The Central Asian muftiate in occupied Afghanistan, 1979–87
2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 30; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/02634937.2011.567068
ISSN1465-3354
Autores Tópico(s)Political Conflict and Governance
ResumoAbstract Known by the Russian acronym SADUM, the muftiate responsible for overseeing mosques in the five Soviet Central Asian republics conducted pro-Soviet public diplomacy in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan after the invasion of December 1979. SADUM's engagement with pro-Soviet ulama in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan marks a departure from the character of its extensive propaganda and relationship-building activities elsewhere in the Muslim and developing worlds. The Central Asian Islamic scholars staffing SADUM sought to assist the Soviet Party-state in establishing and consolidating a cadre of Afghan ulama who could achieve legitimacy in the eyes of Afghanistan's overwhelmingly Muslim population while maintaining political support for the Communist-oriented People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Keywords: AfghanistanCentral AsiaIslam and stateSocialismSovietization; ‘ulama Acknowledgements I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of this article. Notes Its formal name was the Religious Board of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Historians of Soviet Russia have emphasized the importance of international relations as well as concerns over Russian nationalism as primary considerations behind Stalin's decision to open up religious life (Shkarovskii Citation1999, Chumachenko Citation2002, Miner Citation2003, Plokhy Citation2010). KR BMA 2597 / 2s / 2 / 3 (20 May 1945). On the anti-religious campaign in Central Asia see Tasar (Citation2010, pp. 249–337). For campaign-era policy towards Islam more generally: Ro'i (Citation2000, pp. 205–213). On the Russian Orthodox Church during the campaign years: Anderson (Citation1994, pp. 6–67), Davis (1993, pp. 34–45), Shkarovskii (Citation1999, p. 364), Chumachenko (Citation2002, pp. 143–188). In 1963, for example, the muftiate extended invitations for all-paid visits to the Soviet Union to three Islamic figures each from Iraq and Iran, five from Afghanistan, Tunisia (two), Somalia (three), India (five), Pakistan (five), Mali (four), Sudan (six), Libya (three), Senegal (two), Indonesia (four), Yemen (three), Turkey (three), Ghana (one), Kenya (three). O'zR MDA r-2456 / 1 / 338 / 3 (18 February 1963). O'zR MDA r-2456 / 1 / 515 / 23 (early 1971). O'zR MDA r-2456 / 1 / 624 / 156-7 (Autumn 1980). The Soviet senior leadership understood that the war would be long and painful, and as early as 1981 began contemplating a diplomatic solution to the conflict, for example, United Nations-mediated talks (Kalinovsky Citation2009, p. 58). For discussion of considerations behind the invasion: Kakar (Citation1995, pp. 32–40). Four years before the withdrawal, in the Autumn of 1985, Gorbachev informed the Afghan Communist leader, Babrak Karmal, that ‘by the summer of 1986 you'll have to have figured out how to defend your cause on your own. We'll help you, but with arms only, not troops. And if you want to survive you'll have to broaden the base of the regime, forget socialism, make a deal with the truly influential forces, including the Mujahideen commanders and leaders of now-hostile organizations. You'll have to revive Islam, respect traditions, and try to show the people some tangible benefits from the revolution’ (Cherniaev Citation2000, p. 42). The struggle with religion remained a central rhetorical and propaganda priority for the CPSU throughout the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s. Furthermore, scientific atheistic studies in the social sciences experienced a boom in the USSR throughout these decades. On religious policy in Central Asia under Brezhnev and Andropov, see Tasar (Citation2010, pp. 442–491). For the conduct of atheistic propaganda under Brezhnev: Powell (Citation1975). For the Russian Orthodox Church during the 1970s and 1980s: Pospielovsky (Citation1984), Fedotov (Citation2005). The leadership appreciated that the Party's anti-religious orientation complicated its image abroad. At a Politburo gathering in 1985, apparently discussing a draft of a decree entitled ‘On Strengthening the Struggle with the Influence of Islam’ (18 August 1986), Gorbachev cautioned: ‘Islam's influence is increasing. Our document (the Politbiuro decree) should not give the impression that we are commencing a struggle with Islam, with the faithful. The struggle should be with religious extremism's anti-Soviet consequences. This has a philosophical and political aspect. We should strive to reduce religiosity, to channel this demand elsewhere. They blame us, that we violate our own laws on freedom of conscience. But all are equal before the law, all