Scientific life. CONGRESSES, CONFERENCES, AND SYMPOSIA

On November 25-27, 2002, the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Countries of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences held a conference " Islam, the Modern State and modern Civilization. Historical experience of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, as well as neighboring countries and regions". The following issues were discussed: the place of Islam in the modern world, the development of dialogue and the clash of civilizations, the prospects for the evolution of Islamic ideology and rational-liberal interpretation of Islam, the causes and factors of radicalization of Islam, Islam and the political and legal system, Islam and nationalism, Islam and economics, Islam and socio-cultural development. The stated range of problems aroused wide interest both from Moscow Orientalists, political scientists, economists, and specialists from regional research centers. The conference was also attended by scientists from some CIS countries. As a result, over 45 reports were submitted during the three days of the conference.

Opening the conference, Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences R. B. Rybakov noted the undoubted relevance of the topic in conditions when the radicalization of Islam and the search for ways to mutual understanding between civilizations have rapidly developed into a new acute international problem. The timeliness and importance of the conference was also emphasized in his welcoming speech by the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors. Director of the Institute A. Z. Egorin.

Zav. Belokrenitsky noted that this conference is the third one on the problems of Islam organized by the department in the last five years. Having described some trends related to the development of the situation in the region after the events of September 11, 2001, he expressed the hope that the reports and their discussion will allow us to better understand the features of the political role of Islam in the modern East, the prospects for the evolution of statehood in Muslim countries and the fate of Islamic civilization.

Reports of the conference participants were heard at seven sessions. L. R. Syukiyainen (Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report "Muslim law in the legal systems of the Middle East and neighboring regions" noted that in these countries Muslim law plays a different role: from the orientation of legal development towards Sharia (Iran) to the model of a secular state, whose legislation is based on European standards. samples (Turkey). Right-

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The systems of these countries also differ in the degree to which they are influenced by local customs. The experience of the legal development of the region is relevant for studying various models of combining religious and legal principles in Islam, between which there is no direct strict dependence. This feature allows an objective approach to the analysis of the role of Islam in a secular state operating in a non-secular society, which is especially important for a number of Central Asian countries. The principles, institutions and norms of Muslim law can find their place in their legal development. This perspective is based on the relative independence of law from religion in Islam, as well as on the proven practice of interaction between European and Islamic legal cultures in the Middle East region.

A. A. Ignatenko (Institute of Social Problems at Moscow State University) considered the use of the term "Islamic" ("Muslim"). Recently, he stressed, this word usage is associated with various processes, relations and events-from "Islamic civilization" to "Islamic terrorism". The use of the term "Islamic terrorism" is fraught with the emergence of negative social processes and trends, for example, Islamophobia among non-Muslims, victimization attitudes among Muslims. The problem of correct names of things turns out to be very important from a scientific point of view. It is not quite adequate to qualify a particular process or phenomenon as Islamic on the basis of the religious affiliation of the subject or as a result of establishing the conformity of the process or phenomenon with certain provisions and norms of Islam. Qualification as an Islamic religion should be carried out through establishing a link between the qualified object of research and the clergy in Islam as the bearer of this religion, as well as the main social subject interested in its existence.

I. L. Fadeeva (IB RAS) in her report "Islam and Islamic radicalism in the countries of the Near and Middle East" noted that the" failures " of modernization in Islamic countries and the collapse of nationalism as an ideology opposing Islamism are closely related. With the socio-economic situation in Muslim countries becoming more complicated, Islamists, relying on the support of the masses, are trying to replace the values of modernization with religious values. However, this process can hardly be described as positive, given the significant lag of the countries of Islamic civilization from other non-Western civilizations, for example, the countries of Southeast Asia.

S. M. Aliyev (IB RAS) stressed the need for an in-depth analysis of the causes and prerequisites for the emergence of Islamic terrorism (extremism). At the same time, he warned against attempts to indiscriminately overthrow Islam, which has made a huge contribution to world culture, by methods and concepts that are borrowed from the propaganda arsenal of evangelical and Zionist fundamentalists. Such attempts threaten to make the "clash of civilizations" a reality and contribute to the dangerous orientation of the US foreign policy, which is essentially political expansionism, in which anti-Islamic and imperialist elements are closely intertwined.

