"It is inadmissible to use the Holy Writ-be it the Koran, the Torah or the Bible-for ignoble ends," stresses Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, High Mufti of Russia.
As he was commenting on the Newsweek controversy for Novosti, the chair of the Russian Muftiyyate emphatically said: "It does not matter, considering the situation, whether it was the truth or a hoax-the sheer appearance of that contribution caused bloodshed." Mufti Gainutdin was referring to the magazine denouncing the controversial contribution a few days later. As the editorial staff acknowledged on the occasion, the disputed item had been based on unverified information.
The unsavory sensation has started stormy debates in the Russian Muslim community. Certain Muslim organizations determined to join efforts with their brethren in other countries on a transnational protest action of May 27. They have not yet decided, however, on the practical form the Russian protest will take.
"Russian Muslims are to be circumspect-not as spontaneous emotions prompt them to do," says Shamil Beno, prominent on the top of the Russian Muslim Heritage, a recently established public organization. The Heritage is taking stock now of US attitudes to Islam and policies toward the entire Muslim world. "The US Establishment formally holds Islam in due respect. We never doubt that. However, what really matters is everyday routine not beautiful words and ostentatious action. Americans ought to rule out such outrages as the recent Newsweek contribution and what underlay it. That prevention alone can prove that they treat Islam the way it should be," he emphatically remarked.
"The Koran controversy came on a par with other reports of Muslim inmates abused in Guantanamo and in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. It appeared as part and parcel of US policies toward the Muslim and Arabic world. US political leaders say they desire to establish democratic values in that world. Yet the people who are implementing those plans come to grips with Islam-that's what it all actually boils down to, so there are no grounds for optimism, where future Muslim contacts with the West are concerned," pointed out Beno.
The world Muslim community has never been so firmly cemented as now, said Kamiljan Kalandarov, leader of the Al-Haq (Justice), another Russian-based Muslim NGO. "Desecration of the Koran, in whatever country it may take place, cannot but hurt every Muslim's feelings and be taken as impending danger."
Kalandarov suspects the Newsweek publication was deliberately provocative. "Muslims are provoked to confrontation. It now happens all the more often in many countries. It was the West first to speak up on the 'clash of civilizations'. We thought it was mere words. Now, it is dire reality," he said. As the Muslim activist sees it, the Newsweek contribution came as part of information warfare.
To persuade the Muslim public in Russia to keep calm and never succumb to whoever's provocations is among Al-Haq priorities. That is why Russian Muslims have given up their idea of mass rallies-like what other countries will have, May 27. That does not mean they are shrugging off the present goings-on, Kalandarov said.
