MOSCOW. June 1. KAZINFORM - Chechen President Alu Alkhanov has proposed to create an international Islamic research center that would evaluate terrorist acts and provide correct interpretations of Islamic tenets. Otherwise, young people recruited to commit acts of terror will continue to believe that a suicide bomber goes to Heaven once dead. "Today, the role of our religious figures and scholars in the fight against Islamic radicalism is extremely low," Alkhanov said during the Russian-Saudi forum held in Moscow on May 24-25. "The fight against international terrorism will be most effective if the states with Muslim populations lead it."
The idea that Muslims must actively participate in the fight against terrorism has become extremely popular in the global Muslim and Russian Muslim communities.
"We cannot repeat incessantly 'Islam stands for peace.' Islam does not need justification. We must provide a clear assessment of the situation in the world and in Russia, and admit that many of the problems we have derive from the fact that we, the spiritual leaders, representatives of public organizations, etc. simply do not work hard enough," Chairman of the All-Russian Islamic public organization Al-Khak (Justice) Kamilzhan Kalandarov said.
"Insults addressing Islam and the understanding of the problems existing within the Islamic community ultimately led to the point where the Muslim elite in Russia realized the necessity of increasing its efforts in the social sphere," Kalandarov said.
The Muslim community in Russia did not have a public organization that would represent the common interests of all groups for many years, he said. From time to time, short-lived parties and blocs would appear, usually right before State Duma elections, and then immediately vanish. In April 2005, for the first time in the last five years, Islamic movement Al-Khak, under the auspices of the Human Rights Institute, was registered with the state. Another public movement, Russian Islamic Heritage (RIH), is currently going through the same registration process. Representatives of the Russian authorities, including two members of the Federation Council (the upper chamber of parlament) Umar Jabrailov and Ralif Safin, also businessmen, are participating in the work of the new movement. This not only indicates the increased involvement on the part of the Islamic elite, but also shows the interest of the Russian authorities in creating Islamic public organizations. One of the major tasks of Al-Khak is to protect the rights of Muslims and establish a rapport between Muslims and regional authorities.
"While spiritual boards control everything that happens within mosques, we would want to control the processes that are currently under way outside the mosques," Kalandarov said.
Public organizations could act as intermediaries in disputes within the Islamic community, and between the Islamic community and the state. The movement has established close contacts with spiritual boards and it is trying to create regional branches. The RIH movement also targets the regions. Both movements believe it necessary to create conditions for young Muslims who feel confined by official spiritual institutions to get involved in various social and political activities.
"Our goal is to gain access to local bodies of legislative and executive power. We want to promote our young and active members, who do not associate themselves with the Muslim spiritual boards and even conflict with them. These people normally have good religious and secular education. They are politically active and we need to make sure that they are involved in social projects rather than side with extremists," Kalandarov said.
Another important task of all Muslims, as experience shows, is active efforts in the information sphere. The importance of this task was highlighted by the Newsweek scandal over an article describing the desecration of Koran at the Guantanamo Air Force base where captured Taliban are kept. According to Kalandarov, it is difficult for average Muslims to distinguish between the truth and the lies. In general, extremists of all sorts, including those who claim to represent Islam, actively and professionally work on the information field. These extremists brainwash the members of Muslim communities around the world, creating the wrong perception of Islam. Therefore, one of the tasks facing Muslims in Russia is to establish closer and more professional cooperation with the media and to create a trustworthy informational and analytical publication. "Without taking these steps it will be impossible to protect Muslims from false accusations. Any negative information, regardless of whether it is true or false, might explode the situation in a certain region," Kalandarov said.
In that respect, Alkhanov's proposal makes a lot of sense. Muslims must determine on their own what is true and what is false, and who among them are righteous or sinful.
KAZINFORM cites RIA Novosti political commentator Marianna Belenkaya.
http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=125462
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