Muslims in Kuban spoke about persecution for their faith.

Muslims in the Krasnodar region have to make long trips to get to the mosque, but this is not always possible. Prayers in prayer rooms sometimes attract attention and pressure from security forces, believers reported. The fine for Chechens praying at a farmer's home seems questionable, lawyers and Islamic scholars pointed out.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the head of a peasant farm gathered fellow believers in his home in the Otradnensky district of the Krasnodar region to conduct Friday prayers there. The court deemed his actions illegal missionary activity and imposed a fine of 10,000 rubles.

Residents of the Krasnodar region who practice Islam told the "Caucasian Knot" that due to a lack of accessible mosques, they have to look for places for collective prayer in private homes, and for performing namaz, some believers, according to them, face administrative and even criminal prosecution. Security forces fabricate false accusations and punish them precisely for their faith, despite the fact that the Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes a secular state and guarantees freedom of religion to all.

Muslim women also reported to the correspondent about insults and discrimination due to religious clothing. A priest from the Orthodox church in the village of Varenikovskaya stated that he is unaware of conflicts between believing Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and security forces, and has never observed them. However, lawyer Marina Melikhova confirmed the existence of these conflicts and the discrimination of Muslims in the Krasnodar region, both by Orthodox citizens and security forces, despite the constitutional right of all citizens to freedom of religion.

"We do not break the law, we just pray"

Muslims in the Krasnodar region face difficulties in adhering to religious traditions, the interlocutors told the "Caucasian Knot", asking not to disclose their full names. According to them, there are virtually no accessible mosques in the region, and trips to the nearest places for collective prayer in Adygea require significant time and money. At the same time, some believers, as they claim, receive fines for alleged missionary activity and even have criminal cases fabricated against them, although they believe they are merely performing religious rites.

A Muslim from Abinsk, introducing himself as Zamir, reported that many believers are afraid to speak openly about their problems.

"What I will tell you is known to all Muslims in the region, but they will not speak openly because they fear they will face repression," he told the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

Zamir spoke about his acquaintance from Krasnodar, who used the prayer house in Krasnodar "Islam in Kuban" until it was closed last year.

"My friend was pressured to testify against the imam to accuse him of something he did not do. He managed to leave Russia with his family and seek asylum in the USA, as an illegal criminal case was opened against him related to his business in Russia. My friend says that there is a completely different attitude towards believers there, and there is a mosque in almost every city. People do not experience the same discrimination as in Russia. In Russia, security forces humiliated, threatened, and insulted him just for being a believing Muslim and not wanting to incriminate an innocent person," he said.

According to Zamir, about 500,000 Muslims live in the Krasnodar region, with a total population of over five million people. He noted that among the Muslims of the region are Tatars, Adyghe, Circassians, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Ossetians, Chechens, Ingush, Karachays, Lezgins, and representatives of other nationalities. He himself noted that he is Tatar.

"Many of us are Russians, and we have lived in Kuban for several generations, working in various fields from construction and trade to medicine, education, and entrepreneurship. Most of us are residents of these places for several generations, and we are just as Russian as other citizens of the Russian Federation, we have Russian passports, but Russians treat us like foreigners," claims Zamir, adding that Muslim women who wear traditional Muslim clothing, such as hijabs (note: "Caucasian Knot" - headscarf with an open face), abayas (note: "Caucasian Knot" - long loose dress to the floor), niqabs (note: "Caucasian Knot" - scarf covering the face except for the eyes), maxi skirts, khimars (note: "Caucasian Knot" - long coverings for the head, chest, and shoulders)... attract the attention of non-Muslims. He explains that these are religious garments applicable to believing Muslims of all nationalities.

"But there are also national outfits for each nation, just like for Russians and other nations. We are proud of our history and traditions. But despite the fact that the Russian Federation is a multinational state, especially the Krasnodar region, which was previously inhabited mainly by Muslims, the authorities remember that the Russian Federation is a multinational country only on Russia Day, - for show on Russia Day - June 12. They then tell that supposedly all nationalities are equal, that there is respect for all. They arrange demonstrative songs and dances of different peoples. After the "holiday" ends, the everyday life for Muslims begins. And no one can explain: why Muslims cannot build mosques and cannot pray," Zamir rhetorically questions.

One of the main problems he named is the lack of accessible mosques in the settlements of the region. According to him, men who strive to perform Friday prayers collectively have to overcome long distances. The nearest functioning and authorized mosque, which residents of several settlements in Kuban can reach, he named the mosque in the urban-type settlement of Yablonovsky in Adygea. From Abinsk, he estimates the journey there is about 80 kilometers one way. A trip by public transport can take one and a half to two hours, and buses run infrequently.

