National Organization of Russian Muslims

The National Organization of Russian Muslims (NORM) is an organization of the Russian Muslims, founded in 2004 on the basis of Russian Muslim communities of Moscow (Banu Zulkarnain), Yoshkar-Ola (Tsaryovokokshaysk Community of Russian Muslims), Omsk and Almaty.

The flag of the Russian Muslims

NORM positions itself as a base for creation of a new sub-ethnic group — Russian Muslims.

Core ideas:

Initially, NORM aimed to represent the interests of all Russian Muslims regardless of their religious and political affiliations, both within and outside the Russian Muslim community. Leaders of NORM sought to provide an alternative to various spiritual administrations, tarīqas, and jamāʿats, facilitating coordination among ethnic Russian Muslims to promote their rights and interests.

Key objectives included:

• Encouraging ethnic Russians to embrace Islam.
• Fostering the formation of Russian Muslim communities and families.
• Filtering Russian and other Slavic cultures through Islamic norms. Rediscovering or reclaiming forgotten or abandoned ethnic heritage within the framework of monotheism.

NORM leaders emphasized the necessity of this approach for Russian Muslims, advocating for their participation in Islam as a cohesive ethnic group, distinct from both the majority of Russians, whose identity is closely tied to Russian Orthodoxy, and the ethnic Muslim populations, preserving its identity granted by God.

History

Formation period (2004–2009)

In 2003, in Moscow, Harun ar-Rusi (Vadim Sidorov, b. 1977), influenced by his teacher, philosopher, and political activist of Russian-Azerbaijani origin Geydar Dzhemal, embraced Islam and founded the Jamaat of Russian Muslims "Banu Zulkarnayn," initially comprising about ten individuals.

On 11–13 June 2004 in Omsk the first founding congress was held with the initiative of Vadim Sidorov (Harun ar-Rusi). Abu Talib (Anatoliy Stepchenko) from Omsk, who converted to Islam in 1990, was elected as a chairman.

In 2005 the Russian Muslims’ communities of Saint-Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don also merged with The NORM. The members of the Organization created the Cultural-educational center “Proponents of Tradition and Unity”, which aimed to increase Dawah among ethnic Russians and interactions with other ethnic-national Muslim communities.

Harun Sidorov (ar-Rusi) served as the muhtasib and leader of the Moscow organization, while Salman Sever (Maxim Baydak) led the Saint Petersburg branch. The organization's council also included Amir Hamdani (Grigoriy Mavrov) from Yoshkar-Ola. There was a shift from acute controversy to cooperation with the former priest of Russian Orthodox Church, now well-known Islamic scholar Vyacheslav Polosin, who joined the organization in 2006. The ideological inspirer of the organization, Geydar Dzhemal, was present at the first press conference.

Initially, the organization comprised both Shiite and Sunni Muslims. However, a split occurred later, resulting in Shiites gradually leaving the organization and its core turning to Sunni Islam, adopting its popular at that time Salafi interpretation. At the same time the interactions with Geydar Dzhemal, whom the opponents of the Organization were usually referring as the founder of the NORM, were stopped.

During this time, the organization enjoyed considerable freedom in the context of Russian politics, as there wasn't a clear stance yet on full support for the Russian Orthodox Church and its fundamentalist ideology of the "Russian world". Supporters of the NORM kept ties with official Islamic bodies in Russia, like the Council of Muftis of Russia and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Tatarstan. Their news were reported in major national media.

Oppositional (Murabitun) period (2009-2013)

This period is characterized by NORM activists leaving Russia, initiating resistance against the country's political direction, and aligning with the Murabitun World Movement.

In 2007 there was the first contact between the NORM and Murabitun World Movement and its leader Abdalqadir as-Sufi. The representatives of the NORM visited Cape Town.

Until 2008 the NORM was the proponent of the Salafi theology. In 2008 it was decided to shift to the classical Ashari School of Theology and Maliki madhab, which was the official madhhab of Murabitun. NORM activists also joined the Shadhiliyya-Darqawiyya-Habibiyya Sufi brotherhood.

The choice of the Maliki legal school was explained by NORM leaders as a necessity for Russian Muslims to follow a madhhab different from the traditional Hanafi madhhab of Tatars and the Shafi'i madhhab of Caucasians, aiming to avoid assimilation into these groups and potential conflicts. However, NORM acknowledged adherence to any of the four traditional madhhabs, while criticism was directed towards "bezmazkhabniki" (people without a madhhab) and Salafists.

