Terra sebv s acta mvsei sabesiensi s

Russia-Middle East: The Influence of the Arab Factor 

 

141

a well-thought-over policy is necessary in this situation. In the world of 

Islam there are many Islamic universities of moderate outlook where a 

thorough, broad education is given. But, certainly, there should be parallel 

development of the domestic system of training specialists.”

13

 

Thus, the subject came to naught, despite numerous statements and 

speeches by the first Deputy mufti, Valiulla Yakupov regarding “the 

Wahhabite hold” in Tatarstan. 

This question was widely raised again when in 2007 an expert in 

Islamic studies and correspondent for the Rosbalt news agency, Yana 

Amelina, moved to Kazan and combined efforts with a graduate of the local 

department of history at Kazan University, Rais Suleymanov, under the 

auspices of the Centre of Regional and Ethnoreligious Research, affiliated 

with Kazan University. Valiulla Yakupov’s concept of a “Wahhabite hold” 

in Tatarstan was repeatedly developed and expanded, and forecasts of 

inevitable acts of terrorism in Tatarstan were made. 

The events of November 2010 in the Nurlatsky region of Tatarstan - 

where as a result of a special operation three fighters were killed attempting 

to blow up the car of the Chief of Chistopolsky Division of the Centre for 

Combatting Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic 

of Tatarstan - seemed to confirm the prediction of these “experts.” Pressure 

was applied to the mufti Gusman Iskhakov, who was forced to clear the 

muftiat of some mukhtasibs who had received an education abroad. Soon 

he was also ousted and Ildus Fayzov, an irreconcilable fighter against 

Wahhabism and extremism, took over in April 2011. During his 

administration, a purge of staff began: practically all the graduates of the 

Saudi higher education institutions were removed from their posts, 

including such influential and symbolic figures as the imam of the Qul 

Sharif mosque and the popular preacher Ramil Yunusov. However, there 

were also some ambiguous exceptions. For example, in April 2011 a new 

imam-mukhtasib for the Almetyevsk area and kadee of the Northeast 

region, Rafik-hazrat Minakhmetov, was elected despite being the graduate 

of a Saudi higher education institution. 

Ildus Fayzov, who in 2011 replaced Gusman Iskhakov in the post of 

mufti, despite his strong anti-wahhabite rhetoric (which was in part directed 

against graduates of foreign higher education institutions) nevertheless held 

a traditional meeting with students who were training in foreign Muslim 

educational institutions in August 2011.

14

 He did not conceal the fact that 

the religious organizations of Tatarstan were hungry for personnel and 

needed qualified, academically-trained staff, and he therefore urged students 

                                                 

13

 Baltanova 1999. 

14

 http://dumrt.ru/ru/node/704, accessed 30 June 2014. 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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A. M. Akhunov 

 

142

to complete the education they had started and to gain diplomas in full 

Sharia-based education. 

Similar wishes (“to create Tatar associations,” “to establish relations 

with Tatarstan and with SAM of RT,” “to be engaged in translations into 

the Tatar language of works of classical theological thought,” etc.) were 

expressed by other heads of the muftiat. However, no specific program or 

plan was offered. Besides, according to the Chief of SAM of RT, Valiulla 

Yakupov, the muftiat did not possess exact data on the number of students 

pursuing an education outside Russia.

15

 

Judging by the photographs posted on SAM of RT’s website, no 

more than 20 people took part in such meetings. A similar number 

participated in previous meetings during the times of Gusman Iskhakov. In 

the last meeting, which took place in July 2013 with the new mufti Kamil 

Samigullin, no new ideas were expressed either, only a traditional wish to 

choose a curator from within their circle for interaction with SAM of RT.

16

 

Earlier, Ildus Fayzov had already spoken on this subject, stating that 

in the conditions of globalization it would be impossible to forbid training 

abroad, that people can use the Internet which enables them to read, listen 

and watch the sermons of Salaphite sheikhs. He felt the only way out was to 

receive an initial basic education in the homeland, in order to ensure some 

kind of “vaccination” against harmful ideas.

17

 Therefore, this meeting 

blended quite well with his concept of the construction of a new SAM of 

RT, free from any “-isms.” 

Rustam Minnikhanov, who took up office as the President of 

Tatarstan in March 2010, initially held himself up as an economic executive 

who avoided politics, but only a year later, during a meeting with the heads 

of the republican mass media, specified his viewpoint on the Islamic 

question. He noted that historically Islam in Tatarstan had been tolerant, 

“but in the 1990s a huge number of young people went abroad and received 

an absolutely different education, having fallen under the influence of 

extremist trends.” He also declared: 

“It is certainly bad, [and] this is the fault of the state which didn’t pay 

attention to it. Our task now is to keep our traditional Islam, and to 

suppress all extremist manifestations. The state is, of course, separated from 

religion, but not to such an extent that we see nothing. Therefore within our 

powers we will penetrate this question and take appropriate measures.”

18

 

                                                 

15

 Samatova 2011. 

16

 http://dumrt.ru/ru/node/9206, accessed 3 June 2014. 

17

 Kak protivostojat’ 2011. 

18

 http://prav.tatarstan.ru/rus/index.htm/news/82318.htm, accessed 30 June 2014. 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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