Who's Guarding the Flock? Higher Islamic Education in Russia

“I…feel that a priority in the activities of Islamic organizations themselves should be placed on the positive image of traditional Islam as an important spiritual component in the common identity of the peoples of the Russian Federation…this significantly impacts the nurturing of our youth. This is extremely important for young Muslims, who have, unfortunately, become the target audience of those who wish us harm.”[1]

One of the most important functions of any church or religion is the education of its clergy. An educated clergy preserves not only the traditions, beliefs, and ordinances of a religion; it also protects it against radicalism.

Islam’s history in Russia has ancient roots. The first Islamic missionaries arrived in the seventh century and three hundred years later, around the Tenth Century, the Volga Bulgaria became an Islamic state. Then, in the Thirteenth Century, the Mongol Golden Horde conquered Kievian Rus’. This occurred at about the same time that the Mongols began converting to Islam and Berke became the first Islamic Khan. From this time onward, the Islamic presence on modern-day Russian territory expanded under Mongol rule.

In the Sixteenth Century, the Russian Empire began the conquest of Muslim lands in the Northern Caucasus, along the Volga River, and eastward. Russian Islam dates from this period. Widespread state repression characterized the first years of Russian rule over Muslims. However, in order to strengthen her hand against the Ottomans, Catherine the Great revoked restrictions on building stone mosques and other public Islamic buildings in 1767 and issued the decree entitled On the Tolerance of All Religious Confessions in 1773. This gave Muslims freedom of worship, officially making Russia a multi-confessional state.

At the time of the 1918 Revolution, thousands of madrassas and other Islamic centers of learning dotted the Russian Empire.  In the city of Orenburg alone, there were two specialized secondary theological madrassas, 122 regular madrassas, and 222 maktabs (Islamic elementary schools).[1]  The city encompassed a vibrant Islamic community, supported by a cadre of educated imams and other religious personnel.

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[1] The Slavic Legal Center. “The Repressed Madrassa: Interview with Ismail-Khazarat Shangareev, the Mufti of the Orenburg Oblast.” (Славянский правовой центр. Репрессированное медресе. Интервью с Исмагил-хазратом Шангареевым, муфтием Оренбургской области). Issue 1-2 (39) 2006.  Accessed 11 August 2014. In Russian. <http://www.sclj.ru/analytics/magazine/arch/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=1265>.  Translation by author.

[1] Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich. Official Page of the President of the President of Russia (Официальная страница Президента России). Opening Address of the Meeting with the Muftis of the Spiritual Confessions of the Muslims of Russia (Начало встречи с муфтиями духовных управлений мусульман России). 22 October 2013. Accessed 10 August 2014 <http://www.kremlin.ru/transcripts/19474>. Translation by author.