so many people ended up in hospitals, and the violent clashes were the result of efforts to belittle the role of Muslims in Russia," Gainutdin said.
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