Russia: Survey Shows that Muslim Population Is Much Smaller Than Previously Believed

[Crvena zvezda]

December 21, 2006

Russia: Survey Shows that Muslim Population Is Much Smaller Than Previously Believed

A recent social survey by one of Russia's most prominent polling organizations puts the country's Muslim population at 6 percent, far below the 15 percent claimed by Russian Muslim leaders. This smashes the myth that Russia is on its way to becoming a `Muslim' country, and it serves as ammunition to stop the incessant attacks by Russian Muslim leaders on the country's political establishment by which they hope to establish Muslim law in the country.
This recent authoritative research was carried out over the past few weeks by VTsIOM, Russia's top polling agency, and Izvestiya, a leading daily newspaper. The poll also reported that 63 percent of Russians consider themselves Christian Orthodox, while 17 percent claim to be atheists. Russia's total population is 146 million.
This latest research deals a severe blow to plans by Russian Muslim leaders to wrench concessions from the Kremlin. These Muslim leaders are pushing for the creation of a new high-ranking position in the government just for so-called `Muslim Affairs', and they are also trying to have Islamic law officially accepted in those areas of the country where ethnic Muslims dominate.
So-called `ethnic' Muslims --- people traditionally seen as Muslims, such as Tatars, Bashkirs, Chechens, and Ingush --- account for about 15 percent of the total Russian population, or 20 million people. The fact that only 6 percent of the total Russian population, about 9 million people, claimed to be Muslim means that more than half of `ethnic' Muslims have abandoned the Mohammedan cult practiced by their forefathers.
This is also a very good example whereby Muslim leaders deny any freedom of choice to `their' peoeple. They claim as their own anyone born into an ethnic group that is perceived to be `Muslim', and under no circumstance will they let go of these people. According to Muslim leaders: once a Muslim, always a Muslim. Islam is all about violence, coercion and the absence of freedom.
The VTsIOM poll is very encouraging news. True, more and more mosques are opening in Russia, but not many people are attending them. Indeed, many Tatars and Bashkirs have become Orthodox Christian; or simply do not have any religious affiliation. Islam in Russia, however, remains most virulent in the North Caucasus among the Chechens and Inghush, whose inclination toward violence and terrorism is well-known.
Recently, the Russian and international press have been full of stories about the Islamization of Russia. Muslims around the globe have been joyous on claims that the Russia's Muslim population is growing rapidly while the ethnic Russian population is declining rapidly.
This recent research should put these delusions to rest once for all. We must not put up with Muslim propaganda that make the Mohammedan cult appear to be ``the world's fastest growing religion.''
Quite the opposite: Islam is in its death throes. It's days are numbered as more and more people learn the truth about the Mohammadan cult and its hideous founder, the 7th century Arabian warlord.
What intelligent, tolerant, peace-loving person would ever want to join a totalitarian cult that calls for its devout believers to murder and main non-believers? Many so-called `ethnic' Muslims in Russia have been smart enough to free themselves from this cult. Let's hope that the peoples of the Middle East, Southeast Asia and everywhere else where the insidious Mohammedan cult rears its head will also find the strength and courage to free their minds.