Sufism, the mystical trend in Islam, can be an ally of Muslim mullahs and imams and even the Russian state, by attracting young Russians to it and thus protecting them from the baleful influence of radical “pseudo-religious extremism,” Ildar Safargaleyev says.
The head
of the Islamic research department of the Moscow Institute for CIS Countries
says that some Muslim leaders in the North Caucasus and many elsewhere as for
example in the Middle Volga do not accept this idea because they see sufism as
undermining the legal principles of the faith
(materik.ru/analitika/sufizm-v-rossii-kak-deystvennaya-alte/ ).
But in
fact, for centuries, Muslims have accepted Sufism as a trend that creates
spiritual leaders capable of winning over the young and even have insisted that
those trained in regular Islamic medrassahs or universities study with a Sufi
sheikh after completing their formal Islamic educations.
In
Russia, however, because of the propensity of the authorities to model other
faiths on the basis of Orthodox Christianity, both Soviet and later Russian
Federation authorities bought into the idea that a regular formal Islamic
education was enough and that Sufism was something threatening rather than
supportive of the faith.
In 2016,
things began to change when an international Islamic conference in Grozny,
Chechnya, adopted a resolution stressing that Sufism was an integral part of
Sunni Islam and that those who studied to be imams, mullahs and alims should
acquire direct knowledge about Sufism.
Such
knowledge could be gained either through the inclusion of Sufi-led courses in
normal medrassahs and Islamic universities or by having the graduates of those
institutes attach themselves for a time to Sufi sheikhs who could introduce
them to the provisions of this mystical trend so popular with young people,
Safargaleyev says.
Far more
needs to be done in this direction, the Islamic specialist says. In the North
Caucasus, there are many Sufi sheikhs ready, willing and able to provide
instruction to mullahs and imams but elsewhere, including in the Middle Volga,
there are fewer and they are less prominent in the community.
For
Muslims, simply studying in an Islamic educational institution “be it a
medrassah or even an Islamic university, for example, Al-Azhar” is
“insufficient to become a spiritual guide.” Only a Sufi sheikh can provide such
people with those skills, and so early contact with these Sufi leaders should
be encouraged rather than discouraged.
Up to
now, unfortunately, “not so much is said about this practice,” Safargaleyev
says, adding that in his view, “the roots of the illness of pseudo-religious
extremism is precisely in this fact.” If the imams and mullahs of traditional
Islam had a better understanding of Sufism, they could prevent young Muslims
from heeding the siren song of extremist groups.
Safargaleyev
is not the first Russian Muslim expert to urge an expansion of attention to and
use of Sufism to counter extremism –
seewindowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2016/07/sufism-better-than-state-as-bulwark.html
and
windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/10/sufism-most-effective-means-to-counter.html
– but he is well-positioned to promote his view.
Indeed,
given his ties to political leaders close to the Kremlin, it is almost certain
that his argument in this article will be taken seriously by many who up to now
have viewed Sufism as an enemy every bit as dangerous as Islamist radicalism.
They may be pushed to change their view, and the role of Sufism may
consequently rise in the North Caucasus and elsewhere.
***Paul
Goble is a longtime specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia.
Most recently, he was director of research and publications at the Azerbaijan
Diplomatic Academy. Earlier, he served as vice dean for the social sciences and
humanities at Audentes University in Tallinn and a senior research associate at
the EuroCollege of the University of Tartu in Estonia. He has served in various
capacities in the U.S. State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and
the International Broadcasting Bureau as well as at the Voice of America and
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace. Mr. Goble maintains the Window on Eurasia blog and can be contacted
directly at paul.goble@gmail.com .
https://www.eurasiareview.com/28052021-sufism-offers-spirituality-traditional-muslim-trends-dont-and-keeps-young-from-turning-to-extremism-oped/