G. I. Starchenkov (Institute of Islamic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences) - "Radicalization of Islam: causes and consequences and possibilities of prevention" - among the numerous factors of the growth of international radicalism, he particularly highlighted the desire of the United States to establish world domination. To achieve their goals, the latter are increasingly manipulating Christianity and Islam. In turn, Islam as a consolidating force is used by Muslim countries to defend their interests. At the same time, some groups and movements put forward Islamic slogans to fight against their own Westernized elite, which, in their opinion, changes the fundamental principles of Islam and does not defend the interests of the Muslim population.

Z. I. Levin (IB RAS) - "Future Reforms in Islam" - considers it inevitable to modernize or reform religious systems due to changes in the living conditions of their adherents. At the same time, Islam has a high degree of adaptability, which is due to the presence of a variable component in it - the norms of social behavior and the law corresponding to Sharia. This circumstance makes possible a significant reform of Islam in the sense of transforming the traditional or historical Sharia into its theological and legal normativity. The need to revise the provisions of Sharia law has become particularly urgent under the influence of the close contact of the traditional Muslim world with the industrial West. Muslim reformism, concludes Z. I. Levin, is a rationalistic religious and ethical trend of the industrial era, a phenomenon of the transition period,

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an indicator of the transition of Muslim society from the Middle Ages to the present, and this is also a factor contributing to such a transition.

In the process of reforming Islam, the speaker emphasized, there are also some restrictive factors: there is no rigid mechanism of self-organization that fixes and normalizes innovations. Secular globalization also provokes the activation of Islamism, which is opposed to secularism. Despite these difficulties, the search for ways to reactualize Sharia law will continue, as life demands it. We should expect attempts to "ground" Islam by interpreting Islamic doctrine in the spirit of the times or by reviving the practice of ijtihad - free judgment of the holy text. At the same time, special efforts will obviously be required to canonize innovations.

R. G. Landa (IV RAS) - "Causes and factors of radicalization of Islam"-among the main factors that have been active since the late 1960s, he noted the long tradition of confrontation with the West, which was fixed in the colonial and post-colonial period; limited, local, incomplete character of modernization and "Westernization" of the East, especially the Muslim one; the disillusionment of the broad masses of Muslims with the policies of secular nationalists who are unable to cope with the severity of post-colonial problems in the countries of Islam; the emergence and rapid spread of ideas of Islamic fundamentalism as a reaction to the "Westernization" of Muslim society; an unprecedented increase in social tension due to the stratification and polarization of Muslim society during the pauperization of the village, uncontrolled urbanization and marginalization. The main conclusion of the speaker is that, based on the deep economic, social and political roots of such a phenomenon as the radicalization of Islam, it is dangerous and pointless to try to protect yourself from it by escalating a campaign of hatred towards Islam as a religion or reducing this phenomenon to pure criminality, criminal actions or the vain machinations of international criminal authorities. It is necessary to follow the path of a comprehensive and objective study of the causes and factors of radicalization of Islam.

B. S. Druzhilovsky (MGIMO of the Russian Foreign Ministry) - "On the possibilities of combating the manifestation of radicalism in the modern world" - noted that if the 80 - ies of the XX century were marked by an increase in the political activity of radical Islamists in the main centers of the Muslim world (Iran, the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, Egypt, etc.), then, starting from Since the 1990s, the political activity of Islamists has been moving to the periphery, i.e. to places where Muslims have never formed a majority or where they have long lost their ideological positions (in Western Europe, Russia, and Central Asia). This trend was first noticed and described by the American political scientist S. Huntington, who warned about a possible clash between Western and Muslim civilizations. In this situation, the West began to pursue a global policy of combating Islamic or international terrorism. In recent years, the question has arisen about the need to shift the focus from the fight against faceless and categorically vague "international Islamic terrorism" to the fight against specific pro-Islamic terrorist organizations, including in the framework of developing the idea of a"dialogue of civilizations".

According to M. Z. Razhbadinov (Institute of Internal Affairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences) - "New forms of extremist activity of Sunni radical Islamist groups" - the main feature of radical movements is that violence for them has a purposeful religious and legal justification and is the predominant means in the strategy of the struggle for power. He traced the history of the emergence, main stages of development and changes in the strategic and tactical attitudes of the radical Islamic organization Al-Jihad. As the main feature of the modern Islamic radical movement, the speaker noted its decentralization or factionalism in the absence of a single organizational center. Due to the fact that the authorities of a number of Muslim countries managed to achieve significant success in ousting irreconcilable groups to foreign countries, since the mid-1990s, the international activity of radical Islam has intensified, represented by a significant number of isolated radical Islamist groups in various parts of the world.

