View source for Islam in Russia

{{Short description|Overview of Islam in Russia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
[[File:Distribution of Muslims in Russia.png|thumb|280px|Map showing the distribution of Muslim ethnic communities at municipality level, based on the results of the [[2021 Russian census]].]]
{{Islam in Europe by country}}

[[Islam]] is a major [[religious minority]] in the [[Russian Federation]], which has the largest [[Islam in Europe|Muslim population in Europe]].<ref name="Lunkin">{{cite book |surname=Lunkin |given=Roman |display-authors=etal |year=2005 |chapter=Ислам |trans-chapter=Islam |editor-surname=Bourdeaux |editor-given=Michael |editor-surname2=Filatov |editor-given2=Sergei |others=[[Keston Institute]] |title=Современная религиозная жизнь России. Опыт систематического описания |trans-title=Contemporary Religious Life of Russia. Systematic description experience |place=Moscow |publisher=Logos |volume=3 |pages=78–212 |lang=ru |isbn=5-98704-044-2}}</ref> According to the US [[Federal Research Division]] 1998 reference book,<ref name=CurtisLeighton>{{cite book |surname=Curtis |given=Glenn E. |surname2=Leighton |given2=Marian |chapter=Religion |editor=Curtis, Glenn E. |title=Russia: A Country Study |series=Area handbook series |others=Library of Congress, Federal Research Division |edition=1st |place=Washington, DC |publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]] |year=1998 |pages=202–220 |isbn=0-8444-0866-2 |chapter-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812154335/http://countrystudies.us/russia/37.htm |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/97007563/ |archive-date=2021-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709182042/http://countrystudies.us/russia/43.htm |url-status=live}} | via [https://archive.org/details/russiacountrystu00curt/page/n14/mode/1up Archive.org]</ref> Muslims in Russia numbered about 19% of the religious population, and, according to the [[United States Department of State|US Department of State]] in 2017,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/281196.pdf|title=RUSSIA 2017 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180531085333/https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/281196.pdf|archive-date=31 May 2018}}</ref> Muslims in Russia numbered 14 million or roughly 10% of the total population. One of the [[Grand Mufti]]s of Russia, sheikh [[Rawil Gaynetdin]], estimated the Muslim population of Russia at 25 million in 2018.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/islam-russia-180307094248743.html|title=Islam in Russia|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2018-08-17}}</ref>

Recognized under the law and by Russian political leaders as one of Russia's traditional religions, Islam is a part of [[History of Russia|Russian historical heritage]], and is [[Subsidy|subsidized]] by the Russian government.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Bell, I|title=Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPP3ti4hysUC&pg=PA47|access-date=2007-12-27|isbn=978-1-85743-137-7|year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref> The position of Islam as a major Russian religion, alongside [[Russian Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], dates from the time of [[Catherine the Great]], who sponsored [[Ulama|Islamic clerics]] and scholarship through the [[Orenburg Muslim Spiritual Assembly|Orenburg Assembly]].<ref>Azamatov, Danil D. (1998), "The Muftis of the Orenburg Spiritual Assembly in the 18th and 19th Centuries: The Struggle for Power in Russia's Muslim Institution", in Anke von Kugelgen; Michael Kemper; Allen J. Frank, Muslim culture in Russia and Central Asia from the 18th to the early 20th centuries, vol. 2: Inter-Regional and Inter-Ethnic Relations, Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, pp. 355–384,</ref>

The history of Islam and Russia encompasses periods of conflict between the Muslim minority and the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]] majority, as well as periods of collaboration and mutual support. Robert Crews's study of Muslims living under the Tsar indicates that "the mass of Muslims" was loyal to that regime after Catherine, and sided with it over the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>Robert D. Crews, ''For Prophet and Tsar'', pp. 299-300 (Harvard, 2006)</ref> After the [[Russian Empire]] fell, the [[Soviet Union]] introduced a policy of [[state atheism]], which impeded the practice of Islam and other religions and led to the execution and suppression of various Muslim leaders. Following the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse of the Soviet Union]], Islam regained a legally recognized space in [[Politics of Russia|Russian politics]]. Despite having made [[Islamophobic]] comments during the [[Second Chechen War]], President [[Vladimir Putin]] has since subsidized [[Mosque|mosques]] and Islamic education, which he called an "integral part of Russia's cultural code",<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-01-25|title=Vladimir Putin says Muslim schools can help stop "destructive" ideas|url=https://www.newsweek.com/putin-pledges-support-islamic-schools-russia-791561|access-date=2021-10-13|website=Newsweek|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/13/chechnya.iantraynor|title=Get circumcised, angry Putin tells reporter|first=Ian|last=Traynor|date=13 November 2002|accessdate=4 April 2023|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> and encouraged [[immigration]] from Muslim-majority [[former Soviet states]].

