04/28/2011
In Russia, Muslims donât seem to have a very good reputation. A series of terrorist attacks, like the horrific Moscow theater attack and the Beslan killings of 186 schoolchildren may have left a mark on the national psyche.
In the CBN video below examining the mushrooming of mosques, even an Islamic leader says, âMost people associate such places with terrorism and they get angry when we talk about building new mosques.â
In an anti-mosque demonstration, a woman says to an imam, âYou are ugly creatures. Go away from here back to your motherland.â The imam responds by accusing Russians of being drunks.
Later a young woman in a fur hat voices her fears: âI am scared. They come into our neighborhood and begin to tell us things we can and cannot do. We like to walk our dogs here and have outdoor barbecues, but the Muslims can say you cannot cook pork or walk your dog around here.â
Between one and two million Muslims reside in Moscow alone, with more having come recently due to the break-up of the old Soviet Union.
All in all, the explosion of Muslim diversity in Moscow does not suggest a peaceful future for the city. When a country allows the immigration of historical enemies, it is pretending that human nature, with all its propensity for tribal violence, has taken a vacation. But it hasnât.
Russiaâs Muslims Demand More Mosques, CBN, April 24, 2011
MOSCOW â Moscow has the largest Muslim population in Europe, with four mosques in the Russian capital city serving some two million people.
But Muslims say thatâs not enough and so the need for more space is stirring controversy.
No Place to Pray
This is a typical Friday scene in Moscow: Thousands of Muslims fill the streets and sidewalks around Moscowâs four mosques.
âWe just donât have enough space,â Yusup Sadjanovich, a Muslim worshipper, said.
For Sadjanovich, a frequent worshipper at the Central mosque â Moscowâs largest, getting to prayer early doesnât guarantee a place inside.
âMost of the time Iâm praying outside. I canât remember the last time I got to pray inside the mosque,â Sadjanovich said.
Sidewalk Prays
CBN News recently gained rare access to film during Friday prayers. Every inch inside was taken.
The Central mosque can only hold 800 people, but thousands visit the site each week, forcing worshippers to spill into the hallways, offices, then the courtyard, and eventually onto sidewalks and side streets of nearby neighborhoods.
âFriday is the most important day for Muslims to pray and thatâs why I come, despite the lack of room,â said Ibrahim, another Muslim attendee at Friday prayers.
The mosque is undergoing major renovations to allow more people to gather for prayers.
Muslims Praying in Churches?
The argument the Muslims make is this: there are only four mosques in this entire city servicing some two million Muslims.
The imam of the mosque, Ildar Ayautdinov, declined our request for an interview. But he told Moscowâs Metro Daily newspaper that unless the situation changes, Muslims in the city may end up praying in Russian churches.
âWe would rather avoid this extreme measure,â he said.
His brother, Shamil Alyautdinov, is also a prominent Islamic leader. He did talk to CBN News.
Fighting a Perception Problem
âThe problem is that we are fighting a perception issue in Russian society about Muslims,â Imam Alyautdinov said.
âMost people associate such places of worship with terrorism and radicalism and so people get angry when we talk about building new mosques,â he said.
And that push back was on display late last year when plans were drawn up to convert a sprawling park into a massive new mosque that would hold 5,000 people.
Local residents converged on the site protesting the mosque construction and confronting a local Muslim imam.
âYou are monsters, ugly creatures, go away from here to your motherland,â shouted a concerned Muscovite woman
Muslim Backlash
The neighborhood is made up of an ethnic group called the Tartars, the vast majority of whom are Muslims.
âDo any of you even know a Tatar family? Do you have Tatar friends?â a local Imam asked. âWe need to grow our kids in the right wayâ not to drink alcohol or do drugs.â
Authorities have since scrapped plans for the mosque. But that has done little to calm fears here.
âI am scared,â one Russian woman told CBN News as we interviewed her near the proposed mosque site.
âThey come into a neighborhood and begin to tells us things we can and cannot do,â she said. âWe like to walk our dogs here and have outdoor barbecues. But the Muslims can say you canât cook pork or you cannot walk your dog around here.â
Muslim Immigrant Influx
There are no exact figures, but Russian officials put the number of Muslims in Moscow at just over one million. Muslim groups say it is closer to two million.
Hundreds of thousands of immigrants like Sabir Adahkoor have flocked to the Russian capital since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Many of these immigrants are from former Soviet republics in Muslim Central Asia.
âLife is good here but we feel the tension with the society as more and more Muslims move into the city,â said Sabir Adahkoor, an immigrant from Tajikistan.
Moscowâs âMuslim Cityâ
Tensions were exacerbated by scenes of thousands of Muslims chanting âgod is greatâ and praying in the middle of major Moscow streets during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Such images prompted a local magazine to dub this a âMuslim city.â
The fear that Muslims are taking over is a real one among some Russians today. But Imam Alyautdinov said, despite the challenges facing Muslims in Russia, it is up to him and others in the community to convince people otherwise.
Still he insists more Muslim places of worship must be erected to meet the growing demands of the population.
Iman Ildar Ayautdinov told a French news agency quote, âWe are asking, and even demanding, that there be a mosque in every borough, ideally in every neighborhood.â