Starting from 2005, the “Foundation of Islam” will be introduced into the curricula of Chechen schools.

The President of Chechnya said that from 2005 (it is not specified, from the new academic year or in the near future - Ed. ), the basics of Islam will be included in the school curriculum of republican schools. Speaking at the opening of a new school, Allu Alkhanov said: "We found it necessary to give children, starting from an early age, knowledge of the basics of Islam. This is done so that they have serious training and, becoming young people, so that no one can involve them in ranks of extremists.

The initiative of A. Alkhanov was positively assessed in the Moscow Patriarchate. "One can only rejoice for Muslim children in Chechnya, who will be taught the basics of their religion," Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations, told Interfax , without failing to add that "Orthodox children need teaching the basics of their religion to no lesser extent, and not only in Chechnya, but also in other regions of Russia.

commented on this initiative of the Chechen leadership and in general the situation with teaching the basics of a particular religious culture at school in an interview with Interfax On January 20 , Mufti Ravil Gainutdin, head of the RMC, : “Teaching the basics of any religious culture should be optional. "we will thus get the beginning of a very serious conflict. In all schools, the Orthodox will begin to teach their subject, and the Muslim child will not be able to say: I want to study the basics of my culture at the same time. If he does not attend these classes, what will be the attitude towards to him from his classmates? This will divide our society. We will already plant Islamophobia at school desks, make it clear: you are a Muslim, you are not ours.

There are no regions in Russia where representatives of only one religion would live. Russians also live in Chechnya, almost 50% of them in Tatarstan, and if the fundamentals of Muslim culture are introduced there without fail, then all Russian children will have to be forced to study them, without giving them the opportunity to learn about the religious culture of their ancestors.

"I believe," said R. Gainutdin, "the President of Chechnya Alu Alkhanov proposed to introduce in his republic the foundations of Islamic culture out of good intentions, so that the Muslims of Chechnya would know the truth about their religion, would not be mistaken and would not join the ranks of extremists. We welcome this, equally as well as the fact that Orthodox people want to get acquainted with the culture of their ancestors. But in any case, the obligatory subject should be precisely the history and culture of all the traditional religions of the country."

Sources

• Schools in Chechnya will teach the basics of Islam // Portal-Credo.ru. 2005. January 11. (Referring to Trud)
• The Russian Orthodox Church welcomes the introduction of the "Fundamentals of Islam" course in Chechen schools // Interfax. 2005. January 12.
• Islam requires the protection of human life // There. January 20th.