Russian Muslims Growing In Number, Radicalism

"Two decades ago, the Sobornaya Mosque was the only Islamic house of worship allowed in the Soviet Union. It stood largely empty, filling only with the occasional large foreign delegation from an Islamic country.

"Today, it is one of four mosques in Moscow serving a Muslim population of about 2.5 million. On Fridays and holy days, it overflows with worshippers, leaving many to kneel on newspapers outside, their foreheads pressed against the concrete."

With examples like that, the WashTimes reports today that by mid-century, Muslims will make up more than half of the population of Russia.

Again, more than half of the population of the nation with the second largest number of nukes on the planet. By 2015, they are expected to be the majority of conscripts into the Russian Army. So internationally and domestically, this is a change that has even greater impact than the fall of the Soviet system.

It's the same story as Europe's -- immigration and a vast difference in birth rates. Muslims from Central Asia and elsewhere are flowing into Russia in vast numbers and they are multiplying at even greater numbers.

The CIA factbook reports the national fertility rate to be 1.28 children per woman, and WashTimes says the Moscow birth rate is just 1.1 children per woman. Meanwhile, the fertility rate for Moscow's Tatars lis six children per woman, and the Chechen and Ingush communities are averaging 10 children per woman.

The self-centered West meets expansionist Islam.

Paul Goble, a specialist on Islam in Russia from the University of Tartu in Estonia, told WashTimes that Russia's Muslims, who are now mostly secular because of Soviet repression of relition, are groing more influenced by radical Islam, "especially if they feel excluded from Russian society."

Sounding a note of chilling caution, Goble is quoted:

Western governments should encourage Russia to integrate Muslims into society and avoid discrimination, he said. "When Muslims are in the majority in Russia, they'll remember whether we spoke out for their rights or failed to."

And you know we can't afford to offend Muslims; if we do, they are fully justified in blowing up our buildings, us and our children, right?

Related Tags: Islam, Muslim, Russia