A.V. Kudryavtsev's report "The Phenomenon of Arab Afghans" noted that in 1980-1992, thousands of volunteers from Arab countries fought on the side of the Afghan Mujahideen against the Soviet troops and the communist government in Kabul. After the Mujahideen captured Kabul in 1992, a significant part of them joined in sabotage operations.-

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terrorist struggle on the side of Muslim separatist movements in various regions of the world. Already in the first half of the 1990s, the activities of the "Arab Afghans" were noticeably marked by an anti-Western, primarily anti-American orientation, the steady increase of which gave reason to talk about the formation of structures of "international terrorism" at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries as a synonym for radical Islamism.

N. G. Kireev (Institute of Islamic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report "Political Islam in the context of globalization (Turkish version)" examined the political activities of Turkish Islamic organizations in Western Europe and the CIS countries. According to him, among the Turks living in Western Europe, and Turkey itself, the Islamist movement "National View" (Milli Gorus) is extremely active. In Turkey, it is represented by successive parties (due to periodic bans). After the ban of the last of them, the Fazilet party, two current Islamist parties emerged on its basis-Saadet (Happiness) and Adalet ve Kalkinma (Justice and Development). The leader of the latter is R. T. Erdogan. The Justice and Development Party came to power in the country following elections held in November 2002.

The main area of interest of the religious community headed by Khoja Fethullah Gulen is the Eurasian states, including the Russian Federation. On their territory, a system of educational institutions has been created at the expense of this community, which, for example, in Russia are not controlled by the Russian Ministry of Education or similar local departments and can actually be considered as centers for popularizing Orthodox Islam. At the same time, in Turkey itself, F. Gulen is being investigated on charges of unconstitutional activities aimed at replacing the secular regime with Sharia law.

A. Z. Arabajan (IV RAS) - "Religion and Power (on the example of Iran)" - criticized the thesis of Sharia theologians of Iran that religion is inseparable from politics, just as politics is inseparable from religion. Religion is used by the Shiite clergy of Iran as a tool for strengthening power. Shiite theologians use Islam at the state level for their own political and economic interests. The events of November 2002, when a professor at the University of Tehran was sentenced to death by a court for calling for the modernization of Islamic canons, became an example of how the ruling theologians turned religion into a tool of intimidation, with which they seek the submission of the population.

The problems of religious extremism in the post-Soviet East were highlighted by D. B. Malysheva (IMEMO). Religious and political movements of extremist orientation (the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islamiyya, etc.), she noted, having become serious opponents to the local secular authorities, have repeatedly demonstrated their destructive potential. The military operations launched by the international anti-Taliban coalition in Afghanistan since October 7, 2001, have undermined the base of religious extremism in Central Asia, although not completely. The authorities of Central Asian states are making efforts to prevent Islamist religious groups from becoming organized. In addition, secular states are being built in Central Asia, as well as in Azerbaijan, which meets the interests of the majority of the population.

V. N. Moskalenko (IB RAS) considered the problem of Islamic radicalism and ethnic regionalism in Pakistan and noted that the period when ethnic regionalism was the main threat to the Pakistani state was replaced by a stage characterized by the emergence of a new threat in the face of religious extremism.

S. V. Prozhogina (IV RAS) - "Problems of Integration of Muslims in France" - analyzed the new stage of development of the North African diaspora in France, its evolution. It was characterized by a complication of relations with the authorities of the French Republic. By the 70s of the last century, due to a significant influx of immigrants, France was forced to resort to the introduction of an annual immigration contingent. A tightening of the policy was also observed in relation to those North Africans who were born in France and are considered its citizens. The main goal of the integration policy of the French authorities towards Muslims is to demand that they follow the norms of life of the French Republic, contrary to Muslim traditions.

A number of reports presented at the conference focused on the role of Islam in the political and social life of individual countries in the region. G. G. Kosach (ISAA at MSU) considered

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foreign policy of Saudi Arabia in the context of the anti-terrorist campaign. Joining the "anti-terrorist coalition", it assumed that its cooperation with the United States would be built taking into account the interests of the kingdom, i.e. it would retain the role of a leading power in the Arab-Muslim world and at the same time a mediator between this world and the West. The Saudi Kingdom's appeal to Islamic rhetoric in this situation was designed to strengthen its position in the Arab and Muslim world, as well as to minimize the negative political consequences of the anti-Saudi, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim campaign accompanying the anti-terrorist operation. Similarly, the position of the Saudi Administration's unconditional support for the Palestinian National Authority during the current Palestinian-Israeli confrontation, as well as its insistence on preventing armed actions against Iraq, should help to solve this problem.