Muslims form a [[majority]] of the population of the [[Republics of Russia|republics]] of [[Tatarstan]] and [[Bashkortostan]] in the [[Volga Federal District]] and predominate among the nationalities in the [[North Caucasian Federal District]] located between the [[Black Sea]] and the [[Caspian Sea]]: the [[Circassians]], [[Balkars]], [[Chechen people|Chechens]], [[Ingush people|Ingush]], [[Kabardians|Kabardin]], [[Karachay]], and numerous [[Dagestan#Ethnic groups|Dagestani]] peoples. Also, in the middle of the [[Volga Region]] reside populations of [[Volga Tatars|Tatars]] and [[Bashkirs]], the vast majority of whom are Muslims.<ref name=CurtisLeighton /> Other areas with notable Muslim minorities include [[Moscow]], [[Saint Petersburg]], the republics of [[Adygea]], [[North Ossetia-Alania]] and [[Astrakhan Oblast|Astrakhan]], [[Moscow Oblast|Moscow]], [[Orenburg Oblast|Orenburg]] and [[Ulyanovsk Oblast|Ulyanovsk]] [[oblasts]]. There are over 8,000 registered religious Muslim organizations,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russia builds more than 8,000 mosques, Islamic schools in 20 years |url=https://tass.com/society/821145 |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=TASS}}</ref> equivalent to almost one fifth of the number of registered Russian Orthodox religious organizations of about 42,000 as of 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Вперед, в прошлое: школ в России стало меньше, чем церквей |url=https://newizv.ru/news/2024-02-13/vpered-v-proshloe-shkol-v-rossii-vse-menshe-tserkvey-vse-bolshe-427182 |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=newizv.ru |language=ru}}</ref>

==History==
{{Further|Arab–Khazar wars|Volga Bulgaria|Golden Horde}}[[File:Map of the Caucasus, 740 CE.svg|thumb|250x250px|Map of the Caucasus region {{Circa|740}}, [[Derbent]] of Russia was conquered by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] ]]
In the mid-7th century AD, as part of the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]], Islam was introduced to the [[Caucasus]] region, parts of which [[Russo-Persian Wars|were later]] permanently incorporated by [[Russia]].<ref>{{cite book |quote="(..) It is difficult to establish exactly when Islam first appeared in Russia because the lands that Islam invaded early in its expansion were not part of Russia at the time, but were later incorporated into the expanding Russian Empire. In the middle of the seventh century, Islam reached the Caucasus region as part of the Arab [[Muslim conquest of Persia|conquest]] of the Iranian Sassanian Empire. "|title=Islam in Russia: The Politics of Identity and Security|first=Shireen |last= Hunter | publisher= M.E. Sharpe | date = 2004 |page=3 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> The first people to become Muslims within current Russian territory, the [[Dagestan]]i people (region of [[Derbent]]), converted after the [[Arab people|Arab]] conquest of the region in the 8th century. The first Muslim state in the future Russian lands was [[Volga Bulgaria]]<ref>
{{cite journal
| last1                 = Mako
| first1                = Gerald
| title                 = The Islamization of the Volga Bulghars: A Question Reconsidered
| url                   = https://www.academia.edu/1902427
| journal               = Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi
| date      = 2011
| volume                = 18
| issue                 = 208
| access-date           = 2015-10-07
| quote                 = [...] the Volga Bulghars adopted the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, as practiced in Khwarazm.
}}
</ref> In 922, The [[Tatars]] of the [[Khanate of Kazan]] inherited the population of believers from that state. Later most of the European and Caucasian [[Turkic peoples]] also became followers of [[Islam]].<ref name="Shireen Tahmasseb Hunter 2004">Shireen Tahmasseb Hunter, Jeffrey L. Thomas, Alexander Melikishvili, ''"Islam in Russia"'', M.E. Sharpe, Apr 1, 2004,  {{ISBN|0-7656-1282-8}}</ref> The Mongol rulers of the [[Golden Horde]] were Muslims from 1313. By the 1330s, three of the four major khanates of the [[Mongol Empire]] had become Muslim.

The Tatars of the [[Crimean Khanate]], the last remaining successor to the [[Golden Horde]], continued to raid [[Southern Russia]] and [[Fire of Moscow (1571)|burnt down parts of Moscow]] in 1571.<ref>{{cite book|author= Solovyov, S.|title= History of Russia from the Earliest Times|publisher= AST|year= 2001|volume= 6|pages= 751–809|isbn=5-17-002142-9}}</ref> Until the late 18th century, the [[Crimean Tatars]] maintained a massive slave-trade with the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the Middle East, exporting about 2 million slaves from Russia and Ukraine over the period 1500–1700.<ref>Darjusz Kołodziejczyk, as reported by {{cite journal |author=Mikhail Kizilov |title=Slaves, Money Lenders, and Prisoner Guards: The Jews and the Trade in Slaves and Captives in the Crimean Khanate |url= https://www.academia.edu/3706285 |journal= The Journal of Jewish Studies|year= 2007|volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=189–210 |doi=10.18647/2730/JJS-2007 }}</ref>

From the early 16th century up to and including the 19th century, all of [[Transcaucasia]] and southern [[Dagestan]] was ruled by various successive [[History of Iran|Iranian empires]] (the [[Safavids]], [[Afsharids]], and the [[Qajar dynasty|Qajars]]), and their geopolitical and ideological neighboring arch-rivals, on the other hand, the [[Ottoman Turks]]. In the respective areas they ruled, in both the [[North Caucasus]] and [[South Caucasus]], [[Shia Islam]] and [[Sunni Islam]] spread, resulting in a fast and steady conversion of many more ethnic Caucasian peoples in adjacent territories.

