According to the United States Department of State, there are an estimated 14 to 20 million Muslims in Russia, constituting approximately 14 percent of the population and forming the largest religious minority. Major Islamic communities are concentrated among the minority nationalities residing between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea: the Adyghes, Balkars, Nogais, Chechens, Circassians, Ingush, Kabardin, Karachay, and numerous Dagestani nationalities. In the middle Volga Basin are large populations of Tatars and Bashkirs, most of whom are Muslims. Many Muslims also reside in Perm Krai and Ulyanovsk, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, Tyumen, and Leningrad Oblasts (mostly ethnic Tatars). The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish:Müslüman, Persian:مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ... Islam(Arabic: ; ) is a monotheistic religion based on the Quran. ... Map of the Black Sea. ... Caspian Sea viewed from orbit The Caspian Sea is a LAKE MY HOMIE DOGG of Eurasia between Asia and Europe. ... The Adyghe or Adygs are a people of the northwest Caucasus region, principally inhabiting Adygeya (23 %) (now a constituent republic of the Russian Federation) and Karachay-Cherkessia (11 %) (where they are named as Cherkess). Shapsigh Autonomous District, an autonomous district founded for Shapsigh (or Shapsugh) tribe living on the Black... The Balkar (малкъар /malqar/balqar) people are a Turkic people of the Caucasus region, the titular population of Kabardino-Balkaria. ... The term Nogai can refer to more than one thing: Nogai Khan was a Khan of the Golden Horde. ... // Geography The Chechen people are mainly inhabitants of Chechnya, which is internationally recognized as part of Russia. ... The term Circassians is term derived from the Turkic Cherkess, and is not the self-designation of any people. ... The Ingush are a people of the northern Caucasus, mostly inhabiting the Russian republic of Ingushetia. ... Kabarda, Kabard or Kabarid are simply alternative ways of referring to the Kabar people of the northern Caucasus more commonly known by the plural term Kabardin (or Kebertei as they term themselves). ... Karachays are Turkic people of Karachay-Cherkessia. ... The Republic of Dagestan (Russian: ), older spelling Daghestan, is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ... Russia is divided into eleven economic regions (Russian: экономические районы, sing. ... Tatars (Tatar: Tatarlar/Татарлар) (Persian: تاتار) is a collective name applied to the Turkic people of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ... The Bashkirs, a Turkic people, live in Russia, mostly in the republic of Bashkortostan. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish:Müslüman, Persian:مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ... Perm Krai (Russian: ) is a federal subject of Russia that came into existence on December 1, 2005 as a result of the 2004 referendum on the merger of Perm Oblast and Permyakia Autonomous District. ... Ulyanovsk Oblast (Улья́новская о́бласть) is an administrative division of the Russian Federation. ... Samara Oblast (Russian: ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). ... Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (Russian: ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). ... Moscow oblast (Моско́вская о́бласть) is an administrative subdivision of Russia officially established on January 14, 1929. ... Tyumen Oblast Coat of Arms Tyumen Oblast flag Tyumen Oblast (Russian: ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in Urals Federal District. ... Leningrad Oblast (Russian: , tr. ... Tatars (Tatar: Tatarlar/Татарлар) (Persian: تاتار) is a collective name applied to the Turkic people of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ...

History of Islam in Russia

The first Muslims at today Russia's territory was Daghestani people (region of Derbent) after the Arab conquests (8th century). The first Muslim state was Volga Bulgaria (922. Tatars inherited the religion from that state. Later the most of European and Caucasian Turkic peoples also became followers of Islam. Darband is built around a Sassanid fortress, the only one preserved in the world. ... Volga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is a historic state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now the Russian Federation. ... Events Births Deaths March 26 - Al-Hallaj, Sufi writer and teacher Categories: 922 ... Tatars (Tatar: Tatarlar/Татарлар) (Persian: تاتار) is a collective name applied to the Turkic people of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ... This article is about the various peoples speaking one of the Turkic languages. ...