"People are tired after work on Friday and have to spend so much time to get to the mosque authorized by the authorities in Yablonovsky," Zamir said. He emphasizes that for Muslim men, "Friday prayers", that is, prayers every Friday, are mandatory. Men, to follow traditions, used private homes and businesses where there are Muslims. For example, at gas stations, in gardening associations, or private homes, but security forces have now closed all of them, and good people who provided their premises to their brothers in faith are facing pressure and persecution.

According to him, the road to the authorized mosque in the village of Yablonovsky in Adygea is complicated for residents of the Krasnodar region because after getting off the bus, believers have to walk to the mosque on foot, including through mud in rainy weather, for another 20 minutes. On holidays, women and children also come there, and some believers travel from even more remote areas of the region. The journey there for many is from 20 to 200 km one way.

"I am telling you this so that you understand why people are forced to set up prayer rooms at gas stations, in private homes, in garden plots to pray," he explained.

In Zamir's opinion, such premises appear primarily because believers cannot regularly reach mosques. He asserts that Muslims do not seek to break the law but are trying to maintain their usual religious way of life.

"I know that many are judged, fined for allegedly engaging in missionary activity. But none of the praying are doing this. We do not involve anyone. People are already involved from childhood. They just pray. I consider fines and punishments for this to be unfair. After all, praying Muslims do not commit any crime. They are simply exercising their right to faith and traditional prayer," the interlocutor said.

"We are also citizens of Russia. We do not violate the main law - the Constitution and other laws regarding our faith. If crimes are committed under the guise of faith, then, of course, people should be held accountable for their actions. But what crime is there in people praying?" Zamir questions, to which he hears no answers from the authorities.

"Why is this now tied to the place?"

A resident of Krasnodar Fatima also spoke about the lack of accessible places for prayer. According to her, indeed, private premises where Muslims gather can be used for collective namaz without creating mosques or a registered religious organization.

"Because our men have no opportunity to go to the mosque on Fridays due to the distance and lack of transport, Muslim men create such rooms to meet and pray," she told the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

According to Fatima, Friday prayer implies a collective service for men. Therefore, the owner of a private house can allocate a room where fellow believers come during prayer time.

"Some man can make a room in his house and say: brothers, come, on Friday we will read namaz together here," she explained.

She emphasized that the mere presence of such a room does not mean that a mosque or a registered religious organization operates there.

The problem, according to Fatima, is especially relevant for those who have to travel dozens or even over a hundred kilometers to the nearest mosque. In addition, Friday prayer may also fall during the working hours of some Muslims.

"For men from the Krasnodar region, it is often impossible to go to Adygea every Friday, as they also work. If they are released for lunch, they can pray together for 15-20 minutes if there is such a room," she said.

Women usually pray at home, but during Muslim holidays, families come to the mosque. "On holidays, children come, children play, get to know each other. There is nothing wrong with that," Fatima believes, who converted to Islam over 20 years ago.

She does not understand why collective prayer in a private home can raise suspicions from law enforcement agencies.

Fatima clarified that she has never performed namaz in such private prayer rooms. According to her, about 25 years ago, she could pray in the street without any complaints from those around her.

"I used to read namaz in the street in any city in the region, near my car, and no one approached me. This was probably 25 years ago. Now the situation is completely different," the woman said.

She claims that now believers fear administrative prosecution even for praying in a public place.

"A person can be fined or even arrested for stepping under a tree and reading namaz," Fatima says, asserting that Muslims are frightened. According to her, police constantly approached her and her husband when they walked down the street in Muslim religious clothing, demanding to show documents as if they were criminals.

As Fatima reported, a criminal case was opened against her already after immigrating with her family. Security forces demanded that she incriminate another Muslim woman, and when she refused, they threatened her with prison, reprisals, and taking away her children. In her new place of residence, according to Fatima, her religious views and those of her family are respected, there is a mosque and all conditions for adhering to traditional Muslim values. Fatima did not name the country of residence, where the issue of obtaining political asylum for her family is being resolved.

"This is also my land"

Muslim women from the Krasnodar region who practice Islam and wear traditional religious clothing reported biased attitudes from those around them.

A resident of the village of Varenikovskaya Amina confirmed that the nearest mosque she can go to for holidays with her husband is located in Yablonovsky, in Adygea. According to her, the journey by car takes about two hours one way and is approximately 140 kilometers.

During all this time, she has only been able to visit there with her children a few times.