religions, believers and unbelievers. What should be done? A strong constructive programme is needed. Who should we blame if we offer nothing to the people? Political and social obfuscation constitute the thriving ground of religion. People should be pushed towards an open, intelligent debate concerning all the questions that religion addresses’ (Cherniaev et al., Citation2006, p. 74). For more background on Khalqi rule see Barfield (Citation2010, pp. 227–238); DRA Ministry of Justice Citation1979. BM JT 1516/1/66/1-2 (8 August 1957) On 2 February 1966, Maiwandwal viewed the Mashaf-i Sharif, or Usmon Qur'on, at Hast Imom. ‘He kissed the Qur'an and said it was the holiest thing he had ever seen in his life. “No matter how long we look upon it, we cannot avert our gaze.” GA RF r-6991 / 6 / 50 / 96 (1966). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/587/11 (January 1977). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/610/72 (early 1980). An anonymous source in Samarqand indicates it is widely known that Toshkenbaev also held the post of colonel in the KGB. SADUM printed thousands of copies of the Qur'an throughout its history, almost exclusively for international audiences. This was meant to serve as proof of the existence of freedom of conscience in Soviet Central Asia. Few copies found their way even to members of the organization, let alone ordinary Muslims. In 1962, for example, the qadi of Kazakhstan complained that he had not received a single copy, even though SADUM had published 1200 copies that year, all of them ‘sent to Soviet embassies in the Muslim countries of Asia and Africa’. O'zR MDA r-2456 / 1 / 309 / 107 (8 February 1962) The full report is in O'zR MDA r-2456/1/611/19-24 (12 July 1979). As if this were not enough, a giddy Toshkenbaev further recounted that ‘during the initial days of the exhibition's opening, visitors glanced with some trepidation upon the Islam in the USSR booth. [But] in subsequent days our booth literally became a place of pilgrimage for the believers. And it has to be said that 90% of the country's population are believing Muslims. Arriving at the booth, the visitors asked in every conceivable way to be allowed to touch the Qur'an published in the Soviet Union, kissing its pages and even the glass of the case in which the Qur'ans had been placed. Thousands and thousands of local residents inquired with lively interest about Muslim life in the USSR, and expressed wonder at the existence of many hundreds of congregational mosques, as well as Islamic educational establishments, in the [world's] first socialist country.’ The central archive of the KGB (now FSB) in Moscow, which would contain the most detailed account of the relevant deliberations, remains classified. I also did not locate documentation pertaining to discussions within CARC and the Soviet Foreign Ministry concerning SADUM's activities. It is inconceivable that SADUM took any steps inside the DRA without seeking approval or direction from both entities. On 1 January 1980, the PDPA issued a general amnesty for political prisoners arrested by Amin in honor of its fifteenth anniversary. According to one source, 15,000 prisoners were released (Masud et al. Citation1983, p. 20). The event was held in the Grand Hall of Kabul's Salam Khana Palace on 30 June 1980. In his opening speech to the assembled ‘ulama, Karmal directly addressed Afghan concerns about Soviet policy towards Islam: ‘I have the honour of informing the esteemed ulemas and members of the clergy that British propaganda is spreading reports that Islam no longer exists in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenia, Kirghizia and Tataria. Go there and see for yourselves whether Islam exists there or not. Travelling expenses will be borne by the state’ (DRA Religious Scholars and Clergy Conference Citation1980, p. 19). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/610/13 (early 1980). SADUM established its International Department in 1961. O'zR MDA r-2456/1/624/47 (Spring 1980) He also explained to the Meccan jurisconsult that ‘as for us, we, as the closest neighbor of Afghanistan, are always prepared to extend a hand to our brothers, the 17 million-strong Muslim population of that country’. GARF r-6991 / 6 / 2050 / 84 (27 January 1981). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/640/1 (30 June 1981). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/703/77 (July 1985). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/624/42 (Spring 1980). This argument directly echoed the official propaganda line that the PDPA's programme more authentically reflected Islamic values than various statements made by the mujahideen. At the Twenty-Sixth Party Congress in 1981, for example, Brezhnev stated that ‘we Communists respect the religious beliefs of those practicing Islam, or any other religion. The important thing is to question the motives of those powers propounding this or that slogan’ (Zalesskii and Kupchenia Citation1983, p. 76). Yusufxon Olimxonovich Shokirov (b. 1926) was appointed head of the International Department by SADUM's third mufti, Shamsuddinxon (in office 1982–89). He was the son of SADUM's qadi in Kyrgyzstan from 1943 to 1962, the Mecca-trained jurisconsult Olimxon to'ra Shokirxo'jayev (Kyrgyz, Alymkan toro Shakir kojo ulu). He studied at Al-Azhar in Egypt for five to six years during the 1950s and learned English, which he spoke fluently, by exchanging free lessons in Russian and English with the son of a theology professor in Cairo. KR BMA 2597 / 1s / 66 / 115 (6 August 1957). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/703/16 (July 1985). Abdulgani Abdullaevich Abdullaev (b. 1928) served as editor of SADUM's journal, Muslims of the Soviet East, for much of the 1970s and became Deputy Chair in 1982. He studied at Al-Azhar in the 1950s. It is not clear when he learned English, which he apparently spoke fluently. GA RF r-6991/6/2308/29 (11 March 1982). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/719/2 (6 May 1987). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/610/11 (January 1980). GA RF r-6991/6/2050/31 (7 January 1981). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/651/102 (22 January 1982). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/703/49 (July 1985). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/720/10 (22 July 1986). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/733/112 (3 December 1987). It bears mentioning that some Afghan visitors had less lofty ambitions in visiting the Soviet Union. Sayyid Afghani, head of the DRA's Islamic Affairs Directorate, returned from a 1981 trip to Uzbekistan with 500 kg (more than 1100 lbs) of baggage, consisting almost entirely of ‘gifts and cash’ as well as ‘various valuables’. O'zR MDA r-2456/1/637/9 (December 1981). An ethnic Pashtun, Sayyid Afghani studied at al-Azhar in Cairo and chaired the Department of Islamic Affairs until 1983 (Lobato Citation1985, p. 114). It seems likely that this was actually the senior PDPA official Sulayman Laiq. However, SADUM's documentation consistently refers to this figure as Sulayman Lonk. The Ma'had (the Imam al-Bukhari Islamic Institute in Tashkent, established in 1971) was one of the two madrasas operated by SADUM, offering advanced Islamic education, often for employees who had already worked as imams for some years. The other, the Mir-i Arab madrasa in Bukhara (opened in 1945 as part of Stalin's wartime religious reforms) offered Islamic education at the secondary school level. On the Mir-i Arab, see Ro'i (Citation2000, p. 163), Tasar (Citation2010, pp. 203–205). The full report is in O'zR MDA r-2456/1/640/8-15 (9 July 1981). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/719/2 (6 May 1987). Muslims of the Soviet East commenced publication briefly in 1945 or 1946, only to resume in 1968 with an initial circulation of 8000. By the early 1980s it was issued in Arabic, English, French, Persian, Russian and Uzbek, with a peak circulation of 30,000. GA RF r-6991 / 6 / 2308 / 84 (1982). A delicate reference to the massive refugee camps in Baluchistan and the Northwest Frontier Province, which provided a significant portion of the manpower of the Mujahideen. Nur apparently had the idea of using SADUM's journal to conduct propaganda among these refugees. O'zR MDA r-2456/1/719/3-4 (6 May 1987). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/720/16 (22 July 1986). On the event more generally: Shurah-i Milli-i Afghanistan (Citation1986). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/611/21 (12 July 1979). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/640/11 (9 July 1981) The Pul-i Khishti mosque had a long history of hosting political demonstrations. On 2 November 1841, a leading Afghan religious figure declared jihad against the British at this mosque, paving the way for the end of the first Anglo-Afghan War (Nawid Citation1999, p. 20). A major anti-government protest took place there in 1969. On the other hand, Abdullaev visited the same mosque in 1986 without encountering any unpleasantness: ‘The delegation attended Friday prayers at the Pul-i Khishti and Vazir Akbar Khan mosques, where it was warmly received by the hatibs and believers present. They expressed their confidence in the Muslims of the USSR and some of them thanked the USSR for its selfless assistance to the DRA.’ O'zR MDA r-2456/1/719/2 (6 May 1987). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/651/101 (22 January 1982). Indeed, that correspondence distinguishes itself by the paucity of references to Marx, Lenin or any other ideological figure of stature in the Soviet Union. O'zR MDA r-2456/1/720/28 (26 December 1986). O'zR MDA r-2456/1/719/1-2 (6 May 1987). Ibid., l. 3.
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