The period from the [[Siege of Kazan|Russian conquest of Kazan]] in 1552 by [[Ivan the Terrible]] to the ascension of [[Catherine the Great]] in 1762 featured systematic Russian repression of Muslims through policies of exclusion and discrimination - as well as the destruction of [[Islamic culture|Muslim culture]] by the elimination of outward manifestations of Islam such as [[mosque]]s.<ref>Frank, Allen J. Muslim Religious Institutions in Imperial Russia: The Islamic World of Novouzensk District and the Kazakh Inner Horde, 1780–1910. Vol. 35. Brill, 2001.</ref> The Russians initially demonstrated a willingness in allowing [[Islam]] to flourish as [[Muslim cleric]]s were invited into the various regions to preach to the Muslims, particularly the [[Kazakhs]], whom the Russians viewed with contempt.<ref>Khodarkovsky, Michael. ''Russia's Steppe Frontier: The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500-1800'', pg. 39.</ref><ref name=EncycSex572>Ember, Carol R. and Melvin Ember. ''Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures'', pg. 572</ref> However, Russian policy shifted toward weakening Islam by introducing pre-Islamic elements of collective consciousness.<ref name=Hunter14>Hunter, Shireen. "Islam in Russia: The Politics of Identity and Security", pg. 14</ref> Such attempts included methods of eulogizing pre-Islamic historical figures and imposing a sense of inferiority by sending Kazakhs to highly élite [[Russia]]n military institutions.<ref name=Hunter14 /> In response, Kazakh religious leaders attempted to bring religious fervor by espousing [[pan-Turkism]], though many{{quantify|date=October 2015}} were persecuted as a result.<ref>Farah, Caesar E. ''Islam: Beliefs and Observances'', pg. 304</ref> The government of Russia paid [[Ulama|Islamic scholars]] from the Ural-Volga area working among the Kazakhs<ref name="Frank1998">{{cite book|author=Allen J. Frank|title=Islamic Historiography and "Bulghar" Identity Among the Tatars and Bashkirs of Russia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nx2FwBKJ3MYC&pg=PA35|year=1998|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11021-6|pages=35–}}</ref>

[[File:Carlo Bossoli Khanpalast von Bachcisaraj 1857.jpg|thumb|The Crimean Khan's Palace in [[Bakhchysarai]] in 1857. Crimea was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1783.]]

[[Islamic views on slavery|Islamic slavery]] did not have racial restrictions. Russian girls were legally allowed to be sold in Russian-controlled Novgorod to Tatars from Kazan in the 1600s by [[Law of Russia|Russian law]]. Germans, Poles, and Lithuanians were allowed to be sold to Crimean Tatars in Moscow. In 1665, Tatars were allowed to buy Polish and Lithuanian slaves from the Russians. Before 1649, Russians could be sold to Muslims under Russian law in Moscow. This contrasted with other places in Europe outside Russia where Muslims were not allowed to own Christians.<ref>{{cite journal |last=KIZILOV  |first= MIKHAIL |date=2007 |title= Slave Trade in the Early Modern Crimea From the Perspective of_Christian Muslim and Jewish Sources |url=https://www.academia.edu/2971600 |journal=Journal of Early Modern History |publisher=Koninklijke Brill NV |location=Leiden|volume=11 |issue= 1–2 |page=16 |doi= 10.1163/157006507780385125 }}</ref>

The [[Cossack Hetmanate]] recruited and incorporated Muslim [[Mishar Tatars]].<ref name="Frank2001">{{cite book|author=Allen J. Frank|title=Muslim Religious Institutions in Imperial Russia: The Islamic World of Novouzensk District and the Kazakh Inner Horde, 1780-1910|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udUR_uKyE1kC&pg=PA61|date=1 January 2001|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11975-2|pages=61–}}</ref> Cossack rank was awarded to Bashkirs.<ref name="Frank2001 2">{{cite book|author=Allen J. Frank|title=Muslim Religious Institutions in Imperial Russia: The Islamic World of Novouzensk District and the Kazakh Inner Horde, 1780-1910|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udUR_uKyE1kC&pg=PA79|date=1 January 2001|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11975-2|pages=79–}}</ref> Muslim [[Turkic peoples|Turkics]] and Buddhist [[Kalmyks]] served as Cossacks. The [[Ural Cossacks|Cossack Ural]], [[Terek Cossacks|Terek]], [[Astrakhan Cossacks|Astrakhan]], and [[Don Cossacks|Don Cossack]] hosts had Kalmyks in their ranks. Mishar Muslims, Teptiar Muslims, service Tatar Muslims, and Bashkir Muslims joined the [[Orenburg Cossacks|Orenburg Cossack Host]].<ref name="Frank2001 3">{{cite book|author=Allen J. Frank|title=Muslim Religious Institutions in Imperial Russia: The Islamic World of Novouzensk District and the Kazakh Inner Horde, 1780-1910|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udUR_uKyE1kC&pg=PA86|date=1 January 2001|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11975-2|pages=86–}}</ref> Cossack non-Muslims shared the same status with [[Siberian Cossacks|Siberian Cossack]] Muslims.<ref name="Frank2001 4">{{cite book|author=Allen J. Frank|title=Muslim Religious Institutions in Imperial Russia: The Islamic World of Novouzensk District and the Kazakh Inner Horde, 1780-1910|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udUR_uKyE1kC&pg=PA87|date=1 January 2001|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11975-2|pages=87–}}</ref> Muslim Cossacks in Siberia requested an Imam.<ref name="Frank2001 5">{{cite book|author=Allen J. Frank|title=Muslim Religious Institutions in Imperial Russia: The Islamic World of Novouzensk District and the Kazakh Inner Horde, 1780-1910|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udUR_uKyE1kC&pg=PA122|date=1 January 2001|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11975-2|pages=122–}}</ref> Cossacks in Siberia included Tatar Muslims like in Bashkiria.<ref name="Frank2001 6">{{cite book|author=Allen J. Frank|title=Muslim Religious Institutions in Imperial Russia: The Islamic World of Novouzensk District and the Kazakh Inner Horde, 1780-1910|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udUR_uKyE1kC&pg=PA170|date=1 January 2001|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11975-2|pages=170–}}</ref>

