The head of the Russian Council
of muftis, Ravil Gainutdin, has come under fire from the judiciary,
which intends to censor one of his books as extremist literature.
In his
defence, Gainutdin has called for the intervention of the prosecutor
general, the influential Yuri Chaika.
It all began two weeks ago when the district attorney of Gai,
in the Orenburg region, Sergei Chelyshev, asked that certain
publications by leading figures of Russia’s Muslim community be declared
"extremist literature".
In addition to the book "Salvation in prayer"
by Gainutdin and and the rector Islamic University of Moscow, Marat
Murtazin, the district attorney’s list includes: "The Salah through the
prism of thoughts" by the deputy head of the European Russian Muslim
spiritual commission Mustafa Kyutyukchu, the "Forty Hadith” of the
Prophet Muhammad and the" Gardens of the Faithful” by the Imam
an-Navavi.
"Please take necessary measures to avoid a similar attitude
towards religious books - wrote Gainutdin to the Prosecutor Chaika - I
hope you will revoke the decision of Gai the prosecutor."
"Analyzed by a
group of experts from the humanistic point of view - concluded the
Mufti of Russia’s appeal - these books are not extremist".
If the decision of the district attorney is confirmed, the
listed books will be banned.
It is not the first clash between Russian
authorities and the Muslim community.
In late December, Gainutdin had
accused the leaders of the state of obstructing the unification of
Muslims and of attempting to "suppress Islam" in the Federation.
He then
referred to the mufti who work in government institutions as "puppets"
and "squalid people".