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enter
Muslims in the
USSR (ujfji
'! It: III; 1-
A Research
esearch for this report was completed
Li. Mil iii'!
The author of ihis paper
jomcco, . il iil
Cartographic Kesearch It was coordinated with the Offices or Central Reference. Economic Research. Political Analysis. Scientific Intelligence, and Strategic Research; with tho National Intelligence Officer for the USSR ind Eailern Europe; and with appropriate components or the Defense Intel-ligencc Agency and the Department of State.and queries are welcome and may be directed to the
GCM-IOOHO
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Conndj/ll.l
Muslins In the
USSR!-!
arcillion lo SO million Muslims in the Soviel Union, making il
the fifth largest Muslim country in the world. The Muslims ure greatly o'ubreedi ng the Slavs, resulting In demographic trends disquieting lo the Soviet leadership. By thelmost one in three Soviet citizens and more than one in three draft-age males will be Muslim. Beginning in, Muslims will be responsible for nearly all of the net increase in the Soviet manpower pool, i
Most of the Soviet Muslims livehain of six union republics that stretches across the entire strategic frontier from Turkey tolthough there are significant concentrations of Muslims in the Russian Republic and lesser concentrations elsewhere. Q
For decades Soviet leaders have tried with little success to foster the assimilation of the Muslims into the dominant Slavic culture. Tension between Muslim and Slav persists and may increase as Muslims, because of the growth in their numbers relative to Slavs, necessarily becomenvolved in industry and defense.ong government campaign to make them bilingual, probably (eweruarter of the Muslims can speak or read Russian well, which limits their utility outside their own areas. This, coupled with their disinclination to leave their homelands, has ledituation ir labor surpluses in much of the Muslim area and labor shortages almost everywhere else. | |
The Islamic leadership establishment in the USSR has long been co-opted by the Soviet regime. There are feweregistered clerics and fewerorking mosques in the whole country. Probablyeligious consciousness (as opposed lo cultural consciousness) is relatively low among Soviet Muslims, and the tide of religious fundamentalism washing over the Muslim world has had little impact in the USSR. There is some evidence of rising interest In the religious aspects of Islam among Soviet Muslims, but none at all suggesting this is connected io eveptshe country.) 1
. 1 UJ i
Soviet officials have displayed little overt concern that ihe unrest innationsouthern border might spill over into thef )however, some Soviet diplomats have
ttempted to justify the Soviel invasion of Afghanistan by alluding to such concern. Considering their self-serving nature, such commcnis have little credibility. Q
ronn/ijrfibi
Muslims In the
USSR ii the fifth largest Muslim country in the world. Ofationalities enumerated in0 census.ere of Islamic heritage. Together the Soviet Muslims numberillion toillion, aboutercent of tbe total population.
opulation exceedingillion, the Uzbeks are tbe most numerous of the Muslim pcop'es and the third largest nationality (after the Russians and Ukrainians) in tbe Soviet Union. Next are thc Tatars, Kazakhs, and Azerbaljanls. each with moreillion; four other groups, the Tadzhiks, Turkmen. Kirgiz, and Bashkirs, numberillion each. None of the remainingationalities numbers as manyillion members; some countew
The Soviet Muslims are mainly of Turkic stock and speak closely related Turkic languages. The Tadzhiks, ihe largest non-Turkic people,umber ofroups speak Iranic languages similar to those spoken in Iran and Afghanistan. The mountaineers of lhe Caucasus speak various languages and dialects uniquee
Most of these Mnslim peoples live in clearly defined homeland areas where they and I'.ieir ancestors have held sway for centuries. Nearly i" nf these homelands have been accorded some degree of politicalunion republicsr autonomous oblasts. The homelands of Ihe eight largest peoples are designated as follows:
Arerbnijon SSR Bashkirazakh SSR Tatar ASSR (u) KirfixSSR Tadzhik SSR Turkmen SSR Uzbek SSR
. . -i'proftcird fromAla. NaoCmalllv from Ida Januaryanaua arc not ret availableiliaryal iht end of December but have not yei " ' " II4ip|
The homelands of six major Muslim peoples have been designated union republics, giving them political status formally equal lo thai of lhe Russian Republichc homelands of the Bashkirsatars lie within tbe Russian Republic; necessarily, ihey have been accorded the lower (but highest practicable) status of autonomous republic.
