Fachrizal Halim on Communism and Islam

My friend Fachrizal had an article published in the Jakarta Post in October challenging the notion that the Indonesian Communist movement was hostile to Islam from its inception.

Fachrizal cites Lenin's appeal to "all labouring Muslims of Russia and the East", and the subsequent support for the Bolsheviks on the part of some Russian Muslims. In Fachrizal's view, this "strategic alliance" was a result of the shared opposition of the Muslims and the Bolsheviks to Western imperialism.

Fachrizal argues that a similar alliance existed in Indonesia between the Communists and the Muslims masses. He concludes that it is time for the Communists' contribution to the formation of modern-day Indonesia to be fully acknowledged.

This is certainly a very interesting take on the issue. The history of cooperation between the Communists and Islamists in the days of Indonesia's struggle for independence is new to me. I do feel, though, that Fachrizal might be somewhat idealistic when he talks about Lenin's attitude towards Russian Muslims. On the other hand, he does acknowledge the fact that Stalin saw no grounds for the compatibility of Islam and Communism. This had a devastating outcome not just for the freedom of conscience of Soviet Muslims, but also in Indonesia, where the pro-Soviet Communists were forced to take an increasingly anti-Islamic stance.

Happy Old New Year!

I'd like to wish all of my post-Soviet and associated readers a happy Old New Year!

The Old New Year, one of the vestiges of the Julian calendar, is still celebrated in the former USSR, where it closes the holiday season, but also elsewhere, as you can read here.

26,000 Russian pilgrims go on Hajj

A record 26,000 pilgrims from Russia have gone on Hajj this year, after Saudi Arabia raised Russia's quota from 20,000. Chechnya alone accounts for 3,000 pilgrims.

Abdul-Vakhed Niyazov, head of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Russia, observed that

This year, because of religious consciousness, the end of violence in the North Caucasus and in Chechnya in particular and the current growth of people's well-being, people can just allow themselves to do this.

Russia currently has 4,000 mosques, up from the 90 it had at the end of the Soviet era, and Islam is undergoing something of a revival there.

Rushan Abbyasov, director of international relations for the Russian Council of Muftis, observed that Hajjis from other parts of the world are still getting used to the presence of Russian pilgrims. According to him, "A good many people are surprised that there are Muslims in Russia" (International Herald Tribune).

40 killed in Afghanistan by suicide bomber

A suicide bomber has allegedly set off an explosion in which 40 people, mostly civilians and including children, were killed in Afghanistan's Baghlan Province today.

The attacker targeted a sugar factory where a visit by a parliamentary delegation was underway. Six MPs, including the opposition politician Mustafa Kazimi, a veteran of the anti-Soviet struggle, were killed in the attack. The children who were killed were there to welcome the MPs.

The Taliban have denied responsibility for the bombing, and have condemned the attack (BBC).

I am inclined to believe the Taliban on this one, mostly because how far away this attack was from their usual area of activity. However, I wouldn't put it past them to do this sort of thing elsewhere in the country. The Taliban are no strangers to using suicide bombing, without regard to civilian casualties, as a means to try to evict NATO soldiers from Afghanistan.