O. I. Zhigalina (IB RAS) analyzed the activities of Kurdish Islamic extremist organizations that emerged both on a local socio-political basis and formed from members of al-Qaeda who came from Afghanistan. At the same time, she noted, Kurdish autonomous organizations treat them irreconcilably, being in a state of armed struggle with Islamic extremists. The Kurdish movement seeks to develop common positions on regional and international issues, while the ideas popularized by Islamists contradict national Kurdish traditions. The speaker assesses the activities of Islamic extremists as dangerous, contributing to inciting religious confrontation and strengthening centrifugal tendencies among Kurds.

A similar point of view was expressed in his report "Islam and the Kurdish National Movement" by Sh. Kh. Mgoi (IB RAS), noting that the goals and objectives of the Kurdish national movement, especially the democratic nature of transformations in Iraqi Kurdistan, contradict the fundamental attitudes of Islamists. As a result, Islamic fundamentalism is one of the major obstacles to the development of the Kurdish national movement.

B. M. Yagudin (Kazan State University) -" Islam in the political and legal acts of Turkey of the XX century " - analyzed the most important political and legal acts, from the constitution of 1876 to modern ones, which somehow reflected the role of Islam in the social and political life of the country. At the same time, the main direction of the evolution of political and legal regulation, he stressed, is the transition from the total de-Islamization of the era of M. K. Ataturk to the gradual re-Islamization of the second half of the XX century.The victory of the pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party in the 2002 parliamentary elections is considered as the next stage.

P. P. Sikoev (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report "Governance based on Sharia (on the example of the Islamic Emirate of the Taliban)" considered the attempt made by the military-religious leadership of the Taliban movement in the period 1995-2001 to create an Islamic theocratic state in which all aspects of society and individual life would be regulated by Sharia law. The speaker described the peculiarities of this state, in particular its political concept (the relationship between religion and the state), the form of state structure, structure and priorities in the activities of the executive branch, economic policy, judicial and punitive system, public relations, and foreign policy. In his opinion, the attempt to create a "purely Islamic state" in Afghanistan in the XXI century, in which society would live according to medieval sharia norms in their radical interpretation, ended in failure and showed all the futility of moving in this direction.

During the conference, a number of reports by young orientalists were heard. V. V. Kravchenko (ISAA at Moscow State University) - "Islamization in Pakistan in the 1970s-1980s: causes and features" noted that Islamization in the country was carried out by the secular leadership and was not brought to the creation of a theocratic state. The Zia ul-Haq regime, while seeking to use representatives of sectarian parties to strengthen its position, did not intend to cede supreme power to the clergy. After the death of Zia ul-Haq in 1988, there was a return to democratic order. However, the Islamists ' positions were unexpectedly strong. Therefore, the current President of the country, P. Musharraf, has to look for ways to interact with pro-Islamic forces. A. R. Bashirova (Kazan State University) - "The Islamic Factor on the path of Turkey's integration into the EU" - traced the evolution of Turkey's Islamic parties and analyzed their attitude to its integration into the EU. In her opinion, the EU has always been aware of the fact that Turkey is a Muslim country, so its interests in the region are very important.-

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Integration into the organization of European countries, which is essentially a Christian club, was considered undesirable and impossible. Nevertheless, Europe has pursued a policy of flirting with Turkey, which is unlikely to lead to its full membership in the European Union, including for religious reasons.

D. A. Nechitailo's report "Ideological arsenal and methods of Islamist propaganda" analyzed the methods used by modern Islamists to promote the values of "true Islam" through the system of traditional Muslim brotherhoods, modern parties, the election procedure, etc. The latest trend in the development of Islamism has been the emergence of a transnational Islamist movement, whose tasks are not so much to establish an Islamic order in Muslim countries, but rather to fight the West all-out.

