Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk has called on Orthodox Christians
and Muslims to unite in the fight against Islamic extremisn in Russia and the
Middle East.
The head of the Department of External Relations of the Moscow
Patriarchate recently appeared on Church
and the World, a programme on Rossiya
24 television. Mufti Farid
Salman was also a guest.
Wahhabism
"is a very serious threat to our life now," Metropolitan Hilarion said. An
undeclared war is going on against traditional Islam in the North Caucasus and
Christianity in the Middle East. In both cases, the reason is "one and the
same thing: religious intolerance."
"It's
our common problem, our common tradition, and, of course, we should fight
together to be able to live in peace and accord," he said. Wahabis, he
noted, are driven "by the devil, not religious beliefs."
Speaking about recent attacks in the Caucasus
and southern Russia against local Muslim leaders, he said, "We are deeply saddened by the news we have been getting from various
regions of our country-from Dagestan
and Chechnya-on the killings of muftis and leading Islamic theologians."
Extremists
"commit these illegal and immoral acts to divide our society and destroy the
religious peace that has taken centuries to create," he explained. "We
have to call things by their names, and there is no room for political
correctness here," he added.
For
his part, Salman, a theologian well-known in Russia, called for "a
strategic union of Orthodox faith and traditional Islam in Russia,"
pointing out that joint efforts by the state and traditional religious
institutions are needed to fight Wahhabism, which is a false teaching and
"a totalitarian sect."