The Rise Of Islam: CHAPTER 4 ISLAM IS GROWING IN RUSSIA AND CHINA, TOO

CHAPTER 4 ISLAM IS GROWING IN RUSSIA AND CHINA, TOO

Muslims in Russia

The disappearance of the communist system at the beginning of the 1990s ushered in a new period for Russia. The communist system, founded upon materialist philosophy, established a social order based upon the view that human beings were no more than matter and claims that the human conscience is the product of matter in motion. According to this claim, human intelligence, thought, feelings, judgments, tendencies, and will are the result of chemical reactions within the body, which is a kind of machine. Therefore Marxism, which is an interpretation of materialism, views all human culture, civilization, religion, concepts of government, law, family, and morality as dependent upon material factors. According to Marx, all of these things arise from differences in the manner of their production and change over time.
In rejecting religion's values and espousing such thinking, materialism is in serious error. People are not only material creatures, for each one of them has a spirit that is not, as materialists claim, a product of matter. On the contrary, what we call "material creatures" are the things seen, heard, and sensed by spirit. It is impossible to define the workings of the human spirit in terms of material conditions. God created it and inspired special qualities in it, and every individual lives his or her life according to these special qualities. In the Qur'an, God commands:

He Who has created all things in the best possible way. He commenced the creation of man from clay; then produced his seed from an extract of base fluid; then formed him and breathed His Spirit into him and gave you hearing, sight, and hearts. What little thanks you show! (Qur'an, 32:7-9)

Under its communist government, Russia adopted this materialist bias and made it the base of its social life and social order. The communist regime, which viewed human beings as tools of production and believed that Social Darwinism could be applicable to human relationships, left behind immense destruction in its wake, for Social Darwinism came out of Charles Darwin's unscientific theory of evolution, which proposes that human beings are developed animals whose relationships could be governed by the same laws that govern animals. In this order, from which faith in God and religious morality were removed, such basic human needs as love, respect, compassion, mercy, self-sacrifice, loyalty, and fidelity had no place. So a herd-psychology developed. People lived uneasily and in constant fear. They lost the human qualities of love, compassion, and mercy, and committed every kind of crime in the belief that they would not be punished.
But God turned this society toward true religion. Russia's spiritual collapse and moral degeneration later became the means by which human beings, as a society, would approach religion and spirituality. Years ago, the Islamic scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursi announced the good news to Muslims that they would become powerful in Russia, and that the Russian people would come to Islam. Shortly after Russia's 1917 revolution, Said Nursi who was captured by Russian soldiers, said that communism would one day collapse and that Islam would spread throughout Russia. In a conversation with a Russian soldier, he said: "Three lights will be revealed one after another in the Islamic world of Asia. Three shadows from your side on top of each other will be revealed. The despotic curtain will be torn and puckered, and I will come and build my school here." With these words, he indicated the advantages that Muslims would have in Russia. Elsewhere, he said:
As a result of two dreadful world wars, with the total awakening of the people, a nation without religion cannot survive. Russia cannot live without religion. They cannot also go back to Christianity. They can be at the most dependent on the Qur'an that breaks the unbelief and that is based on right and truth and that convinces the heart.
As Said Nursi said, the Russian people have grasped that there cannot be a nation without religion, and this understanding has guided them to the true religion of Islam. Today, 20 million Muslims live in Russia-roughly 15% of the population. The majority of them are not immigrants or foreign residents, but people who have lived there for more than 1,000 years. Under communism, mosques were closed and turned into warehouses, religious officials were arrested and sent into exile, and great pressure was exerted on Muslims to abandon their religion. Now there is a great current of people approaching Islam, one that cannot be ignored. The founding of the Russian Islamic University in 1998, the county's first Islamic university, and the increase in the number of mosques in Tataristan from 18 in the Soviet period to more than 1,000 today, are examples of the rise of Islam in Russia.78
These are only two examples, and there is no doubt that they are very good and important developments. In Russia, the birthplace of communism, the voice of Islam is being heard and, God willing, this growth will become more rapid.

(Above) Russia turns to religion, (Middle) The growing turn to religion in Russia, (Below) Russian youth now in search of faith. After the spiritual collapse caused by communism, the Russian people became aware that real salvation was possible only through religion.

(Above) The New York Times reports on the opening of the Russian Islamic University in an article entitled "Shackles Off, Russia's Muslims are Still Chafing." (Middle) In an article entitled "Islam on the Rise,"Newsday reports that dozens of new mosques have been opened in Moscow, and that there is great interest in special courses on Islam. The Internet site below contains a historical account of Russia's famous St. Petersburg mosque.

(Left) Crowded Eid prayers in Moscow, The growth of Islam in Russia attracts the West's interest and, from time to time, there are articles about it. In a report entitled "Moscow Courts Its Million Muslims," the BBC follows the visit of Moscow's mayor Yuriy Luzhkov to a mosque on the Ramadan Eid. A photograph shows him standing beside the mosque's imam. Today in Russia, where just 20 years ago people could not admit that they were religious, the interest of the Russian people in religion is indeed a significant development.(Middle) This report about Russians turning to Islam mentions the conversion of a former rabbi.