The conference also featured presentations by V. G. Korgun (IAS RAS) on "Islam and the National Problem in the Political Evolution of Modern Afghanistan", S. M. Ravandi-Fadai (IAS RAS) on "Radical Extremist Parties in Iran", A. L. Safronova (ISAA at Moscow State University) on "Islam in South Asia", and O. V. Pleshova (IB RAS) "Islam and Political Culture in Pakistan", B. S. Boyko (Altai University, Barnaul) "Islamic factor in Western models of Afghanistan development in the late XX-early XXI centuries", B. M. Potskhveria (IB RAS) "Ethno-confessional aspect of the Cyprus problem", A. E. Harutyunyan (Yerevan State University) "The influence of the Islamic factor on Armenia's foreign policy", y . Okimbekova (IB RAS) "On the activities of the Aga Khan Foundation in Central Asia and Afghanistan", K. V. Vertyaeva (IB RAS) "Islamic Parties in Turkey and the Kurdish Issue", L. M. Kulagina (IB RAS) "New trends in relations between Iran and Islamic countries", Yu. V. Bosina (ISAA at Moscow State University) "Prospects of the post-Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the light of the Afghan political tradition", by N. M. Mammadova (Institute of Islamic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Features and prospects of transformation of Islamic statehood in Iran", by F. A. Mamedova. The role of Sufism in politics on the example of the North Caucasus.

At the final session of the conference, issues of Islam and economics, Islam and socio-cultural development were discussed. N. Y. Ulchenko's report "Islam in the Business world of Turkey" noted that the increased polarization of Turkish society in recent years regarding the attitude to Islam and its role in the country's life has also affected the business world. As a result, the Society of Independent Entrepreneurs (MUSIAD) was established as a strong Islamic business in the country. However, since Turkey is a secular State, whose Constitution does not allow the use of fundamental rights and freedoms in order to create a threat to the existence of the Turkish state, the activities of the Society are not openly pro-Islamic in opposition. The MUSIAD mainly unites representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, which indicates that the association of members is based not only on their religious beliefs, but also on dissatisfaction with the focus of the secular state's economic policy on supporting large businesses to the detriment of its less powerful representatives. The concepts of solving the country's economic problems proposed by the MUSIAD are oppositional and populist in nature, but are not related to any particular variants of the Islamic economy.

Tsukanov V. P. (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) considered the interaction of the principles of Islamic economics and economic policy in Iran. The Islamic element in the Iranian economy is represented by the banking system, which went through two stages of development after the anti-Shah Islamic Revolution. At the first stage (1979-1983), banks were nationalized and merged. The second stage began in 1983 after the adoption of the law on banking activities without "riba", i.e. on an interest-free basis. Banking regulation began to determine the credit limit, the distribution of loans between the public and private sectors, between sectors of the economy, as well as the rates of reimbursement for the use of credit funds. The restructuring of the banking system led to the elimination of the principle of competitiveness, monetary regulation lost its flexibility and became completely subordinate to budget policy. Among Iranian economists, the Islamic banking system has its supporters and critics, but the real banking activity in Iran is gradually moving towards the principles prevailing in world practice.

I. V. Zhmuida (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences), who presented the report "Islamization of the economy of Pakistan: some results", highlighted the most important steps taken in recent years:

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25 years in the direction of Islamization of the national economy, such as the introduction of mandatory purification tax Zakat and agricultural tax in the morning, a special Islamic system of interest-free lending for small farmers from the funds of cooperative and commercial banks, the gradual transfer of the credit and financial system to Islamic principles. Nevertheless, the actions of the Pakistani authorities on Islamization have not yet led to the creation of a special Muslim structure, and, moreover, its adaptation to the modern foundations of social development has encountered objective difficulties.

V. B. Klyashtorina (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) - "The problem of' Dialogue of Civilizations 'in today's Iran" - touched upon new aspects of civilizational polemics that emerged among Iranian and Western ideologists after 2001-2002. If such ideologists as Fukuyama and Huntington interpret the possibility of continuing dialogue with the countries of the Islamic region rather pessimistically, then the Iranians focus their concept on continuing cultural dialogue with the West and consolidating the country's new geopolitical and legal positions in the system of international relations.

The session also included a report by I. N. Serenko (Institute of Women's Education of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Women's education and Islam in Pakistan".

The organizers of the conference hope that it has fulfilled the urgent task of exchanging views between Russian researchers on the problems of Islam in the countries of the East. The conference made a contribution to the development of the academic tradition of the Russian school of Oriental studies, as evidenced by an in-depth scientific analysis of issues, mainly objective and well-founded conclusions based on an understanding of the origins of problems, knowledge of their historical dynamics and a real understanding of the prospects for development.

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