[[File:Башкиры в Париже.jpg|thumb|Bashkirs in Paris during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], 1814]]

[[Bashkirs]] and [[Kalmyks]] in the [[Imperial Russian Army]] fought against [[Napoleon]]'s [[Grande Armée]] during the [[French invasion of Russia]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Vershinin |first=Alexander |date=29 July 2014 |title=How Russia's steppe warriors took on Napoleon's armies |url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/2014/07/29/how_russias_steppe_warriors_took_on_napoleons_armies_37029 |newspaper=Russia & India Report }}</ref><ref name="Elting1997">{{cite book|author=John R. Elting|title=Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtABAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237|year=1997|publisher=Perseus Books Group|isbn=978-0-306-80757-2|pages=237–}}</ref> They were judged suitable for inundating opponents but not intense fighting.<ref name="Leggiere2015">{{cite book|author=Michael V. Leggiere|title=Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany: Volume 2, The Defeat of Napoleon: The Franco-Prussian War of 1813|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAe7BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101|date=16 April 2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-316-39309-3|pages=101–}}{{cite book|author=Michael V. Leggiere|title=Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany: 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iKS4BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101|date=16 April 2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-08054-6|pages=101–}}</ref> They were in a non-standard capacity in the military.<ref name="Hartley2008">{{cite book|author=Janet M. Hartley|title=Russia, 1762–1825: Military Power, the State, and the People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLAMsDm3wJEC&pg=PA27|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-275-97871-6|pages=27–}}</ref> Arrows, bows, and melee combat weapons were wielded by the Muslim Bashkirs. Bashkir women fought among the regiments.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://islam.ru/en/content/story/islam-russian-army |title= Islam in the Russian Army |last1= Nasirov  |first1=Ilshat |date=2005 |work= Islam Magazine |location= Makhachkala }}</ref> [[Denis Davidov]] mentioned the arrows and bows wielded by the Bashkirs.<ref name="Mikaberidze2015">{{cite book |author= Alexander Mikaberidze |title= Russian Eyewitness Accounts of the Campaign of 1807 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uVhEBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA276|date= 20 February 2015 |publisher= Frontline Books |isbn=978-1-4738-5016-3 |pages= 276–}}</ref><ref name="Davydov1999">{{cite book |author= Denis Vasilʹevich Davydov |title= In the Service of the Tsar Against Napoleon: The Memoirs of Denis Davidov, 1806–1814 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vaOfAAAAMAAJ&q=On+that+day,+as+if+to+offer+us+a+distraction+from+dire+events,+several+Bashkir+regiments+arrived+to+join+our+rearguard.+...+it+is+just+possible+that+a+multitude+of+natives+from+the+Urals,+Kalmyks+and+Bashkirs,+sent+as+a+diversion+in+the+enemy%27s+rear,+... |year= 1999 |publisher= Greenhill Books |isbn=978-1-85367-373-3 |page= 51}}</ref> Napoleon's forces faced off against Kalmyks on horseback.<ref name="Kappeler2014">{{cite book|author=Andreas Kappeler|title=The Russian Empire: A Multi-ethnic History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZ9eBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA129|date=27 August 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-56810-0|pages=129–}}</ref> Napoleon faced light mounted Bashkir forces.<ref name="MalloyPalermo2015">{{cite book|author1=Tove H. Malloy|author2=Francesco Palermo|title=Minority Accommodation through Territorial and Non-Territorial Autonomy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jiqkCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT158|date=8 October 2015|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-106359-6}}</ref> Mounted Kalmyks and Bashkirs numbering 100 were available to Russian commandants during the war against Napoleon.<ref name="Lieven2010">{{cite book|author=Dominic Lieven|title=Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BAWbz1iPIfoC&pg=PT326|date=15 April 2010|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-101-42938-9}}</ref> Kalmyks and Bashkirs served in the Russian army in France.<ref name="Lieven2010 2">{{cite book|author=Dominic Lieven|title=Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BAWbz1iPIfoC&pg=PT504|date=15 April 2010|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-101-42938-9|pages=504–}}</ref> A nachalnik was present in every one of the 11 cantons of the Bashkir host which was created by Russia after the [[Pugachev's Rebellion|Pugachev Rebellion]].<ref name="Bowring2013">{{cite book|author=Bill Bowring|title=Law, Rights and Ideology in Russia: Landmarks in the Destiny of a Great Power|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-uLyNbn09QC&pg=PA129|date=17 April 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-62580-2|pages=129–}}</ref> Bashkirs had the military statute of 1874 applied to them.<ref name="Steinwedel2016">{{cite book|author=Charles R. Steinwedel|title=Threads of Empire: Loyalty and Tsarist Authority in Bashkiria, 1552–1917|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D4D_CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145|date=9 May 2016|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-01933-2|pages=145–}}</ref> Muslims were exempt from [[Conscription in the Russian Empire|military conscription]] during [[World War I]].<ref>Figes, Orlando (1996). ''A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891-1924''. London: Jonathan Cape. p. 257. {{ISBN|0-224-04162-2}}. {{OCLC|35657827}}.</ref>

[[Image:Штурм аула Салта.jpg|thumb|right|Fighting in the mountains of [[Dagestan]] during the [[Murid War]]]]

