| When I was going to New Delhi I stopped by Moscow and read the english translated news paper and my god so many of the articles were regarding muslims. THe fear of terrorism, the growth of islam in russia, the changing demographics of russia, etc. One of the articels that really caught my attention was not Beslan, but it was that the Russian government was building muslim maternity hosiptals because apperently russian women don't like to have babies and tend to have only 1 or 2, while the muslims are having 5 or 6 babies. There are 2 million muslims in Moscow now, who knows how long before russia becomes a muslim majority nation. There is no doubt in my mind that russia will fall further than its current state. but since muslims are poor people they will not have to much power, only voting power; however this I think will divide russia into smaller and smaller pieces.
"Russia's Turning Muslim, Says Mufti"
August 6, 2005
"Russia's Turning Muslim, Says Mufti" That's the startling headline in the Times of London today. Ravil Gaynutdin, head of the Council of Muftis of Russia, announced that Russia's population of 144 million contains 23 million ethnic Muslims – and not, as the census indicates, 14.5 million, or, as the Orthodox Church estimates, nearer to 20 million. An estimated 3-4 million Muslims are migrants from former Soviet regions, including 2 million Azeris, 1 million Kazakhs, and several hundred thousand Uzbeks, Tajiks and Kyrgyz.
Plus, Russians of Orthodox background are converting to Islam. (For one important case, see the story of Viacheslav Sergeevich Polosin.) The Orthodox church claims 80 million adherents, but observers say the real number is about half that, and falling.
And more: while the Orthodox population is in demographic decline, the Muslim population is surging. Although the total Russian population dropped by 400,000 in the first half of 2005, it increased in 15 regions, such as the Muslim republics of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia. The birth rate is 1.8 children per woman in Dagestan, versus 1.3 for Russia as a whole. Male life expectancy is 68 in Dagestan, versus 58 for Russia.
The Times observes that this growth in the Muslim population "has raised fears among Orthodox Church leaders and nationalists that Russia could eventually become a Muslim-majority nation." Aleksei Malashenko, an expert on Islam, does not expect Russia to become "a Muslim society in several years, although maybe in half a century we'll see something surprising." (August 6, 2005)
Russia will go through further decline; whereas the Chinese will excel!!! |
