In the Nizhny Novgorod region, an imam was fined under the article on distributing extremist materials

A copy of the forbidden publication of hadiths was kept in the classroom of the rural mosque.

On February 10, 2022, the Spassky District Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region fined the chairman of the local religious organization of Muslims "Mahalla No. 1" Rinad Kukaev for two thousand rubles under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (mass distribution of extremist materials or their storage for the purpose of mass distribution).

The reason was that during a check in the classroom of a mosque in the village of Tatarskoe Maklakovo, a book “40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi” with comments by Mustafa al-Bug and Muhyi-d-Din Mistu was found.

Comments on 40 hadiths of al-Nawawi were banned as part of 68 Islamic religious materials in 2012 in Orenburg, but this ban was lifted in 2015 . But back in May 2012, the Sol-Iletsk District Court of the Orenburg Region also recognized this book as extremist, along with a number of other religious writings seized during searches in the case of organizing a cell of the banned Tablighi Jamaat organization in Sol-Iletsk. After that, the book was included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials under the number 1622 (recall that the collection of al-Nawawi hadith itself was banned in 2014 by the Nevyansky District Court of the Sverdlovsk Region and in 2018 was included in the Federal List under the number 4673 ) .

From our point of view, there was no reason to ban the comments of Mustafa al-Bug and Muhyi-d-Din Mist on this well-known collection of hadiths, since they do not contain any inflammatory appeals or signs of inciting hatred on religious grounds. Therefore, we believe that Rinad Kukaev was wrongfully brought to justice. We also note that, in our opinion, the discovery of one book on the shelf, albeit in a classroom, does not give grounds for persecution for its mass distribution, namely, such distribution of extremist materials is punishable by Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

Sources

• Case card on an administrative offense No. 5-14/2022 // Spassky District Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. March 2023