by Vladimir Rozanskij

The Muslim celebration is highlighted even though some favoured Knowledge Day, a Soviet-era civic holiday. Monitored by 13,000 police agents, some 200,000 Muslims celebrate the occasion in the capital without any incident. Legal steps have been taken for the restitution of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral to Catholics.

Moscow (AsiaNews) – The Islamic Feast of the Sacrifice, ʿīd al-aḍḥā in Arabic, was celebrated last Friday in Russia where it is known as Kurban Bayram following the Ottoman diction.

The day marks the Islamic commemoration of Ishmael’s sacrifice, the act of submission to God par excellence. Each year, this is remembered in the lunar month of Dhu'l-Hijjah, which this year falls on 1 September in the Gregorian calendar.

This year, the event fell on the first day of the school year, known as ‘Knowledge Day’, a coincidence that has generated a series of rather heated public debates in Russia.

After a century of atheism, Russia is back again as a predominantly Orthodox country, something that has been boosted by the propensity of Russian politicians to use religion as the main ideological support for patriotism.

At the same, it must be noted that Imperial Russia brought together under Slavic rule a large number of peoples, in the East and the West, with their own traditions and religions.

The existing law on freedom of religion states in its preamble that Orthodoxy is main religion of Russia, followed by four traditional creeds: Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity, the latter curiously refers to Protestant and Catholic denominations.

Among the latter, Islam is by far the largest and most important, and its relationship to state authorities is very similar to that of the Orthodox Patriarchate.

Religious and lay people

It thus comes as no surprise that some tensions have developed over what to celebrate on the 1st September, whether it should be a religious holiday celebrated by a minority or a much-loved Soviet-era civic holiday celebrated by all Russians.

The emphasis on "secular" values ​​has been source of embarrassment for the most nationalistic of Russians, who for years have stressed the importance of religious values.

To get around the problem, Zhirinovsky’s Liberal Democratic Party of Russia has suggested that each of Russia’s 89 federal subjects should be allowed to replace Knowledge Day in accordance with local culture and customs, but the Ministry of Education has opposed the idea.

The two celebrations have thus overlapped, creating several curious situations. In Moscow, a school next to the Cathedral Mosque (sobornaya mechet) celebrated Knowledge Day today, 4 September.

In the predominantly Muslim Tatar and ethnically affiliated republics – Tatarstan, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Adygea, Bashkortostan and Chechnya – 1 September was declared a public holiday for both celebrations.

Most of Russia’s Muslims trace their origin to the Tatar Khanates founded by Turkic tribes from Asia in the 14th century and the conversions that followed their domination of much of the country.

Genghis Khan, the founder of the Tatar-Mongol Empire, was very ecumenical in matters of religion (he is thought to have been baptised into the Nestorian Church), and the contact of his successors with the Islamic world led to the conversion of the westernmost late-medieval khanates.

The ʿīd in Crimea and Moscow

Another place where the Tatars play a major role in history is the Crimea, ethnically “cleansed" by Stalin in 1944, and recently "recaptured" by Putin in the conflict with Ukraine. In the small peninsula, the Muslim Tatars are a major factor.

Here the authorities took a curious decision, declaring 4 September a public holiday. Thus, the Feast of the Sacrifice was respected, whilst giving school events great leeway to celebrate Knowledge Day.

In Moscow, the Muslim community celebrated Kurban Bayram in great style and without any incident. More than 200,000 people took part in prayers in mosques and squares under the watchful eye of 13,000 police officers.

President Vladimir Putin publicly congratulated Russian Muslims. In a statement, Mr Putin said, “The integrity of the Muslim Ummah has always served as the foundation for improving the inter-ethnic and inter-religious dialogue and for tackling the country’s priority development tasks. It is gratifying that this huge potential is taking the shape of educational and cultural projects to the benefit of social peace and accord, projects which enjoy great demand.”

A church for Catholics

As was the case for Muslims, the City of Moscow has promised the local Catholic minority to settle in an extra-judicial manner the issue of the restitution of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.

Located in central Moscow, the church was turned into offices and a gym. Since 1992, the Catholic community has asked for it to be returned. If this were to happen, Catholics would have three churches, along with the Church of Saint Louis of France (the only one left open under Soviet rule) and the Church of the Immaculate Conception, built by the Polish community and now serving as cathedral.

Compared to its four big mosques and hundreds of Islamic "cultural centres", Moscow’s Catholic community could also be a better position to offer its contribution to reconciliation and the country’s spiritual growth.

• russia
• moscow
• ʿīd al-aḍḥā
• knowledge day
• islam
• christianity
• vladimir putin