"Women do not perform Friday prayers with us. We can pray at home. But on holidays, we go to the mosque with our husbands. It is very far for children, for the elderly. People come from 200-250 kilometers from all over the region," she said.

Amina emphasized that Muslims consider family values, respect for elders, and support for loved ones to be important. However, according to her, difficulties in adhering to religious traditions are not the only problem. Muslim women who wear hijabs face negative attitudes in everyday life.

"I am a native resident of Kuban. My fathers and great-grandfathers were born here. I follow the traditions of Muslims, wear a hijab, a long skirt. Once I came to Krasnodar and was just walking down the street when a woman looked out the window and started shouting loudly that people like me should leave. How could I explain to her and passersby that this is also my land and I am a native resident of it? No one listens to us. Everyone reacts to clothing and appearance," Amina added.

According to her, she notices that in cities and villages of the region there are Orthodox churches, while accessible mosques for Muslims, in her estimation, are virtually non-existent.

She also reported that she has seen how Orthodox parishioners treat their Orthodox priests with respect, kiss their hands, bow, and expressed bewilderment that some people who consider themselves believers humiliate representatives of another religion.

Her friend, who introduced herself as Zarema, also spoke about negative attitudes due to religious clothing. According to her, she has faced insults on the street and biased attitudes when looking for work.

"Because I wear a scarf and a long skirt, I am constantly insulted and called names on the street. There were people who said: 'Did you come from Syria?' One man on a bicycle stopped, looked at me aggressively, and then spat at me and said: 'Get out of here to your Syria,'" claims the interlocutor, who, according to her, is also a native of the Krasnodar region.

Since she wears a scarf, finding a job is almost impossible, Zarema reported.

"As soon as I come covered to employers in search of work, no one hires me. There was a very strong negative reaction from both men and women," she added.

She believes that Muslim women, unlike men, often face prejudice precisely because their religious affiliation is visible to those around them.

"For men, it is not particularly visible who is a Muslim or not. Except perhaps by skin color. But for women, we have a scarf, long skirts that are immediately noticeable," she said, adding that it is not always black clothing. But even in colored and light clothing, women in hijabs are looked at askance and hostilely, Zarema says.

A lawyer from the Krasnodar region confirmed the discrimination against Muslims

Lawyer Marina Melikhova notes that she is well acquainted with the problem of the persecution of Muslims based on religious and national grounds in the Krasnodar region. According to her, she has many Muslim friends, and all of them are well-mannered people who value traditional values. Commenting on the bans on Muslims praying, she pointed out that the very act of practicing Islam, performing namaz, and collective prayer of Muslims does not constitute a violation of the law.

"Article 28 of the Constitution of Russia guarantees everyone freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including the right to 'individually or collectively with others profess any religion' and act in accordance with their beliefs. The Constitution also establishes the secular nature of the state and the equality of religious associations before the law. According to Article 14, 'religious associations are separated from the state and equal before the law,' and Article 19 prohibits restrictions on the rights of citizens based on religious affiliation.

Thus, a citizen of Russia or any Muslim legally present on its territory, who is attracted by the authorities as cheap labor, does not commit any offenses simply because they are Muslims and perform namaz together with other believers," explains Marina Melikhova, the situation with the use of force against Islam in the Krasnodar region.

According to her, "a separate issue is the observance of the legally established requirements for the activities of religious associations. If law enforcement agencies qualify the actions of believers as missionary activity, such qualification should be based not on the mere fact of prayer, but on specific actions that fall under the legally defined notion of missionary activity. The situation where Muslims, lacking an accessible mosque, gather in a private home for collective prayer has nothing to do with missionary work. The mere fact that several believers gathered to perform namaz does not mean that they are engaged in spreading religious teachings among those who are not followers of Islam. I personally do not know of such cases," asserts Melikhova.

She also raises the question of the proportionality of applying legislation on missionary activity to people who have not preached Islam to outsiders and have not tried to involve them in a religious organization, but merely performed a religious rite together. Marina Melikhova cited democratic countries as examples where the right of a person to pray is not a "privilege of Muslims," as is attempted to be said in the Russian Federation.

"Let us remember that there is an international standard. Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides for the right to profess religion individually or collectively with others, publicly or privately, including through worship and religious practice. Moreover, the European Court of Human Rights considers religious freedom to be a right that the state is obliged to respect, and the principle of state neutrality means that the state should not arbitrarily interfere in the internal affairs of religious communities," Melikhova reminded.