While total expulsion (as practiced in other Christian nations such as [[Spain]], [[Portugal]] and [[Sicily]]) was not feasible to achieve a homogeneous [[Russian Orthodox|Russian-Orthodox]] population, other policies such as land grants and the promotion of migration by other Russian and non-Muslim populations into Muslim lands displaced many Muslims, making them minorities in places such as some parts of the [[Southern Ural|South Ural region]] and encouraging emigration to other parts such as the [[Ottoman Empire]] and neighboring [[Persia]], and almost annihilating the [[Circassians]], [[Crimean Tatars]], and various Muslims of the Caucasus. The Russian army rounded up people, driving Muslims from their villages to ports on the [[Black Sea]], where they awaited ships provided by the neighboring Ottoman Empire. The explicit Russian goal involved expelling the groups in question from their lands.<ref>Kazemzadeh 1974</ref> They were given a choice as to where to be resettled: in the Ottoman Empire, in Persia, or Russia far from their old lands. The [[Russo-Circassian War]] ended with the signing of loyalty oaths by Circassian leaders on 2 June [O.S. 21 May] 1864. Afterward, the Ottoman Empire offered to harbor the Circassians who did not wish to accept the rule of a Christian monarch, and many emigrated to Anatolia (the heart of the Ottoman Empire) and ended up in modern Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, and Kosovo. Many other Caucasian Muslims ended up in neighboring Iran - sizeable numbers of Shia [[Lezgins]], [[Azerbaijanis]], [[Iranian Georgians|Muslim Georgians]], [[Kabardians|Kabardins]], and [[Laks (Caucasus)|Laks]].<ref>А. Г. Булатова. Лакцы (XIX – нач. XX вв.). Историко-этнографические очерки. — Махачкала, 2000.</ref> Various Russian, Caucasus, and Western historians agree on the figure of {{circa}} 500,000 inhabitants of the highland Caucasus being deported by Russia in the 1860s. A large proportion of them died in transit from disease. Those that remained loyal to Russia were settled into the lowlands, on the left bank of the [[Kuban River|Kuban' River]]. The trend of [[Russification]] has continued at different paces in the rest of [[Russian Empire|Tsarist]] and [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet]] periods, so that {{citation needed|date=January 2014}} {{as of | 2014 | lc = on}} more Tatars lived outside the [[Republic of Tatarstan]] than inside it.<ref name="Shireen Tahmasseb Hunter 2004"/>

[[File:Muslim Girls School Erivan.jpg|thumb|Students and staff of the [[Erivan]] Russian-Muslim School for Girls, 1902]]

A policy of deliberately enforcing anti-modern, traditional, ancient conservative [[Education in Islam|Islamic education]] in schools and Islamic ideology was enforced by the Russians in order to deliberately hamper and destroy opposition to their rule by keeping them in a state of torpor to and prevent foreign ideologies from penetrating in.<ref name="Forbes1986">{{cite book|author=Andrew D. W. Forbes|title=Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republican Sinkiang 1911-1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA16|date=9 October 1986|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=978-0-521-25514-1|pages=16–}}</ref><ref name="BennigsenLemercier-Quelquejay1967">{{cite book|author1=Alexandre Bennigsen|author2=Chantal Lemercier-Quelquejay|author3=Central Asian Research Centre (London, England)|title=Islam in the Soviet Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YG9AAAAAIAAJ|year=1967|publisher=Praeger|page=15}}</ref>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-295-1560-22, Nordfrankreich, Turkmenische Freiwillige.jpg|thumb|Captured Soviet soldiers of Muslim backgrounds [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|volunteered in large numbers]] for the [[Ostlegionen]] of the Wehrmacht.]]
[[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist rule]] oppressed and suppressed Islam, like other [[religion in the Soviet Union|religions in the Soviet Union]].{{when|date=May 2013}} Many mosques (for some estimates,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://imamat-news.ru/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601194939/http://imamat-news.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1759&catid=46:mozaika&Itemid=479|url-status=dead|title=Imamat-news.ru смотреть порно видео онлайн|archivedate=June 1, 2013|website=imamat-news.ru}}</ref> more than 83% in Tatarstan) were closed. For example, the [[Märcani Mosque]] was the only acting mosque in [[Kazan]] at that{{when|date=May 2013}} time.[[File:Raising a flag over the Reichstag - Restoration.jpg|thumb|Abdulhakim Ismailov is seen raising the flag in the iconic "[[Raising a flag over the Reichstag]]" photo by [[Yevgeny Khaldei]]. ]]
==Islam in the post-Soviet period==
[[File:Islam in Russia.png|thumb|Areas in Russia where Islam is the largest religion. Islam makes up the majority in: [[Tatarstan]], [[Bashkortostan]], [[Dagestan]], [[Chechnya]], [[Ingushetia]], [[Kabardino-Balkaria]], and [[Karachay-Cherkessia]].]]
There was much evidence of official conciliation toward Islam in Russia in the 1990s. The number of Muslims allowed to make pilgrimages to [[Mecca]] increased sharply after the embargo of the Soviet era ended in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamdag.info/story/1589|title=History of Hajj in Russia from 18th to 21st century - IslamDag.info}}</ref> In 1995, the newly established [[Union of Muslims of Russia]], led by Imam [[Khatyb Mukaddas]] of [[Tatarstan]], began organizing a movement aimed at improving inter-ethnic understanding and ending lingering misconceptions of Islam among non-Muslim Russians. The Union of Muslims of Russia is the direct successor to the pre-[[World War I]] [[Union of Muslims]], which had its own faction in the Russian [[Duma]]. The post-Communist union formed a political party, the [[Nur All-Russia Muslim Public Movement]], which acts in close coordination with Muslim imams to defend the political, economic, and cultural rights of Muslims. The [[Islamic Cultural Center of Russia]], which includes a [[madrassa]] (religious school), opened in Moscow in 1991. In the 1990s, the number of Islamic publications has increased. Among them are few magazines in Russian, namely: "Ислам" ([[Transliteration of Russian into English|transliteration]]: ''Islam''), "Эхо Кавказа" (''Ekho Kavkaza'') and "Исламский вестник" (''Islamsky Vestnik''), and the Russian-language newspaper "Ассалам" (''Assalam''), and "Нуруль Ислам" (''Nurul Islam''), which are published in [[Makhachkala]], Dagestan.<ref name=CurtisLeighton />
[[File:RIAN archive 320886 Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in the Kul Sharif Mosque during his visit to Tatarstan.jpg|thumb| [[Mintimer Shaimiyev]], the president of the republic of [[Tatarstan]], in the [[Qolşärif Mosque]], Kazan.]]

