Islam in Russia

 

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Islam in Russia - Islam in Russia is the second-largest religion after Orthodox Christianity, which is about 21 - 28 million people or 15 - 20 percent of the approximately 142 million population. 

The life of Muslims in Russia today is also getting better than during the Communist era. For the first time in Russian history, the Russian leader (Vladimir Putin) includes a Muslim minister in his cabinet & acknowledges the existence of Russian Muslims.

The first Muslims in present-day Russia was the Dagestani people in the (Derbent region) after the Arab conquest (8th century). The first Muslim country was Volga Bulgaria in 922. The Tatars inherited Islam from that country. 

Then most of the European Turks & Caucasians also became followers of Islam. Islam in Russia has had a long existence, extending to as early as the conquest of the Middle Volga region in the 16th century, which brought the Tatars and the Turks of the Middle Volga into Russia. 

In the 18th & 19th centuries, the Russian conquest of the North Caucasus brought Muslims from this region – Dagestan, Chechen, Circassia, Ingush, & others into the Russian state.

Kievan Rus had also had the opportunity to convert to Islam from Volga Bulgarian missionaries, but the East Slavs accepted Christianity.

The majority of Muslims in Russia follow the teachings of Sunni Islam. In some areas, especially in Dagestan and Chechnya, there is a tradition of Sufism, represented by the Naqshbandi and Shazili orders led by Shaykh Said Afandi al-Chirkawi ad-Daghestani. 

The Sufi practice gave the Caucasus a strong will to resist foreign pressure and has become a legend among the Russian armies against the Caucasus in the Tsar's time. Azeris were also in history and are still followers of Shia Islam, when their republic separated from the Soviet Union, many Azeris came to Russia in search of work.

The first printed Koran was published in Kazan, Russia in 1801. Another phenomenon that occurred was the Wäisi movement. In the era of the 1990s, the number of printing Islamic treatises has increased. 

Among them are several magazines in Russian, “Ислам” (transliteration: Islam), “Эхо авказа” (Ekho Kavkaza) & “Исламский естник” (Islamsky Vestnik), & several Russian-language newspapers such as “Ассалам” (Assalam), & “Нуруль ам” (Nurul Islam), published in Makhachkala, Dagestan.

According to the United States Department of State, there are approximately 21-28 million Muslims in Russia, accounting for at least 15-20 percent of the country's population and forming the largest religious minority. 

The large Islamic community is concentrated among minority citizens living between the Black and Caspian Seas: Avars, Adyghes, Balkars, Nogais, Chechens, Circassians, Ingush, Kabardins, Karachays, and a large number of Dagestan citizens. In the central Volga Basin, there is a large population of Tatars & Bashkirs, most of them Muslim. 

Many Muslims also live in Perm Krai & Ulyanovsk, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, Tyumen, & Leningrad Oblast (mostly Tatars).

Officially the number of mosques in Russia reaches 4750 mosques, but the actual number is much larger and continues to grow. In Dagestan alone, there are between 1600 – 3000 mosques. 

In the last ten years, the number of mosques in Tatarstan has exceeded 1000. In the Russian capital with more than 1 million adherents of Islam, there are 20 Muslim communities and 5 mosques. According to Russian data experts, there are at least 7000 mosques in Russia.

According to state register data, there are now 3345 local Muslim religious organizations. The largest number of registered Muslim religious organizations is in the Volga area (1945), followed by North Caucasus (980) & Urals (316). Meanwhile, the number of Muslim religious organizations in other areas is smaller.

Three Muslim organizations according to the status of the federal (central)

• Council of the Russian Mufti Council (based in Moscow). Its leader is Mufti Ravil Gainutdin. This council leads 1,686 communities.
• Central Religious Administration of Russian Muslims (based in Ufa). Led by Mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin & unites 522 communities.
• The Muslim Coordination Center in the North Caucasus is headed by Ismail Berdiyev, Mufti Karachai-Cherkassia & Stavropol region, and consists of 830 communities.

That is an article about  Islam in Russia. Hopefully, it will increase your knowledged.

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