Muslims are In tbe majority in all of the Muslim union republics except the Kazakh SSR, and there the Muslim share of the population is rising, because of the high Kazakh birth rate and the steady oul-migration ol Russians that began in ihc. In thc Kirgiz SSR the Kirgiz by themselves do re"ajority, but other Muslims make up then the other union republics the titular nationalities compose majorities by themselves.
nlyuarter of the Tatars lived in the Tatar ASSR, where they accounted for about half of the population; thc rest were spread throughout the Russian Republic and the Muslim region to the south. Aboul three-fourths of the Bcshkin lived in the Bashkir ASSR, but0 they composed less than one-fourth of the population there. Tatars, however, numbered nearly another fourth; there were, in fact more Tatars than Bashkirs in the Bashkir
The sii Muslim union republics stretch across the Caucasus1 and Central Asia. To tho north aare of mountains and steppe separates them from thc real of the USSR. To tie south lies thc entire strategic frontier from Turkey to Mongolia. Across this border aro the Islamic nations of Iran and Afghanistan and China's Muslim-dominated Xinjiang (Sfnklang) Autonomousj
Many of the Soviet Muslim nationalities have ethnic kin on lhe other side of the border. Aterbaijanis, Kurds, and Turkmen have elhnk relatives In Iran;
' Of tha ihtee union republic- In tKsGeorgia, aftd<be tut namedirable Mualim roraila ilea. There arc.arnber of ameUer MaUim gassajai ta ike Da rata*lao la theadmlnMiratrvelj panblt j
Uzbeks, Tadzhiks, and Kirgiz have kinfghanistan; and Kirgiz, Kazakhs, and Uighurs havo kin in Xinjiang. The Sovieti deal with this situation in various way*. - BHi :
Borderhave reported that Muslim tamilies separated by the border often have well-established lines of communication, and that in some areas border guards close their eyesertain amount of family-reU'ed Irani border visiting.however, the presence of strong physical security measures indicates clearly that the Soviets arc very sensitive about unauthorised traffic back and forth across the border.
adiobroadcasts originating in Soviet Muslim areas can be received clearly in neighboring countries, This gives the Soviets chances to present their policiesavorable light, to present their versions of issues and events, and to extol thc benefits of being Muslim in the Soviet Union. In the Sino-Soviet war of nerves, for example, each side claims to treat its Uighurs belter lhan the ither. Andafter the US Embassy in Teheran wasradiobroadcasts from Muslim areas north of the Iranian border stoked the fires of anii-Amcrican sentiment while assuring Iranian listeners of Soviet sympathy and understanding.
Diptomtmey. Muslims are welt-represei'tcd in Soviet diplomatic missions to Islamic countries. Fora Kazan' Tatar was appointed Sovietto Afghanistan during the short-livedregime; he remains In position today.
Exehamnei. Friendship societies haveamong ttt.de unions and industriallo encourage and sponsor exchanges
Drmogfaiihlc Trends
The Muslim* are ihc fastesl growing segment of the Soviet population. By theearly one-third ofatlillionbe Muslims. During ihe last Intcrccnsal period for which nationality data arc. the av.?ragc annual crude birth rates among tbe six majoryies wereoer thousand, compared with le loer thousand among the Slavs.0
betweenndercent of the population of eachsix major Muslim peoples was underearscontrasted toocrcrni of the Slavicthese young Mushms move into theirin, they will assure continuedof the Muslim population, The Slavicgrow much more slowly, because of lowerrelatively fewer people at the reproductiveIhe .proportion of Muslim peoples inpopulation will increase throughout thisbeyond,
Although welcoming the potential additions to the labor force, thc Soviet leadership is concerned about the political and economic implications of lhebetween Muslim and Slavic populationively, surprisingly open debate has arisen among Soviet planners and academics overomprehensive demographic policy. Two schools of thought have emerged: oneniform policy of incentives lo raise birth rates throughout ihc country, ihc other advocating adiffercntialcd policy designed to equalize birth ra'cs by stimulating birth rates inertiliiy areas and instituting disincentives in high-birthrate areas. Proponents of the uniform policy have criticized Ihe ethnic discrimination implicitifferentiated policy. There has been no decision yet, end the issue is likely lo be raised ath Party Congress, lo beometime in lhe.