[[Kazan]] has a large Muslim population (probably the second after Moscow urban group of the Muslims and the biggest indigenous group in Russia) and is home to the [[Russian Islamic University]] in [[Kazan]], [[Tatarstan]]. Education is in [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Tatar language|Tatar]].
In [[Dagestan]] there are number of Islamic universities and [[madrassa]]s, notable among them are: Dagestan Islamic University, Institute of Theology and International Relations, whose rector [[Maksud Sadikov]] was assassinated on 8 June 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamdag.info/news/983|title=IslamDag.info}}</ref>

[[Talgat Tadzhuddin]] was the Chief Mufti of Russia. Since Soviet times, the Russian government has divided Russia into a number of Muslim Spiritual Directorates. In 1980, Tazhuddin was made Mufti of the European USSR and Siberia Division. Since 1992, he has headed the central or combined Muslim Spiritual Directorate of all of Russia. In 2005, Russia was granted the status of an observer state in the [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=179&p_ref=60&lan=en |title=Observers |publisher=Organisation of Islamic Cooperation |access-date=14 January 2023 |archive-date=9 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909014619/https://www.oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=179&p_ref=60&lan=en |url-status=live }}</ref> Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] has said that [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] is much closer to Islam than [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] is.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://risu.ua/en/window-on-eurasia-putin-says-orthodoxy-closer-to-islam-than-catholicism-is_n43445|title=Window on Eurasia: Putin Says Orthodoxy 'Closer to Islam than Catholicism Is' - RISU|website=Religious Information Service of Ukraine}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/01/empire-islam-and-russia|title=Faith in expediency|newspaper=The Economist}}</ref><ref name="GvosdevMarsh2013">{{cite book|author1=Nikolas K. Gvosdev|author2=Christopher Marsh|title=Russian Foreign Policy: Interests, Vectors, and Sectors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CduOAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA297|date=22 August 2013|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4833-2208-7|page=297}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqyVYtWB894 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/nqyVYtWB894 |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Православие ближе к исламу, чем к католицизму. В. Путин|last=Илья Косыгин|date=4 January 2012|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> A chain e-mail spread a hoax speech attributed to Putin which called for tough assimilation policies on immigrants, no evidence of any such speech can be found in Russian media or Duma archives.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2014/04/15/fact-check-no-record-putins-speech-muslims/15797567007/|title=Fact Check: No record of Putin's speech on Muslims|first=Carole|last=Fader|website=The Florida Times-Union}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.truthorfiction.com/putin-says-no/|title=Russian President Vladimir Putin Says No to Sharia-Fiction!|last=Archives}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/putinduma.asp|title=Vladimir Putin's Speech to the Duma on Minorities|first=David|last=Mikkelson|date=4 April 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hoax-slayer.com/putin-duma-speech-sharia-law.shtml|title=Vladimir Putin's Supposed Speech to the Duma on Minorities and Sharia Law|website= [[Hoax Slayer]]|accessdate=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409212728/http://www.hoax-slayer.com/putin-duma-speech-sharia-law.shtml|archive-date=9 April 2013|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

{{multiple image
 | width = 150
 | image1 = № 3002 Т.А. Ильгамов.jpg
 | alt1 = 
 | image2 = № 3003 Д.Н. Исламов.jpg
 | alt2 = 
 | footer = Russian Muslim soldiers killed in the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|invasion of Ukraine]] in 2022. The ethnically non-Russian [[Republics of Russia|republics]] of the Russian Federation suffered heavy losses in the war in Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Latypova |first1=Leyla |title=Ethnic Minorities Hit Hardest By Russia's Mobilization, Activists Say |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/09/27/ethnic-minorities-hit-hardest-by-russias-mobilization-activists-say-a78879 |work=The Moscow Times |date=27 September 2022}}</ref>
}}
Islam has been expanding under Putin's rule.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nationalinterest.org/feature/comeback-how-islam-got-its-groove-back-russia-12609|title=Comeback: How Islam Got Its Groove Back in Russia|first=Rebecca M.|last=Miller| date=13 April 2015 }}</ref> Tatar Muslims are engaging in a revival under Putin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/_/do-minorities-have-a-place-in-putins-russia|title=Do minorities have a place in Putin's Russia?|website=www.wilsonquarterly.com|accessdate=4 April 2023}}</ref> According to ''[[The Washington Post]]'', "Russian Muslims are split regarding the [Russian] [[Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war|intervention in Syria]], but more are pro- than anti-war."<ref>{{cite news|title= Are Russia's 20 million Muslims seething about Putin bombing Syria? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/03/07/are-russias-20-million-muslims-seething-about-putin-bombing-syria/ | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=7 March 2016}}</ref> The [[Grand Mufti]] of Russia, Talgat Tadzhuddin and other Russia's Muslim leaders supported the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Russia's Muslim Leaders on the Invasion of Ukraine: United in a Display of Loyalty, Divided in Competition for Power |url=https://www.ponarseurasia.org/russias-muslim-leaders-on-the-invasion-of-ukraine-united-in-a-display-of-loyalty-divided-in-competition-for-power/ |work=PONARS Eurasia |date=7 April 2022}}</ref> Chechnya's [[Kadyrovites|Kadyrovite]] forces have fought alongside the Russian forces in Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news |title=Terrified Chechens flee to avoid Ukraine call-up as casualties mount |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/05/28/terrified-chechens-flee-avoid-ukraine-call-up-casualties-mount/ |work=The Telegraph |date=28 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chechen leader Kadyrov admits high losses among unit in Ukraine |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/28/chechen-leader-kadyrov-admits-high-losses-among-unit-in-ukraine |work=Al Jazeera |date=28 October 2022}}</ref>

