In the Tyumen region, two mosques were fined for storing banned books

The Tyumen District Court fined two Muslim organizations and their chairmen under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

At the end of 2021, the Tyumensky District Court of the Tyumen Region fined two Muslim religious organizations and their chairmen under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (mass distribution of extremist materials).

On November 12, Hamsya Kamalov, chairman of the local Muslim religious organization "Indrey" (Andreevsky village), was fined 2,000 rubles. On December 3, the organization itself was fined 50,000 rubles. The reason was that the mosque was found recognized as extremist books by Fauzia Bayramova "The Path of Knowledge to Truth" and "The Personality of a Muslim, in the form that Islam seeks to give it with the help of the Koran and the Sunna" al-Hashimi.

On November 30, Tagir Fazylov, the chairman of the council of the mosque in the village of Borovsky, was fined (the amount was not specified), and on December 7, the mosque itself was fined 50,000 rubles. During the check in the madrasah at the mosque, a forbidden book by Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi "Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. The First Righteous Caliph" was found. Fazylov told the court that the madrasah received this book from the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Tyumen region.

We are inclined to believe that there were not sufficient grounds for banning all these books and, accordingly, punishing local religious organizations and their leaders. Bayramova's book was banned in 2012, along with a large set of materials, on the grounds that she allegedly belongs to the Nurcular movement (a follower of the Turkish theologian Said Nursi) recognized as extremist. We do not consider it legitimate to ban the works of Nursi and his followers, since they do not contain any - or extreme statements, and oppose the persecution of Muslims who study Nursi's books.The book "The Personality of a Muslim" was included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials three times (in this case, the Tyumen court relied on the 2007 ban).It is a set of ethical rules and rules everyday of life for devout Muslims, which, in our opinion, does not contain any signs of extremism.

The book of the modern theologian al-Sallabi is dedicated to the biography of Caliph Abu Bakr. The author may have realized that today's Islamists can be inspired by the history of the latter's struggle with apostates and the conquest of new lands. He also writes that Muslims should follow the example of the first caliph (not focusing, however, on his military activities, but speaking of his righteousness in general). However, there are no direct calls for war with the infidels in his book. We believe that it is impossible to forbid Muslims from writing about the history of Islam and its religious leaders, however militant ones; Religious wars have taken place in the history of most religions and are naturally reflected in spiritual literature.

Sources

• Case card No. 5-961/2021 // Website of the Tyumen District Court of the Tyumen Region. December 30, 2021
• Case card No. 5-962/2021 // Website of the Tyumen District Court of the Tyumen Region. December 30, 2021
• Case card No. 5-1051/2021 // Website of the Tyumen District Court of the Tyumen Region. 2022. January 14.
• Case card No. 5-1052/2021 // Website of the Tyumen District Court of the Tyumen Region. 2022. January 14.