Green day of the calendar?

Russia proposes to introduce a new holiday - the day of the adoption of Islam

The day of the adoption of Islam - a new commemorative date may appear in the official annual. Such a bill introduced to the State Duma parliamentarians of Tatarstan. What are the goals - found The New Times

With the idea of ​​introducing a new holiday to the list of commemorative dates - the day of the adoption of Islam - deputies of Tatarstan turned to the State Duma on June 10: shortly after in the spring to celebrate the day of the baptism of Rus', the Russian government made. The corresponding law, amending the calendar of commemorative dates, was adopted by the State Duma on May 21, approved by the Federation Council on May 26, and on June 1 it was signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. For the first time, the country will celebrate the new holiday on July 28. The Orthodox now have their own holiday, but Muslims do not have such a holiday - the authorities of Tatarstan judged. According to the parliament of the republic, the day of the adoption of Islam should emphasize the equality of two main faiths and remind the Russians that the history of the country is not only the history of Rus'.

Whose holiday
In May 922, the pagan Volga Bulgaria, on whose territory there is a modern Tatarstan and whose cultural and historical successor the republic considers itself, adopted the religion of the Prophet Muhammad - this is how chronicle chronicles say. Since then, this part of the Volga became Muslim. After 630 years, Ivan the Terrible won Kazan, and Russia acquired not only the territory of the former Bulgarian state, but also its history and culture. In any case, the heirs of ancient Bulgaria, deputies of Tatarstan, consider this way. However, it is no secret to anyone: more or less significant political proposals in Tatarstan do not appear without the approval of one very influential Tatar-the former head of the republic, and now the state adviser Mintimer Shaimiev, who, after the resignation from the presidential, remains a significant figure on the local political Olympus. According to The New Times, the idea to appeal to the federal authorities with a request to supplement the state calendar with a new memorable date belongs to him - the deputies only issued this idea.

The struggle for the championship
Meanwhile, Mintimer Sharipovich, by his own admission, is an unbeliever person. He was brought up in atheistic times and did not break himself when, after the fall of the communist regime, the former communists began to portray piety. But it was on his initiative in the regional calendar of Tatarstan that a day off appeared: the Muslim holiday of Kurban-Bayram-the end of the Holy month of Ramadan, and today he advocates the approval of the day of the adoption of Islam as an all-Russian state memorial date. For Shaimiev, this new holiday, if he is accepted, will become his own victory and victory for Tatarstan. After all, this is not the only traditional Islamic Republic in Russia. There is a North Caucasus where such Muslim regions as Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia are rapidly gaining influence. Tatarstan against this trinity looks quite secular. In addition, in the Caucasus, Islam was accepted earlier than in the Volga region, although the Caucasus became part of Russia much later. The day of the adoption of Islam, according to the authors of the idea, will highlight Tatarstan among the Muslim regions of Russia. Even if this memorable date will not be adopted in the Caucasian republics, which value their history and their traditions. Tatarstan acts with a purely political proposal, which is only painted in Islamic colors. Any holiday has its own story, and the day of the adoption of Islam, in theory, should talk about the general history of the Muslim ummah (community) of Russia, while in its current form it will only be sent to the ancient history of Tatarstan, because the adoption of the Muslim faith of the Volga Bulgaria is not related to other Muslim republics.

In addition, since the end of last year, Russian Muslims have been actively negotiating on the establishment of a single canonical Islamic administration, as it was before the 1917 revolution. Then in Ufa the spiritual department of Mohammedan, which was in charge of the affairs of the Muslim Ummah and led the daily life of the Muslims of the Russian Empire. Today in Russia there are three such centers: the spiritual administration, the Coordination Council of Muslims of the North Caucasus and the Council of Muftis of Russia. The unification process is led, there is a struggle for power, Muslims cannot decide who will lead the united management. In every Muslim region, from Chechnya to Bashkortostan, they put forward their arguments and their candidates.

Go around competitors
The project “Day of the adoption of Islam” in Tatarstan is intended to use to approve the republic as the Muslim Center of Russia. In Kazan, it is expected that Moscow will support this option, since the situation in the North Caucasus is still unstable: it is better for Russia to have an Islamic center in a calm Volga region than in a hot Caucasus. Moreover, Islam in the republic is more like a cultural feature and does not have a fundamentalist color, as in Makhachkala or Grozny, where a scandal around the girls recently flared up, who were shot on the street for the fact that they left the house without a scarf on their heads.

The leadership of the State Duma has not yet expressed its attitude to the initiative of colleagues from Tatarstan. Some deputies expressed doubts about the need for such a memorable date, but the head of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov publicly supported the initiative. Mintimer Shaimiev said that the festive day of the adoption of Islam will be entered in the calendar in any case. Even if this is not done at the federal level, Tatarstan will independently approve the historical date on its regional calendar.