Islam in China

Until now, we have discussed the growth of movement toward Islam after the fall of communism. The situation is a little different in China, one of the last bastions of communism. Here, Islam is on the rise, but because Mao's Red ideology is still in effect, opposition toward religion is continuing apace. Religious figures are still being arrested and tortured, places of worship are being closed, and people are not free to worship or practice their faith. In the small mosques and places of prayer where the state permits worship, strict discipline is enforced by the police and the military. For example, in Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang), Muslims cannot perform their prayers in their preferred mosques or remain in the mosque as long as they want. If they work in a state office, they cannot fast or perform their prayers. Those Muslims who go to the mosque are closely watched by secret police agents. Muslims under the age of 18 cannot receive a religious education, and if the government discovers that they have started to study the Qur'an, no matter how old they are, they are arrested and their families are penalized. But this official policy of pressure and violence does not prevent people from turning to religion.

(Above right) A report entitled "China's Islamic Concerns" tells about Beijing's uneasiness over Islam's growth. In April 2001, Beijing decided to establish the Chinese Islamic Union with 16 clergy on the board of directors. In this way, China hopes to keep an eye on every kind of Islamic activity. (Above left) A BBC report entitled "China's fearful Muslim minority" spoke about Beijing's oppression of the Uighur Muslims. Especially after 9/11, China increased pressure on its Muslims using the struggle against terrorism as a pretext, trying in this way to cover up its human rights violations. This tactic did not escape the attention of Western human rights organizations, and the BBC report focused on these violations. (For more detailed information, see Harun Yahya's Communist China's Policy of Oppression in East Turkestan.)
(Below left) China seeks its religion.

Despite the strict implementation of these measures, as the Asian edition of Time magazine reports, religion in China is growing:
Despite China's efforts to restrict religious expression, however, the spiritual awakening of its citizens isn't about to dissipate. Although the ruling Communist Party remains officially atheist, the collapse of Maoist ideology created a vacuum that religion is helping to fill.79

However much the communist regime in China may contest these figures, about 200 million Muslims live there. Despite everything, the number of those who perform acts of worship has increased.80

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The number of people converting to Islam in Texas is growing by the day

As in so many other places in the world, a report on American television shows that the number of Muslims in Texas is growing by the day. The presenter describes this development taking place in Texas: "The fact that Islam is on the rise in Texas, always regarded as the bastion of Christianity in America, is quite amazing.” One of the people whose lives are described on the program is David, who served 8 years in the U.S. Navy. David, a Muslim convert, describes how proud he is to live by the deen. Eric, another person who has converted Islam was just about to become a priest when he saw the truth and became a Muslim instead. Eric began praying in a football stadium when the time for prayer came during a match he was watching, and he says that he never misses his prayers since he became a Muslim. The number of Muslims in Texas, with its Muslim population of 400,000, increased still more after the events of September 11. Katherine is one of those Texans who became a Muslim after September 11. Well-educated and working in public relations, Katherine describes how becoming a Muslim has improved her life.

The German physician and his spouse turn to Islam

The German doctor Kai Luehr and his wife Catherine Luehr describe in a television program how they coverted to Islam from Christianity. Catherine Luehr says that before being honored with Islam her soul was empty, and that she went to church from time to time but failed to find the answers she was seeking. She goes on to say that she had never found happiness before, nor the answers to the questions in her mind, but that she enjoyed a most beneficial change after converting to Islam. Kai Luehr says that he was hugely impressed by the logical and rational nature of the answers given to him when he first became acquainted with Islam. Some 4000 people in Germany convert to Islam every year, and there has been a huge rise in the number of German converts in the last 5 years in particular. Dr. Luehr and his wife are both excellent models for these Muslims.

PHILLIPPE TROUSSIER, THE FRENCH FUTBOLL MANAGER CONVERTED TO ISLAM

On becoming a Muslim the famous French football manager Philippe Troussier took the name Omar Troussier. Troussier had visited many countries and met a great many people during the course of his life, and started becoming curious about Islam and reading the Qur’an after the events of September 11. Realizing that Islam is a religion of peace and finding the happiness he had sought throughout his life in it, Troussier explains why he took the name of Omar: “Because Omar is the symbol of justice!” The French press regarded Troussier’s conversion to Islam as a great surprise.

An interview with Mr. Adnan Oktar by Vision Plus (Albania) (April 11, 2008)

Vision Plus TV broadcasting from Albania has done an interview with Mr.Adnan Oktar. In this interview Mr.Oktar said that he has 35 books published in Albanian and 46 documentaries and gave some examples of these books which can be downloaded from internet for free; Islam Denounces Terror, The Evolution Deceit, The Disasters Darwinism Brought to Humanity, Solution: The Values of the Qur’an, The Miracles of the Qur’an, The Rise of Islam, Global Freemasonry, Only Love Can Defeat Terrorism and The Creation of the Universe.

Mr.Adnan Oktar responds to the question asked to him about the difficulties Muslims faced in times of Enver Hodja as follows: “This is something in the soul of communism, places of worship are unacceptable, religion is unacceptable. The family is unacceptable, honour is unacceptable. That is why it tries to eradicate all institutions connected with it. But Allah made them fail. Communism has been collapsed in Russia, in Albania, in Romania, in everywhere else. There is no place that communism survived. And the ones that did survive, is about to collapse at the moment. In stead of those destroyed mosques, EvvelAllah, with Allah’s leave we will construct much better ones, we are already constructing and it will continue inshaAllah.”

In regard to his opinions about the Albanians, Mr.Adnan Oktar says: “Our Albanian brothers, mashaAllah, are highly religious individuals. They have a great love for Islam. They love the Turks. In fact, I regard the Albanians as Turks; they are Turks, mashaAllah, our very dear brothers. In the very near future inshaAllah there will be a much more massive strengthening.”

You can watch the whole interview from this link.