Russian rulers have periodically promoted Iheof Slavs to thc Muslim region, particularly to the sensitive border areas. In the recent past,mbers of Slavs have settled along Ihe Sino-Kazakh-Kirgiz border. Except in Kazakhstan and Kirgizsian, where agricultural land is more abundant, most Slavs have chosen to live in towns and cities In contrast, most Muslims live in Ihe countryside. Rural-urban migration is increasing somewhat, as more and more young Muslims seek opportunity and advancement in the cities, bul rseliminnry data from9 census show that the Muslim republics continue lo be ihe least urbanized in the country. In Tadjikistan, it appears lhat the proportion of urban dwellers actually declined fromercent0 toercent nine year* Inter.
r
Muslim Peoples In the USSR
In general, Musl'ms receive poorer quality education and leas technical education lhan the otherIn tbe Soviet Union.hen general educationh grade was madehroughout tbe USSR, young Muslims have not differed from Other nation sillies in progressing at least that fir in school. In term, of educational attainmenth grade, however, the Muslims rank it the be Horn of the list of USSRuslim youths lag behind especially in vocations; andtraining, which no;mslly does not begin untilh grade. One reason is that many Muslim girls still opt for early marriage (often under parental pressure) instead of cominuing their education.probably more important, rcion is thatand technical schools are fewer in number and lower in quality In the rural areas, where most Muslims lire, than in the cities. (Tbe Azerbaijani! arc both the most urbanized and the beat educated among the major Muslimhe number of specialists graduating from higher schools in the Muslim regions has risen markedly, reflectingSoviet Investment in technical education there, but ihc repid growth in the numbers of school-age Muslims will require still greater investments in education to sustain, let alone raise, levels ofattiinment among the Muslim
According to0 census, the sis major Muslim peoples accounted forercent of the population butercent of the recent internal migranti In thelthough traditionally loath to leave- their Islamic homelands, modern Muslims may icveaa well as cultural reasons for staying poi. The climate is equable, the cost of living reasonable, and the opportunities for additional income from private agriculture relatively more available In this, the Soviet sunbelt. Moreover, most Muslims arc still culturally, linguistically, and educationally ill-prepared for life outside the Muslim regions:
' Ajmab UM IS titular naUoMlUMi cmimenied la0rtH of iM ptonufr* olbo*checivt from ninthK: only th*) kept Ihcm from ,
a^naa -iMrKa
acreaa oWaal or kni taMBAartaa tfuriaaaarv pracadiaa UM
i
Cultural Barrier j
The presence of large Slavic communitiei in each of tbe Muslim republics has not led to extensiveor social interaction between (he two groups. In rural areas, Muslims and Slavs are likely to live and work on separate itate and collective farms. In urban areas the workplaces are integrated, but even when Slavs and Muslims live in the same neighborhoods self-imposed segregation of social activities is common. I
Aside from historical animosity, certain values and traditions commonly held among Muslim peoples perpetuate barrien between Muslim and Slav.Muslim rituals for major life events such as weddings, circumcisions, and funerals are widely observed, even though other religious practices are not widespread except anong older Muslims. Muslim attitudes about the frmiiy and Ihe role of women, and their attachment ia the land differ considerablythose of Slavs, as demonstrated by the diverging demographic trends of the iwo groups.^
Thereajor language barrier between Slavs and Muslims. Few Slavs know any of the Muslims for the Muslims, only among the Kaiakhs is Russian widely spoken.0 less thanercent of any other major Muslim people claimed fluency in Russian: virtually all of them considered their national tongues as their first language. The Soviet regime has been campaigningong time to improve the quality of Russian-language instruction in the "nationel" (native language) schools in the Muslim region; in recent years school jdminutraiors have been urged to expand the amount of time devoted to the leaching of Russian at the expense of other subjects.s effort has borne someigh pioportion of the Muslims who claimed fluency in Russian in0 census avsca underears old. Data en bilingualism fromurther measure of Ihe success of this campaign.
Prrjodic* aad Dtwrladaaltaei
Although the regime denies it. anti-Muslim prejudice la widespread among the Slavs, and anti-Slav prejudice
iinotamong ibeSuch prejudice inevitably leads toat the individual levellavicmay try to hire and promote Slavs;university admission* nfficer may giveto Muslim applicants. Pejorative ethnicused by both sides. Many Soviet officials,privately refer to the burgeoning growthMuslim peoplesyellowing" of the SovietfQ ,
,he current ruling elite is not diaeernibly racist in Its outlook ornd tbr law of the land forbids racial and ethnic discrimination. Somecomplain lhat Soviet authorities bend over backwards (enrage la reverse discrimination) toopportunities for Muslims at the expensn of Russians or other Slavs. It is worth noting, however, that Muslims are relatively less oftenositkm where they could, if they wished, reciprocate. I
Muslim Manpower
Only in Ihe Muslim region is Ihe labor poolrow during0 because only among Muslim* wen'there mofe births Inhan workers who will retire in. But the nature of Muslimimmobile, largely rural, often poorlyMojcow's efforts to cope with the worsening labor crunch in European USSR ana Siberia. Most Muslims ure reluctant lo forsake tbe traditional lifestyle and relatively good wages of Ibe countryside even to fill local industrial jobs, much less to migrate to labor-hungr> arras In Ihe eastern regions where the climate is coldhe culture Slavic. Those who do move to cities often lack the vocational skills rvjeded by industry.esult, spot labor "reserves" arc reportedal areas throughout the Muslim regions, while majorthe Muslim republlca as well as the rest of iheexperiencing shortages of skilled labor.