According to her, she knows that due to the fabrication of criminal cases and persecution, the inability to follow traditional values, many leave Russia, seek and receive political asylum abroad.

Islamic scholars debated the legitimacy of holding accountable for collective namaz

The leading specialist in Islamic law in the Russian Federation, professor at HSE Leonid Syukiyainen believes that there could not have been a punishment solely for conducting Friday namaz at home.

"To answer the question, it is necessary to know what specific claims were made by law enforcement officers, on what basis such an accusation was made. I have serious doubts that an accusation was made solely based on this fact, such a sanction was applied. There must have been some additional grounds. Perhaps they were accused of being a functioning religious group. But if there were no other grounds, and only this fact, then it is necessary to challenge it, go to the appropriate judicial authorities, contest the legality of applying such sanctions. Naturally, praying at home is not prohibited for anyone. Neither for Christians, nor for Muslims, nor for anyone. Friday worship or not Friday worship does not matter," he said.

Professor found it difficult to say how likely it was that during the Soviet era, one could pray at home and not face persecution.

"Everything probably depended on specific people. If, for example, the district officer lived nearby, knew this family for many years and did not report it to anyone else. In general, there was one situation then, now it is different. It is difficult to comment on this and compare with the current situation, specific circumstances may differ," Syukiyainen pointed out.

The Russian Caucasianist suggested that when Chechens were in deportation in Kazakhstan, no one "snitched" or reported to the authorities.

"I think that simply no one reported. And we should say a big thank you to those Kazakhs who said nothing. If this somehow became known to the Soviet authorities, then repression would definitely follow. So this is not about the Soviet power, but about the people," he said on condition of anonymity.

And in the case of punishing a resident of Kuban, apparently, someone reported that he was conducting Friday prayers, the interlocutor suggested.

"From the point of view of Islam, Friday namaz should be conducted in a mosque, and from the point of view of the state, it should be a registered organization. And I think that this is what influenced the situation. That is, a regular namaz will not be fined. Moreover, Friday prayer is accompanied by khutbah (sermon). And the sermon can be considered missionary activity. And someone hinted this to the authorities," the Caucasianist believes.

The lawyer Timofey Shirokov disagrees with the notion that the mere presence of a sermon during worship is defined as "missionary activity".

"Missionary work implies activities aimed at attracting new adherents to the religion, teachings. Here, this is not the case, because people who come to Friday namaz are already Muslims," he said.

According to the lawyer, in this case, Muslims gathered to perform a regular religious rite.

"There is no missionary activity at all, even from the point of view of Russian laws, it is contrived, stretched, and involves an expansive interpretation of the term. It would be good for this Chechen, the Chechen community not to leave the situation unnoticed, but to ensure that such arbitrariness does not become the norm. To appeal to the court to cancel the punishment," Shirokov pointed out.

According to him, most precedents involving Muslims for namaz in a public place under the article "illegal missionary activity" end with the cancellation of the punishment decision.

"So far, as far as I know, there are not many such cases, and most of them are canceled. But, unfortunately, they are canceled for formal, procedural reasons (insufficient evidence, some violations in collecting evidence), and it would be better if they were canceled on the merits. Perhaps the judges see the lack of evidence for the accusations, take the situation into account, but at the same time cancel for procedural reasons, not because of the incorrect nature of the accusations," Shirokov explained.

In his opinion, there is also no obligation to register a religious group for conducting collective namaz at home.

"In fact, this is an attempt to justify an illegal decision with the same unlawful requirements. What does a religious group have to do with it? A person is simply performing namaz, different people come. They do not engage in any other joint activities. Meanwhile, registering a religious group will impose obligations, for non-fulfillment of which they can also be punished. For example, marking literature that it is not prohibited. Why is this necessary to do in a private home? And, for example, there are also prayer rooms for Muslims in prisons. By this logic, should a separate religious organization also be created there to conduct namaz?" Shirokov noted.

Research center head Sova (listed in the foreign agents registry) Alexander Verkhovsky does not recall that anyone was previously punished specifically for conducting Friday prayers as illegal missionary activity.

"I have not heard of such. But for performing namaz in a public place - they have been punished. In theory, no prayer with fellow believers can be missionary activity. But the claim here is different - conducting rituals in a place not registered as a place of worship," he noted.

According to the researcher, such a practice (punishment for worship in an "improper" place) is currently widespread.

"There is also a conflict here. A religious group, unlike an organization, certainly has the right to gather and pray at home. But several years ago, groups were required to register, providing a complete list of participants. Which, of course, many do not do. And then a violation arises," Verkhovsky explained.