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There is news of religious evolution in Russian. Statistics
reveal that Russians, traditionally Russian Orthodox, are
starting to explore the embracing religion of Islam.
High-profile Russian Converts
Even famous Russian Orthodox clergymen are going over to Islam.
The clergy was stunned a few years ago, when a Muscovite priest,
Dr.Vyacheslav Polosin, Ph.D., took the finalised Muslim faith and
the name, Ali. The Orthodox activist Sergey Marcus, well-known for
spending 10 years in Russian camps for his convictions, is now
Jannat Sergey, a Muslim. The early 90-s had him hosting the
program "I Believe" on Radio Liberty, whereas now he
hosts "The Voice of Islam" ("Saud ul Islam").
These are just two of high-profiled Russian converts, so what
about regular parishioners?
Pro-Kremlin sociologists and politicians are trying to
rationalise this mass Christian exodus by using inappropriately
decayed Soviet-style-speak;
"It is the fault of the West:
some Western scholars and social activists have become Muslim
through a mixture of intellectual rebellion and boredom of
bourgeois values, and have provoked Russian intellectuals to
follow suit"... Is this really the case?
What do the Converts Say?
In a poll conducted in the Moscow
Cathedral Mosque by the "Moskovsky Komsomolets"
newspaper (MK, "Moscow Member of a Young Communist
League"), a convert, Oleg Posechkin, 24, mentions:
"The
thing that is missing in the state supported Orthodox Church - is
the support of the people. I did not come to Islam because I
changed my beliefs. I was just seeking God, and now I have found
Him. I have become a different person: I've quit drinking alcohol
and smoking, and I have started to treat people a whole lot
better, and I face difficulties with a greater sense of
ease".
Ludmila Anishchenko,55
said:
"My road to Islam was long
and difficult but I became convinced of Allah's greatness and
omnipotence after the unsuccessful attempt of my husband and my neighbour
to get me baptized. We were enroute to the church when
our car started to break down. My husband had no choice but to go
back home. Ever since that day I accepted Islam, and my entire
world has changed for the better».
Yes, as believed in the West, so is it believed in Russia;
"Islam makes people stronger".
"I made a step towards Islam", - writes Yuri Nikitin in
his novel <Rage>, - "because the Islamic World has
maintained far more honour, abiding by one's word, allegiance to
one's principles, and readiness to accomplish exploits not for the
sake of one's wallet or one's woman nor even for such abstract
ideas as patriotism, formerly the prerogative of Western man (and
now Russians too). If a Russian man could talk to God directly,
with no intermediaries, as any Muslim talks to Allah, it would add
to his pride and dignity".
The Russian Orthodox Church
So, how does the Russian Orthodox Church itself react to such
an exodus?
"I can explain a mass exodus of this type for various
reasons", says the Abbot of the Uspensky Temple in the
Novodevichy Monastery, the celibate priest Cyril (named
Vladimir Semenov in the secular world). "The vast majority of
the Priesthood is occupied purely with their own secular problems,
with material wealth for instance. And this leaves no time
to work with parishioners. Additionally, the external policy
conducted by the Russian Church towards other denominations can
scare anybody" .(edited)
Continuous intrigues bordering on the farcical within the
higher circles of the Russian Orthodox Church only serve to help
the exodus of parishioners. According to MK (Moskovsky Komsomolets)
newspaper, something unbelievable is going on in Suzdal: after
losing a large-scale character assassination against the
Archbishop of the Autonomous Orthodox Church Valentin Rusantsov,
his opponents decided on covert action. A provocative movie filmed
by runaway priest Andrei Oetrov, 'proving' the Archbishop’s paedophilia,
was shown to a packed audience at the Suzdal Tourist Complex
conference hall after a "Blue Berets" band concert.
The MK writes. The Suzdal Mayor Mr.Ryzhov and priests from the
Moscow Diocese, Rusantsov’s persecutors, were among invited
guests. After the concert the scandal-mongers played a film about
the alleged evil pederasty of the old priest. The demonstration
ended with the patriotic words of "Our Cause" ("Nashe
Delo"), calling upon the people to physically deal with the
"seducer". However, the youngsters who were present in
the audience, and who were paid to malign the righteous man, have
stuck up for him..."
Even the group of young people caught up in the Northern
Caucasus slaughter-house understand who is really who and are
accepting Islam.
They realise how Kremlin propaganda was brainwashing them with
the stories about "evil Chechens". The Russian Orthodox Church, which nowadays has
become more like a preserver of folklore rather than
representative of the "soul of the people", hasn't the
strength to curb this unusual process. If everything keeps going
on at this rate, the number of Muslims in Russia will grow to make
Russia primarily the Russia of Russian Muslims.
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