Kievan Rus also had a chance to be converted to Islam from Volga Bulgarian missionairs, but East Slavs accepted Christianity. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Ру́сь, Kievskaya Rus in Russian; Київська Русь, Kyivs’ka Rus’ in Ukrainian) was the early, mostly East Slavic¹ state dominated by the city of Kiev (ru: Ки́ев, Kiev; uk: Ки́їв, Kyiv), from about 880 to the middle of the 12th century. ... Islam(Arabic: ; ) is a monotheistic religion based on the Quran. ... Volga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is a historic state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now the Russian Federation. ...

Virtually all the Muslims in Russia adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam. In a few areas, notably Chechnya, there is a tradition of Sufism, a mystical variety of Islam that stresses the individual's search for union with God. Sufi rituals, practiced to give the Chechens spiritual strength to resist foreign oppression, became legendary among Russian troops fighting the Chechens during tsarist times. The Azeris have also historically and still currently been nominally followers of Shia Islam, however, as their republic split off from the Soviet Union, their numbers remaining in Russia are irrelevant. Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... Capital Grozny Area - total - % water Ranked 80th - 15,300 km² - negligible Population - Total - Density Ranked 49th - est. ... Sufism (Persian: صوفی‌گری Sufi gari, Arabic: تصوف, taá¹£awwuf) is a mystic sect of Islam. ... Azerbaijanis or Azerbaijani Turks, are a Muslim people who number more than 25 million worldwide. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

The first printed Qur'an was published in Kazan, Russia in 1801. The , (Arabic: recitation, also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and Alcoran, Turkish Kuran), is the central text of Islam. ... Kazan (Tatar Qazan, Казан; Russian Казань) is the capital city of Tatarstan and one of Russias largest cities. ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ...

Russia was one of the places, where Jadidism appeared in 19th century. Another phenomenon was Wäisi movement. Jadidism (Arab language: jadid - new ), also known as Euroislam is a type of Islamic philosophy. ... Wäisi movement was a religious, social and political movement in Tatarstan and other Tatar-populated parts of Russia in the end of 19th – the beginning of 20th century. ...

Islam today

Relations between the Russian government and Muslim elements of the population have been marked by mistrust and suspicion. In 1992, for example, Sheikh Rawil Ghaynetdin, the imam of the Moscow mosque, complained that "our country [Russia] still retains the ideology of the tsarist empire, which believed that the Orthodox faith alone should be a privileged religion, that is, the state religion." The Russian government, for its part, fears the rise of political Islam of the violent sort that Russians witnessed in the 1980s firsthand in Afghanistan and secondhand in Iran. Government fears were fueled by a 1992 conference held in Saratov by the Tajikistan-based Islamic Renaissance Party. Representatives attended from several newly independent Central Asian republics, from Azerbaijan, and from several autonomous jurisdictions of Russia, including the secessionist-minded autonomous republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. The meeting's pan-Islamic complexion created concern in Moscow about the possible spread of radical Islam into Russia from the new Muslim states along the periphery of the former Soviet Union. For that reason, the Russian government has provided extensive military and political support to secular leaders of the five Central Asian republics, all of whom are publicly opposed to political Islam. By the mid-1990s, the putative Islamic threat was a standard justification for radical nationalist insistence that Russia regain control of its "near abroad." 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Imam (Arabic: إمام , Persian: امام ) is an Arabic word meaning Leader. The ruler of a country might be called the Imam, for example. ... MacGyver - 1980s hero The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... Saratov flag Saratov (Russian: ) is a major city in southern European Russia. ... The Republic of Tatarstan (Russian: ; Tatar: ) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). ... The Republic of Bashkortostan, or Bashkiria (Russian: or ; Bashkir: ) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ...