In view of the unpalaiability of trying lo solve man power maid tslri but ion by coercive administrativeumber of Soviet economic planners hare suggested (in the tinfiilon of Ihc mountain coming to Mohammed) lhat industrial jobs be brought to the Muslims so their labor potential may be exploited.
rogram, however, could not be implemented overnight. Furthermore, equire major regional shifts in scarce capital investment that rival claimants for sucb investment, particularly in the European USSR, would stoutly resbt.
For these reasons, rapid industrialization of Ihe Muslim republics is unlikely. More probable is the expansion if irrigated agriculture and the introductionewtemive light industries that would draw uponarge reserves of femak labor in ihe Muslim region but would not require an extensive (and expensive) upgrading of the lirrguistic and technical skills of the labor force,*
Muslims will account for an cver-increasirg share of military manpower as well. By theuslim males will compose well morehird nf the draf:-age population.atter of policy, Muslim draftees are assigned to units throughout the USSReans of Sovietixing them: there are no totally Muslim military units, because many Muslim conscriptsspeak or read Russian very well, disproportionat, numbers of them are assigned to menial tasks and ihe simpler specialties such as Infantryman. Although pick-and-shovd jobs abound in ihe Soviet armed forces {especially in constructionhe miliiary may have trouble absorbing the increasing number of Muslim draftees and filling technical positions unless Ihe linguistic skills of Muslim conscripts improve considerably.
At present, there seems to be little cihnk friction in ihe Soviel armed forcea. The use of Muslim troops and reservists in Ihe Afghanistan invasion and occupation, however, may be giving rise to some disciplin..ry problems. No!orld War II, when the Soviet Union occupied northern Iran, have Muslim 'roopa been Involved in the occupationevoutly Muslim country. Atew Muslim soldiers havefound the capcience emotionally and politicallyumber of descrtioni have been reported.
'a Ihc Ubec tornrrdxc birth rata* la th* Mi mvMica,iwuw
If<K-i- .
ConHdyflW
aome Muillm soldiers havo begun openlyIslamk practlcea,such asi it mosques.contamination of Soviet Muslimfrom thc confrontation with theirin Afghanistan will be carried back towith potentially troublesome consequencesSoviet regigaa. I Ii
Masllm< ipatinn in lh* Scries Syslero Muslims are underrepresenled in the Sovietpolitical, aad military elites, although theof Muslims in Industrial management and civil administration has been rising. Members of the titular nationalities hold positions of genuine responrbility ai all "dministraiive levels in their respective republkJ. but they tend to be concentrated in some areas and all but absent from others. Muslimstrong showing, for esampk. In positions co>tcerned with culture and propaganda. From lhe regi'-e's viewpoint, politically reliable Muslims arc among the most credible spokesmen for Moscow in tbe ideological arena. Because of past diflercnjals in engineering and technical education, however. non-Muslim leaders predominate in industry, even in agriculturalory positions. Q
Muslims are also undcncprescn'.cd in Ihe Communist Party (CPSU) in terms of their share of lhe total population, but demographic factors account for most of thc discrepancy, since fewer than half of the Muslims are old enough to join the party. According3 data, when only persons agedr older are considered, Kazakhs and Azerbaijani! were actually ovem presented. Among the titular nations lilies, only thc Georgians and Armenians ranked higher; the Russians ranked fifth, All of the other nationalities were somewhat undmeprucrited, but the othe- four Muslim pcopiee all ranked highy than ihe Baltic peoples and the McJdaviansM J
Muslims are well represented at all levels of theierarchy; there are. forhree Muslim memben of the CPSU Pollibtira Muslim party
j; leaders, however, rarely serve outside their ownoccasionally, In the RusslarIn tba ils Muslim union republics the parly first secretary Isative Muslim, tbe second
rctaryussian. j
Mosi officers In the Soviet armed forcea are Slavs, although In recent yean the proportionnon-Slavs, especially Muslims, has apparently been increasing. Much ot this increase probably results from an effort to appoint more Muslim political officers, whoseo indoctrinate Ihc troops in political Ideology. Moscow believes lhat they relate betier to Muslim conscripts. Inadequate educationack of fluency in I'in bar many Muslim aspinnii from becoming line officers, for officer candidates must passa rigorous oral and written ciamjnalion in Russian, the language of command. Although the number of Muslim officers will jndoubtedty continu. to Increase, these problems will nv.ke it difficult for the regime to aconiplish full Mi -lifTi rcpresentatioo in the officer^
Rrllgiom Trendsh Mosl Soviet Muslims aro Sunnls: among Ihe majjr peoples, only lhe Azerbaijanis are predominantly Shia. In the Soviet Unieowever, lh. distinction between the two groups has blurred, ard othe years. Muslim solidarity againsl ihe Slav has taken precedence over sectarian differences. |
Prom Its inception, the Soriet Government has pursued generally repressive policies against ;he Muslim clergy and agai-.st religious practices among MuslimIn recent yean, however. Moscow has become increasingly sensitive lo lhe costs of trying to eitirnate Islam and aware of the advantages ofomewhat more tolerant attitude.
