President Putin and Islam

Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt, May 7

President Vladimir Putin grew up in the Soviet era, in a political climate that rejected the concept of religion. Soviets were pushed to abandon religion and “convert” to atheism. Indeed, religious property was confiscated, while religious figureheads were harassed and ridiculed. However, the recent war between Russia and Ukraine revealed many mysterious aspects of President Putin’s personality and worldview. For example, the Russian president condemned the publishing of cartoons that offend the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Putin stressed that this is far from freedom of creativity, and demanded that people respect sanctities, even if their beliefs differ. He subsequently banned the publishing of any cartoons depicting the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in all Russian media. Among the stories that are told about President Putin is that he puts a copy of the Holy Quran on his desk and often reads verses in his meetings and conversations with Muslim leaders. He used to give copies of the Holy Quran to Muslim presidents, including historical copies, as happened with the president of Iran, the emir of Qatar, and the president of Syria. Some claim that this is mere political propaganda, but others believe that this is due to Putin’s respect for religions. Today, Russia has 6,000 mosques and millions of Muslims who enjoy full freedom of worship. Throughout history, Russia hasn’t witnessed any major hostility with Islam, nor did it enter any religious conflicts. The Islamic republics preserved all their religious and social rights. This explains President Putin’s warm relations with the peoples of these republics and respect for their religions, especially since many of them have a long history with Islam. – Farouk Jweideh