The struggle to delineate the respective powers of the federal and local governments in Russia also has influenced Russian relations with the Islamic community. The Russian Federation inherited two of the four spiritual boards, or muftiates, created during the Stalinist era to supervise the religious activities of Islamic groups in various parts of the Soviet Union; the other two are located in Tashkent and Baku. One of the two Russian boards has jurisdiction in European Russia and Siberia, and the other is responsible for the Muslim enclaves of the North Caucasus and Transcaspian regions. In 1992 several Muslim associations withdrew from the latter muftiate and attempted to establish their own spiritual boards. Later that year, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan withdrew recognition from the muftiate for European Russia and Siberia and created their own muftiate. (Russian: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин, Iosif Vissarionovič Stalin; December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s to his death in 1953 and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953), a position... Tashkent Tashkent (Toshkent or Тошкент in Uzbek, Ташкент in Russian; its name translates from Uzbek to Stone City in English) is the current capital of Uzbekistan and also of Tashkent Province. ... Satellite view of Baku The Baku harbour on the south of Absheron peninsula The Maiden Tower in old town Baku Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı), sometimes known as Baky or Baki, is the capital of Azerbaijan. ... Siberia is also an album by Echo & The Bunnymen. ... The North Caucasus, also called Ciscaucasus, Forecaucasus, or Front Caucasus (Russian: ), is the northern part of the Caucasus region. ...

There is much evidence of official conciliation toward Islam in Russia in the 1990s. The number of Muslims allowed to make pilgrimages to Mecca increased sharply after the virtual embargo of the Soviet era ended in 1990. Copies of the Qur'an are readily available, and many mosques are being built in regions with large Muslim populations. In 1995 the newly established Union of Muslims of Russia, led by Imam Khatyb Mukaddas of Tatarstan, began organizing a movement aimed at improving interethnic understanding and ending Russians' lingering conception of Islam as an extremist religion. The Union of Muslims of Russia is the direct successor to the pre-World War I Union of Muslims, which had its own faction in the Russian Duma. The postcommunist union has formed a political party, the Nur All-Russia Muslim Public Movement, which acts in close coordination with Muslim clergy to defend the political, economic, and cultural rights of Muslims and other minorities. The Islamic Cultural Center of Russia, which includes a madrassa (religious school), opened in Moscow in 1991. In the 1990s, the number of Islamic publications has increased. Among them are two magazines in Russian, "Эхо Кавказа" (transliteration: Ekho Kavkaza) and "Исламский вестник" (Islamsky Vestnik), and the Russian-language newspaper "Исламские новости" (Islamskiye Novosti), which is published in Makhachkala, Dagestan. This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... The , (Arabic: recitation, also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and Alcoran, Turkish Kuran), is the central text of Islam. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total of dead: 8 million Military dead: 4 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total dead: 7 million The First... A Duma (Ду́ма in Russian) is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. ... A Madrasah complex in Gambia Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand, ca. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... There exist many possible systems for transliterating the Cyrillic alphabet of the Russian language to English or the Latin alphabet. ... Makhachkala (Russian: ) is a city in Russia, the capital of the Republic of Dagestan. ...

There is Russian Islam University in Kazan, Tatarstan. Education is in Russian and Tatar. Kazan (Tatar Qazan, Казан; Russian Казань) is the capital city of Tatarstan and one of Russias largest cities. ... The Republic of Tatarstan (Russian: ; Tatar: ) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). ... The Tatar language (Tatar tele, Tatarça, Татар теле, Татарча) is a Turkic language belonging to the Altaic branch of the Ural-Altaic family of languages. ...

See also

• Islam by country
• Jadidism
• Famous or Notable Mosques of Russia
• Religion in Russia
• Religion in the Soviet Union

Distribution of Islam per country. ... Jadidism (Arab language: jadid - new ), also known as Euroislam is a type of Islamic philosophy. ... The most widespread religion in Russia is Orthodox Christianity dominated by Russian Orthodox Church. ... The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow was demolished as part of the Soviet struggle with religion. ...

References

• This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain.

The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress ( USA), freely available for use by researchers. ... The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789 by a constitutional convention, sets down the basic framework of American government in its seven articles. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Russian Islam goes its own way BBC
• Russian Islam Comes Out into the Open The Moscow news