NORM established its own Maliki Center, actively promoting the Maliki school of law among Russian Muslims by translating and publishing key literature of the madhhab. At the same time, critics within the movement claimed that NORM and Murabitun were not classic representatives of the Maliki school but attempted to create a fifth "Medinian" madhhab based on it.

The contacts with the Murabitun World Movement were widened. The leaders of the German and Spanish Muslim communities visited Moscow.

In the same 2007 year, due to the onset of repression against the Islamic sector in Russia, some changes were made in the Articles of association of the Organization — individual membership to the NORM changed to the collective membership. The organization transformed into a networked community of congregations and projects united by a common idea and led by one Amir, supported by the Shura Council.

In 2008, Harun Sidorov, facing persecution by security services, was forced to leave Russia. "I made the decision to leave my homeland in 2008 after consulting with my comrades, because, alas, I accurately predicted that it would develop in a direction where I wouldn't belong." Sidorov became the new Amir of NORM and, having settled in the EU, could shape the organization's political course from abroad, openly criticizing the situation in the country.

In 2010 the delegation of the NORM took part in the Musamma (annual conference) of the Abdalqadir as-Sufi’s students in Cape Town, also held Shura (Conference) there. Some changes were made in the National Council of the NORM.

On June 12, 2011, Sidorov declared that an intolerant regime was establishing in Russia, urging Muslim leaders to stop supporting it. The Organization became an international NGO. All activity in the previous format was stopped.

On December 27, 2011, at the initiative of NORM, independent Muslim leaders signed the Islamic Civil Charter, including philosopher Geidar Dzhemal, activist Abdulla Rinat Mukhametov, writer and human rights defender Fauzia Bayramova, publisher Aslambek Ezhaev, and others.

In 2012 communities of the NORM in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg actively took part in Russian opposition protests. After the onset of political repression against organization members in 2013, NORM leadership made a decision not to have formal representations in Russia until the established regime changed.

Slavic-Islamic period (2013-2017)

This period is characterized by active involvement of NORM members in events in Ukraine and an attempt to establish a Slavic-Islamic union.

In 2013, there was a divergence between the paths of NORM activists and the Murabitun movement. Sidorov believed that "Murabitun's central leadership had definitively decided to cease its existence as a movement, which contributed to our disagreements as we sought to revitalize it."

After the departure of active members of the organization from Russia, an attempt was made to carry out activities in Turkey. However, Turkish security services strongly opposed it, resulting in the arrest of some members, while others left the country.

From the outset of the Maidan events in Ukraine, culminating in the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, NORM supported Ukrainian Muslims actively resisting the Kremlin's dictatorship. V. Sidorov portrayed Ukraine as a destination for emigration (referring to Islamic term hijrah) for Slavic-Muslims: "Today we are fighting for Rus-Ukraine together, seeing it as a place that could become an Ethiopia for Slavic-speaking Muslims of the post-Soviet countries, including Russia, from which hijrah becomes urgently necessary for Russian Muslims."

In the same year, local supporters of the organization, together with NORM, established the Slavic-Islamic League (SILA). To promote the concept of Slavic-Muslims and the idea of a Slavic-Islamic union, the medieval Arabic term "Saqaliba," referring to people from Central and Eastern Europe, was utilized. Contacts were also established with Ukrainian traditionalists and nationalist organizations. NORM established allied and friendly relations with many well-known Muslims in Ukraine, as well as with a number of Ukrainian public figures and intellectuals.

Islamo-European period (2017-2019)

In 2017, NORM activists in European countries launched the Islam4Europeans project — an English-language platform for indigenous European Muslims. Its core ideas largely mirrored those of NORM but on a pan-Western scale: establishing communities and families of indigenous European Muslims, countering the trend of converts dissolving into diasporas of Muslims from Asia and the Middle East, adapting traditional European cultures to Islamic norms, and ideally, creating Muslim European cultures akin to that of Bosnia.

Sidorov regarded Russia as part of Western civilization, thus Russian converts from NORM organically belonged to the same cultural space, "to which converts from England, Germany, and Sweden also belong."

Parallel to this, in 2018, there was a rebranding of NORM's previous projects, culminating in the "Russian Muslims" website.

Sidorov's key ideas during this period are reflected in his book "The Unfinished Revolution," critiсising historical Russian statehood and the Russian Orthodox Church. Sidorov emerged as a political activist advocating for the reformatting of Russia with an orientation toward a union of Russian radicals and the national republics of the Russian Federation.

In December 2019, Sidorov announced the transfer of the Islam4Europeans project due to his shift into political activities, with Canadian-born Muslim convert Robert Dufour taking over its leadership.

