ISLAM AND MUSLIM IN RUSSIA
Islam is the second religion in the number of adherents in Russia. The Muslim community has survived the Russian Empire and Soviet government and is now going through a renaissance.
Introduction
The history of Islam in Russia is long and glorious as well as doleful and dreadful. Many stringent steps were taken against Islam and the Muslims during and after the Russian Revolution. Those tough and tight measures, however, failed to wipe out the Muslims and their rich cultural heritage. On the contrary, the present position rather confirms the fact beyond doubt that like all other Muslim regions of the world the Russian Muslim areas are also in the grips of a rising wave of awakening. Despite strict Russian censure of the media the entire world has known by now how vigorously the people of the Muslim majority areas of Russia have asserted their separate political identity and revitalized their distinctive cultural heritage. The more recent upsurges in all the Muslim states of Russia are simply eye-opening for everyone. All awakening movements among the Russian Muslims have always been distinctly Islamic in letter and spirit.
Brief History of Islam in Russia
In the seventh century A.D(first century A.H.) Islam entered on the Russian scene. Even during the Rightly Guided Caliphate at Madinah, the Muslim armies had started making penetrations into Russian soil. The first land that came under muslim control was Azerbaijan In 642.The Muslims also occupied the extreme border town of Darbund in 658. After the conquest of eastern Caucasia (Qafqaz) Islam began to spread in these areas without any resistance. The Muslim armies crossed river Oxus in 673. Bukhara fell to the Muslims in 674. The series of such conquests went on up t ...