ISLAMISM

Islamism: translation

Political ideology. In Russia, Islamism—that is, the political ideology that, forMuslims,Islamandpoliticsare inseparable— exists in a variety of forms. In its most extreme manifestation, Islamists advocate the institution ofsharia(Islamic law) and support ajihad(holy war) to purge traditionally Muslim areas of Russians and other nonbelievers. For many, the ultimate goal is the establishment of aEurasiancaliphate that would stretch from westernChinato Anatolia. Such groups embrace a strict, Saudi-influenced form of Islam, often calledWahhabism(vakhabizm) by Russian authorities. Many adherents of Islamism were deeply influenced by exposure to the mujahideen during theSoviet-Afghan Waror to the teachings of clerics from theMiddle Eastwho were allowed to proselytize in Russia during the earlyYeltsinera. This radical ideology is most prevalent inChechnya, though it has found some adherents in other parts of theNorth Caucasus, particularly in the wake of the firstChechen War. In theVolga-Ural region, Islamism is much more pragmatic. AmongTatarsandBashkirs, there is a range of Islamist politics, fromneo-Jadidism, which seeks to modernize Islam for the 21st century, to anticolonial movements that employ Islam as a tool for rallying Muslim minorities against the presence ofethnic Russiansin the region.

Underperestroika, a number of cultural organizations were formed to revive Islamic identity across the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), including the Union of Muslims of Russia,Ittifaq(Tatar: “Union”),Nur(“Light”), and the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) among others; by 1991, many of these had turned themselves into full-fledgedpolitical parties.Due to the structure of the new political system in the Russian Federation, none of these organizations was able to achieve traction on the national level; however, they have influenced policy in the Muslim republics, particularlyTatarstan, but alsoBashkortostan,Adygeya,Karachay-Cherkessiya,Kabardino-Balkariya,Ingushetiya, andDagestan. Responding to a proliferation of jihaditerrorismin the late 1990s,Vladimir Putinpursued a multipronged strategy to weaken Islamism in the Russian Federation. At the regional level, Putin has given carte blanche to the republican leadership to deal with the Islamist “problem.” In the North Caucasus,security servicepersonnel often track mosque attendance and sometimes detain worshippers who visit “suspect” mosques or those who demonstrate outward signs of Wahhabism (including bearded men and veiledwomen). Putin has also attempted to marginalize more radical Islamic leaders, such asRavil Gaynutdin, in favor of those who actively condemn Wahhabism and other “alien” forms of Islam.