Criticism and accusations of extremism

Critics argue that NORM uses Islam as a front for its political agenda. They claim the organization's core beliefs lean towards right-wing ideology, with some even accusing it of promoting fascist ideas, using the fascination with the relevant aesthetics and terminology of some of the leaders of the movement in the early days of their activities. NORM representatives have repeatedly denied these accusations.

Meanwhile, some indigenous Muslim groups in Russia view NORM as a misguided sect, feeling its goals don't align with theirs. Observers note that this isolation might stem from ethnic Muslims' lack of acknowledgment of NORM's beliefs. However, attempts to establish a distinct "Russian Nation of Islam" have led some ethnic Muslims to see Russian Muslims as prioritizing nationality over religion.

Another critique, from the conservative group Dar ul-Fikr, argues that Islam is incompatible with Western culture, of which the NORM leaders were prominent representatives. "They consciously employ the European discourse and preach a Western lifestyle." Things that Sheikh Abdalqadir as-Sufi considered legitimate within the Malikite madhhab, such as the permissibility of music and smoking, criticism of the niqab in Western countries, and criticism of the modern monetary system, were viewed unfavorably from the perspective of conservative Hanafi theology. "In the eyes of Dar ul-Fikr, the image of an 'alim who wears an expensive suit and a Swiss watch, and who smokes cigars while listening to Wagner, is not compatible with the behaviour of a decent Muslim."

Despite the effort of some opponents to link the activity of the NORM to the extremist activity of some newly converted Russian Muslims, the National Organization of Russian Muslims, its leaders and members have never been accused of extremism, never been sued or wanted for such allegations.

Elitist vision of Islam

Another pole of understanding the movement is its representation as an "intellectualized version of Islam". Its leaders sought to position themselves as the 'vanguard of the Russian Ummah,' and some converts claimed to have embraced Islam under the influence of intellectuals like Harun Sidorov or Salman Sever.

R. Bekkin considers Russian Muslims not so much an elite of the Russian Ummah but of Russian society as a whole. "They are intellectual elite that is reflecting about the meaning of life, that is searching for itself, that does not want to walk the well-trodden path and to simply follow the religion of their ancestors. Of such people there are always but a few, and there is no reason to instil fear and to believe in the myth that Russia's Islamisation is imminent."

Harun Sidorov defends the view that Europeans who embrace Islam are valuable "Kulturträger" (transmitters of cultural ideas) not only for Europe but also for the Islamic world. "In his opinion, these 'organic communities' of Spanish, German, Ukrainian and Russian Muslims continue and advance the 'true' and 'genuinely' European values and cultures; at the same time, they are also the hope for reformation in the Islamic world."   

In contrast to so-called "traditional Islam", NORM envelopes "the religion of a free, independent, rational individual who feels that she or he is a part of Russian culture."  Sidorov himself "emphasised his discovery of Islam as a 'very beautiful, very powerful intellectual doctrine'."

The movement was deeply influenced by the philosopher Geydar Dzhemal, "the 'Godfather' of Russian right-wing converts", who presented Islam as a religion of intellectuals and passionaries.

Problematics of "russianness"

In recent years, there has been a significant decline in the emphasis on "Russianness" in the public activities of NORM leaders. This is due to the fact that self-identification as Russian has become increasingly problematic since ROC officially declared that a Russian is someone who "recognises Orthodox Christianity as the basis of national spiritual culture; feels solidarity with the fate of the Russian people" and Russian identity has been actively misused in the formation of chauvinist ideology that has become one of the motives for invaiding Ukraine.

The artistry of russian Muslims

The creative output of Russian Muslims, often associated with NORM, is a phenomenon that researchers also explore alongside their political and religious engagements.

Dmitrii (Muslim) Akhtiamov's novel "The Islamic Breakthrough" (Islamskii proryv), published in 2005 by Ul'tra.Kul'tura publisher, was the first significant literary work by an author who identified himself as a Russian Muslim.

The same year saw the establishment of the The Islamic Breakthrough literary award, named after Akhtiamov's novel and founded by the renowned poet, translator, and publisher Ilya Kormiltsev.

In 2012, NORM activists compiled the anthology "The Saber of Islam" (Sablya islama), which featured poetic works and the organization's ideological stance at the time.

The musical scene also saw contributions from rapper E. Dubrovin, known as Dub Dervish.

In 2020, Alif TV, a channel focusing on Muslim life, aired an in-depth feature on Djawhar Kutb, a prominent poet and Russian Muslim.[1]