ISLAM
ISLAM, one of the world’s religions. Founded in Western Arabia in the 7th century. Founder – Prophet Muhammad. Followers – Muslims. Source of Faith – Koran. Sacred Tradition – Sunnah, which consists of the examples from Muhammad’s life. Sharia is a collection of religious, ethical and legal rules. Main tenets of I.: Shahad (faith in Allah and worship of Muhammad as the Messenger of Allah), Namaz (prayer), Sawm (fasting in I.), Zakat (religious tax) and Hadj (pilgrimage). Schools – Sunnism and Shiism.
The trade and economic relations with the Muslim states established in the 8–9th centuries promote I.’s penetration in Bashkortostan. The spread of I. among the Bashkirs is associated with its official adoption in 922 by the Volga-Bulgarian Empire, which included the territories of the western part of Bashkortostan, and later on with the incorporation of Bashkortostan with the states in which I. was professed in different periods.
The establishment of the Orenburg Muslim Spiritual Assembly contributed to the strengthening of I. and the official Muslim clergy positions in the Volga region and in the Urals. The construction of mosques, maktabs and madrassas began along with the transition of the Bashkirs to a settled life style.
The USSR anti-religious policy during the 1920–30s led to a sharp reduction in the number of mosques and Islamic communities. Bashkortostan was divided into spheres of influence of the two Muslim institutions – the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the BASSR. I.’s positions declined during the 1950–70s. From the 2nd half of the 1980s the old mosques restoration and the new mosques construction processes begin while some cult buildings are returning to Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the European Part of the USSR and Siberia.
In the Republic there are the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Regional Spiritual Board of Muslims of the RB Central Muslim Spiritual Board, Muslim parishes, mosques and prayer centres. Russia’s Central Muslim Spiritual Board is situated in Ufa. Theological education can be received in such Ufa institutions as the Russian Islamic University, the Maryam Sultanova Islamic College (madrassa) and the Galiya Madrassa. Theological education is also available at the Nur al Iman Madrassa in Sterlitamak and at Nurul Islam in Oktyabrsky. The Maglyumat al Bulga — Vestnik (Messenger) and The Risalyat newspapers are published.
