Millions of Muslims in Russia are celebrating the month of Ramadan, for the second year in light of the war with Ukraine, which despite its negative economic and security repercussions on them as part of the Russian people, but nevertheless, festive manifestations and a spiritual atmosphere prevail, as in every Ramadan, in their traditional areas of spread and presence, especially in the northern republics. The Russian Caucasus, in addition to major cities such as the capital, Moscow, and St. Petersburg.
Islam is the second largest religion in Russia, and Muslims constitute a majority in 7 Russian regions: Ingushetia (about 98%), Chechnya (96%), Dagestan (94%), Kabardino-Balkaria (70%), and Karachay-Cherkessia (63%). %), Bashkiria (63%), and Tatarstan (54%).
Although there are no accurate statistics on the number of Muslims in the Russian Federation, the estimated percentages for them range from 20 to 25 million, or from 10 to 15 percent of Russia’s population of more than 146 million..
The number of Muslims increases annually more than others, due to the high birth rate among them, and the influx of immigrants from the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, which were formerly Soviet republics and still have strong ties with Russia..
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Academician and professor at the Moscow Higher School of Economics, Rami El-Kalioubi, said in an interview with Sky News Arabia :
* Muslims in Russia are distributed over several regions, republics, and regions, concentrated especially in the Muslim-majority republics of the North Caucasus, such as Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Tatarstan, and Bashkiria. .
* The capital, Moscow, according to estimates, hosts about two million Muslims, including in addition to Russian citizens, who come from the former Soviet republics in Central Asia..
* The manifestations and rituals of Ramadan differ from one region to another, as they are strongly present in the republics of the North Caucasus, but they seem relatively less present in the capital, with some features of Ramadan such as the Ramadan tent in Moscow, which organizes daily iftars and various activities that introduce people to Islamic culture..
* There is an undoubted impact of the economic crises on the Ramadan diaries of Muslims in Russia, and it even precedes the Ukrainian war, which emerged during the Corona pandemic and the imposition of strict restrictions on gatherings, which negatively affected Ramadan activities and rituals over the past few years since 2020. .
* It is true that the Ukraine war and the crisis with the West and the repercussions of the sanctions caused, for example, an increase in inflation in Russia by 12 percent in 2022, which was reflected in the consumer’s purchasing power in general, but the repercussions of that war, especially the economic ones, affect Russian citizens as a whole, not Muslims among them. Just.
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For his part, the director of the Russian-Arab Cultural Center, Dr. Musallam Shaito, who resides in St. Petersburg, said in an interview with Sky News Arabia. :
* Russia is characterized by its wide religious, national and ethnic diversity, and Muslims here enjoy their various rights to practice their religious worship, customs and social rituals on their occasions, especially Ramadan..
* Russian society in general, and Russia’s Muslims in particular, is characterized by strong family relationships, values, and family bonds, whose manifestations increase in various religious and social occasions and holidays..
* The Russian government and people do not distinguish between sects and nationalities in the country, and for this reason Ramadan manifestations appear to be widespread in Russia, including in major cities such as the capital Moscow and St. This city, which serves as the cultural capital of Russia, where tens of thousands of people pray, especially on Fridays, Tarawih prayers and holidays .
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* Ramadan banquets for Iftar and Suhoor for Muslims of Russia are very diverse, and are famous for meat, rice, vegetables, dried fruits and nuts, which reflect the cultural diversity in the Russian Islamic community, and spread among them on such days the habit of visiting and exchanging invitations to the Ramadan Iftar.
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