Con
The official Islamic establishment in thc Soviet Union is organized into four regional Spiritual Directorate*tructure tha'. :an be traced luck tu the llmr of Catherine lhe Great. The Ufa Diicctoratc controls the Sunnl Muslims of European Russia ond Siberia; tbe Buynaksk Directorate oversees the Sunni Muslims of lhe North Caucasus and Dagestan; the Baku Directorate guides lhe Sunni and Shia Muslims of the Transcaucasui; n'iTa ihkent Direcorate controls the large Sunni Muslim twpulatkn of Central Asia ind Kizakhsian. The once-vital Islamicnow consists ofegistered clerics, fewerorking mosques (half ofn
Centralwohooh (in BuUiira ind Tashkent)umber of largely propagandistic publicatkms, including Muslims of Ihe Soviet East (which appear* in English. French. Arabic, and Uzbek
. M* tit] W. -
The Soviet regimc has becorneacuiely cognizant of the importance of Islam in its foreign affairs, and has used the Soviet Islamic hierarchy in pursuit of its foreign policy goals. Soviet Islamic leaders have received delegationsumber of Muslim countries, and Mufti Babakhanov of tlicectoraieattends international Islamicnushanbe, the capital of Ihe Tad/hik SSR, was the siteajor event in the Islamicsyn.posium dedicated to the beginning ofh century rince the Hrrtra (Mohammed's flight from Mecca tohis year Tashkent willot her major international Islamic meeting. Contacts between Soviet and foreign Muslims, however, art limited and ttrktly controlled. Irae'i post revolutionary request for permission to establish cultural institutes in Ashkhabad and Tashkent, for example, was flatly turned down. Q
In many parts of Ihe Soviet Muslim region, over lite past few years there hasevival of interest in the religious aspects of Islam. Unofficial seminaries are turning oul unofficial mullahs who teach ihc tenets of Islam to children in unofficial mosques. All of this is taking place informally and locally, outside Iheof lhe Soviet controlled Muftis ts. and all of it Is illegal. In response. Soviet authorities hive repeatedly inreighed against these practices In public medis ind Intensified the teaching of atheism in schools. This relatively mild reaction suggests that although theidespread it is not catching on with tbe Muslim masses as a
'SaUl Arabia, ibaMaatlninatka (by vklaraa*tur.OWbaa aot aaocambad to thai campaign. It aialjtiaiae no diploma lie relatione rrtth tha USSR andurn formal coatacu beiwaaa Kiadl and Soviet Maallra reHfioaa flisiree. TV Said* place no rWricOona oaMarloto perform UV kmjj (eUarlnaate to Maeea orat Soneteal tWaa aeoordad oelraadrul of aapadalry fa>orad Maallmi each rear.
1 ;
' Sonet officiali hive displayed little osjt concernbe unrest in tbe lilarnic notiorj along Iti southern bonier might ipill over into tbe Soviet Union. In privateowever, tome Sovietave attempted to juitify the Soviet invfaion of Afghanistan by alluding to such concern. Considering their self-serving nature, luch comment! have little
Mitiiilifljiligi
Soviet nationalities' policies have generally aimed atupranational socialist consciousnessll Soviet peoples. Nationwide pao&rams toeduatKM and promote Russianingua franca were to reduce and eventually eliminate cultural distinctions among the nationalities. These programs, however, have not worked anywhere as well as wai hoped, and tbey have hardlyent in ths ethnic conscicuir.es! of the Muslims, most of whomll think of themselves drat as Muslims, second aa Azerbaijani's, Kazakhs, or whatever, and only third ashe large mass cf unassimilated Muslims in the belly of the Soviet body politic Is making Soviet leadeiau Hasy.argerowing but sti II benign tumor, it ii not causing them any harm but neither, they fear, will it do them any good. (
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Original document.
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