Tuesday, December 19, 2006
"Muslims"
Mark Steyn's column in the latest issue of National Review falls into a long-standing trap of assuming that "Muslims" on the territory of the former Soviet Union form a single, undivided, monolithic group--and the extrapolation that the Chechens somehow represent the standard.
Side note--noting demographic trends, he wonders what will happen if and when a majority of the Russian armed forces are made up of "Muslims" (I keep putting this in quotes because many of the "Muslims" are counted as Muslim by culture/nationality rather than active belief) and what will happen in Chechnya then? Perhaps he is unaware that a majority of "Russian" forces in Chechnya today are local Chechens, and as we've seen, "Muslims" have no problem fighting other "Muslims" either inside Russia or in other parts of the former Soviet Union.
To the best of my knowledge, the largest Muslim-designated ethnicity in Russia--the Tatars--have produced not a single recruit who has turned up in Al-Qaeda or in Afghanistan--and if TWR readers know otherwise, please let me know ASAP. Tatar Islam is one of the best examples of what has been termed "Euro-Islam"--modernized and reformed. It also helps--although not without streneous objections that have been mounted by Western human rights groups--that the Tatar government does not allow imams who have been trained abroad (e.g. in Saudi Arabia) to assume pulpits in mosques until they have been mentored by local clerics. Again, my information may be out of date--but Wahhabi/Salafi tendencies seem to have been kept at bay in Tatarstan.
How Muslim identity will be negotiated in a Russian Federation that at present is configured to accept Orthodoxy as the de facto "national" religion with Islam as a "younger brother" for specific ethnic groups remains to be seen. But it would also help if people focused on Islam as it actually exists in Russia and not extrapolate from the Middle East in making their assessments.
Side note--noting demographic trends, he wonders what will happen if and when a majority of the Russian armed forces are made up of "Muslims" (I keep putting this in quotes because many of the "Muslims" are counted as Muslim by culture/nationality rather than active belief) and what will happen in Chechnya then? Perhaps he is unaware that a majority of "Russian" forces in Chechnya today are local Chechens, and as we've seen, "Muslims" have no problem fighting other "Muslims" either inside Russia or in other parts of the former Soviet Union.
To the best of my knowledge, the largest Muslim-designated ethnicity in Russia--the Tatars--have produced not a single recruit who has turned up in Al-Qaeda or in Afghanistan--and if TWR readers know otherwise, please let me know ASAP. Tatar Islam is one of the best examples of what has been termed "Euro-Islam"--modernized and reformed. It also helps--although not without streneous objections that have been mounted by Western human rights groups--that the Tatar government does not allow imams who have been trained abroad (e.g. in Saudi Arabia) to assume pulpits in mosques until they have been mentored by local clerics. Again, my information may be out of date--but Wahhabi/Salafi tendencies seem to have been kept at bay in Tatarstan.
How Muslim identity will be negotiated in a Russian Federation that at present is configured to accept Orthodoxy as the de facto "national" religion with Islam as a "younger brother" for specific ethnic groups remains to be seen. But it would also help if people focused on Islam as it actually exists in Russia and not extrapolate from the Middle East in making their assessments.
Comments:
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Indeed, and even Chechnya isn't what it used to be. Russia's conterinsurgency strategy there is succeeding, combining intelligence-led operations against leaders and offering amnesty/jobs/power to rebels who are willing to come down from the hills. Now this strategy does have drawbacks, since the former rebels now running Chechnya are still brutal and corrupt, and Moscow can't really crack down on them, or else they'll just head back into the hills and start the war again, but still, attacks are down and reconstruction is proceeding.
# posted by 
: 2:15 PM
: 2:15 PM
It should be noted that Tatarstan has been a prime source of what is collectively termed Russia's oil. Moscow has had good reason to be accommodating. But relations with the northern Tatars have been a bright spot in Russia's inter-ethnic relations mainly because both sides have wanted them that way.
Muslims in the north are more assimilated than those along the southern fringe, and if they are welcomed in the Russian cities where they will likely migrate, their growing numbers will help Russia maintain its population size. If this happens, Russia could set an example of how Muslims and non-Muslims can live together in a modern society.
Muslims in the north are more assimilated than those along the southern fringe, and if they are welcomed in the Russian cities where they will likely migrate, their growing numbers will help Russia maintain its population size. If this happens, Russia could set an example of how Muslims and non-Muslims can live together in a modern society.
There have been some Tatars with Taliban, see, for example, here: http://www.volgainform.ru/allnews/505594/. Though, Mr. Gvosdev's account is correct generally.
Contrary to one of the earlier comments, Tatarstan has never been a crucial source of oil in Russia, though it has some limited oil deposits.
Contrary to one of the earlier comments, Tatarstan has never been a crucial source of oil in Russia, though it has some limited oil deposits.
# posted by : 10:03 AM
: 10:03 AM
There have been some Tatars with Taliban, see, for example, here: http://www.volgainform.ru/allnews/505594/. Though, Mr. Gvosdev's account is correct generally.
Contrary to one of the earlier comments, Tatarstan has never been a crucial source of oil in Russia, though it has some limited oil deposits.
Contrary to one of the earlier comments, Tatarstan has never been a crucial source of oil in Russia, though it has some limited oil deposits.
# posted by : 10:03 AM
: 10:03 AM
Anonymous 10:03,
Tatarstan contributes only a small percentage of Russian oil production today. But in the past it supplied a larger percentage and accounted for a major share of Russia's known oil reserves in the mid-20th century. The republic is still a key producer of petrochemicals.
But looking to the future, the Tatar spiritual tradition may be of greater importance to Russia if its spirit of tolerance is reciprocated by the non-Muslim majority. Russia might even set an example to the wider Christian and Islamic worlds, which Americans and Europeans tend now to see in polarized terms defined largely by Western Protestantism and Catholicism on the one side and Salafist Sunni Islam and Khomeinism on the other.
Tatarstan contributes only a small percentage of Russian oil production today. But in the past it supplied a larger percentage and accounted for a major share of Russia's known oil reserves in the mid-20th century. The republic is still a key producer of petrochemicals.
But looking to the future, the Tatar spiritual tradition may be of greater importance to Russia if its spirit of tolerance is reciprocated by the non-Muslim majority. Russia might even set an example to the wider Christian and Islamic worlds, which Americans and Europeans tend now to see in polarized terms defined largely by Western Protestantism and Catholicism on the one side and Salafist Sunni Islam and Khomeinism on the other.
David Billington, that's a great picture you lay out, but all the trends I've seen seem to be running in the opposite direction.
I'd be amazed if the average Russian looks at it Muslim minority and thinks of the Tartars. It thinks of Basayev - and the Russian state has faciliated that with every fiber of its information control.
Chechnya is looking better, but I believe it to be a shallow bandage held on with staples and brute force.
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I'd be amazed if the average Russian looks at it Muslim minority and thinks of the Tartars. It thinks of Basayev - and the Russian state has faciliated that with every fiber of its information control.
Chechnya is looking better, but I believe it to be a shallow bandage held on with staples and brute force.
# posted by : 11:06 PM
: 11:06 PM << Home