After a Quran burning incident that happened in [[Sweden]] during [[Eid al-Adha]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Nick |date=2023-06-30 |title=Quran burner who caused international outrage reveals his new plans |url=https://www.newsweek.com/quran-burner-international-outrage-reveals-new-plans-1810247 |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref> Russian president Vladimir Putin defended the Quran by stating that It's a crime in Russia to disrespect the Quran and other holy books.<ref>{{Citation |title=Disrespecting the Quran is a crime in Russia, unlike in some other countries - Putin |url=https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ito9uuQ8xJE |access-date=2023-07-05 |language=en}}</ref>

===Islam in the North Caucasus===
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the [[Northern Caucasus]] experienced an Islamic (as well as a national) renaissance. Also radical and extremist streams of Islam started taking root, initially in western (upland) [[Dagestan]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://ifsh.de/file-CORE/documents/yearbook/english/06/SouleimanovHorak-en.pdf|title=Islam, Islamism, and Terrorism in the Northern Caucasus and Central Asia: A Critical Assessment|accessdate=4 April 2023}}</ref> 

In 1991, [[Chechnya]] declared independence as the [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]]. [[Russian Army]] forces were commanded into [[Grozny]] in 1994, but, after [[First Chechen War|two years of intense fighting]], the Russian troops eventually withdrew from Chechnya under the [[Khasavyurt Accord]]. Chechnya preserved its ''de facto'' independence until 1999. However, the Chechen government's grip on Chechnya was weak, especially outside the ruined capital [[Grozny]]. The areas controlled by separatist groups grew larger and the country became increasingly lawless.<ref name="global">{{cite web|title=Second Chechnya War – 1999–???|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/chechnya2.htm|access-date=15 April 2008}}</ref> [[Aslan Maskhadov]]'s government was unable to rebuild the region or to prevent a number of warlords from taking effective control. The relationship between the government and radicals deteriorated. In March 1999, Maskhadov closed down the Chechen parliament and introduced aspects of [[Sharia]]. Despite this concession, extremists such as [[Shamil Basayev]] and the [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]]-born Islamist [[Ibn Al-Khattab]] continued to undermine the Maskhadov government. In April 1998, the group publicly declared that its long-term aim was the creation of a union of Chechnya and [[Dagestan]] under Islamic rule and the expulsion of [[Russians]] from the entire Caucasian Region.<ref name="bowker">{{cite book|title=Chechnya: From Past to Future|editor=Richard Sakwa|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2005|pages=223–318|chapter=Mike Bowker: Western Views of the Chechen Conflict|isbn=978-1-84331-164-5}}</ref> This eventually led to the [[War of Dagestan|invasion of militants in Dagestan]] and the start of the [[Second Chechen War]] in 1999. The Chechen separatists were internally divided between the Islamic extremists, the more moderate pro-independent Muslim Chechens and the traditional Islamic authorities with various positions towards Chechen independence. An interim Russian-controlled administration was imposed in Chechnya in 2000, headed by the ex-Mufti and, therefore, religious leader of [[Sufism]], [[Akhmad Kadyrov]]. Encouraged by the Russian strategy of using the traditional Islamic structures and leaders against the Islamic extremists, there was a process of religious radicalisation in Chechnya and other Northern Caucasus regions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iugm.es/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/sonia-euroeste0.pdf|title=ISLAMIC EXTREMISM IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS: WHAT KIND OF THREAT FOR REGIONAL SECURITY?|accessdate=4 April 2023}}</ref> 

At the end of the Second Chechen War, in 2005, Chechen rebel leader, [[Abdul-Halim Sadulayev]], decreed the formation of a [[Caucasian Front (militant group)|Caucasus Front]] against Russia, among Islamic believers in the North Caucasus, in an attempt to widen Chechnya's conflict with Russia. After his death, his successor, [[Dokka Umarov]], declared continuing [[jihad]] to establish an Islamic fundamentalist [[Caucasus Emirate]] in the North Caucasus and beyond. [[Insurgency in the North Caucasus]] continued until 2017. The police and the [[Federal Security Service|FSB]] carried out mass arrests and used harsh interrogation techniques. Some of those who closely followed the teachings of Islam have lost their jobs; mosques have also been closed.<ref name="auto"/> 

Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] has allowed the de facto implementation of Sharia law in Chechnya by [[Ramzan Kadyrov]], including polygamy and enforced veiling.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/24/vladimir-putin-polygamy-islam-chechnya-christian-far-right-europe-ramzan-kadyrov/|title=Putin Is Down With Polygamy|author=Julia Ioffe|author-link=Julia Ioffe|work=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=24 July 2015|access-date=28 January 2016}}</ref>
[[File:The opening of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque (2015-09-23) 12.jpg|thumb|[[Vladimir Putin]] and [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] opened Moscow's [[Moscow Cathedral Mosque|Cathedral Mosque]], 23 September 2015.]]

There was large anger from mostly Muslims from the Caucasus against the [[Charlie Hebdo]] cartoons in France.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-17/putin-points-muslim-rage-at-cold-war-foes-as-jihadis-vow-attacks|title=Putin Points Muslim Rage at Cold War Foes|first1=Ilya|last1=Arkhipov|first2=Stepan|last2=Kravchenko| newspaper=Bloomberg.com | date=17 February 2015 }}</ref> Putin is believed to have backed protests by Muslims in Russia against Charlie Hebdo cartoons and the West.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-protests-chechnya-declares-holiday-for-rally-against-prophet-mohamed-cartoons-as-angry-9990339.html|title=Chechnya declares public holiday to support huge anti-Charlie Hebdo rally| website=[[Independent.co.uk]] |date=20 January 2015}}</ref>

===Ethnically Russian Muslims===
In 2004, several factions of self-identified Russian Muslims founded the [[National Organization of Russian Muslims]] (NORM), explicitly limiting membership to ethnic [[Russians]].<ref name="история">{{cite book |author=Силантьев Р. |title=Новейшая история ислама в России |location=М. |publisher=Алгоритм |year=2007 |pages=346-348 |isbn=978-5-9265-0322-4 |language=ru}}</ref> The organization's spiritual leader was [[Geydar Dzhemal]], a controversial Islamic intellectual and political activist.<ref name="история"/> Some researchers identify within this milieu a distinct ideological movement known as [[Aryan Islam]].<ref name="RusInstitute">{{cite web |author=Иванов В. В. |url=https://riss.ru/analitica/radikalnyy-islam-sredi-russkikh-povolzhya-i-yego-posledstviya/?sphrase_id=76044 |title=Радикальный ислам среди русских Поволжья и его последствия |website=Российский институт стратегических исследований |date=2014-01-22 |accessdate=2025-06-12 |archive-date=2024-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409185246/https://riss.ru/analitica/radikalnyy-islam-sredi-russkikh-povolzhya-i-yego-posledstviya/ |url-status=live |language=ru}}</ref> Its adherents characterise Islam as a "path to the rebirth of the Russian nation" and, in more radical formulations, a means to the "revival of the white race".<ref name="Sul">{{cite journal|author=Сулейманов Р. Р.|title=Русские мусульмане: классификация групп, проблема радикализма, отношение к ним в России|journal=Мусульманский мир|year=2015|issn=2409-2320|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/russkie-musulmane-klassifikatsiya-grupp-problema-radikalizma-otnoshenie-k-nim-v-rossii|issue=4|archive-date=2023-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727123545/https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/russkie-musulmane-klassifikatsiya-grupp-problema-radikalizma-otnoshenie-k-nim-v-rossii|language=ru|url-status=live}}</ref>  This interpretation is set out in the Declaration on the Formation of the Russian Muslim Movement, which proclaims Russian Muslims to be the "vanguard bastion of the [[Aryan race]]".<ref name="история"/>

===Demographics and Branches===
[[File:RIAN archive 908389 Victory Day parade in Russian Regions.jpg|thumb|Chechen World War II veterans during celebrations on the 66th anniversary of victory in the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Second World War]].]]

More than 90% of Muslims in Russia adhere to [[Sunni Islam]]<ref name=CurtisLeighton /> of the [[Hanafi school|Hanafi]] and [[Shafi'i school]]s.<ref name="Lunkin" /> In a few areas, notably [[Dagestan]], [[Chechnya]] and [[Ingushetia]], there is a tradition of Sunni [[Sufism]],<ref name=CurtisLeighton /> which is represented by [[Qadiriyya]], [[Naqshbandi]] and [[Shadhili]] orders.<ref name="Lunkin" /> Naqshbandi–Shadhili spiritual master [[Said Afandi al-Chirkawi]] received hundreds of visitors daily.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.islamdag.info/node/239 |title=Shaykh Said Afandi al-Chirkawi |website=IslamDag.info}}</ref>

[[File:Бакы-мечеть (Криушинская).jpg|thumb|[[Baku Mosque]] in [[Astrakhan]], former Sunni, presently belonging to the [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver Shia]] community.]]

About 10%, or more than two million, are [[Shi'a Islam|Shia Muslims]], mostly of [[Twelver Shi'ism]] branch.<ref>{{cite web |last=Goble |first=Paul |title=Because of Syria, Moscow Focusing on Sunni-Shiite Divide Within Russia |url=http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.ca/2015/10/because-of-syria-moscow-focusing-on.html |publisher=Window on Eurasia -- New Series | date=9 October 2015 |access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref> At first, they are the [[Azerbaijani people|Azeris]], who historically and still currently been nominally followers of Shi'a Islam, as their republic split off from the Soviet Union, significant number of Azeris immigrated to Russia in search of work. In addition to them, some of the indigenous peoples of Dagestan, such as the [[Lezgins]] (a minority) and the [[Tat people (Caucasus)|Tats]] (a majority), are Shias too.<ref name="Lunkin" /> [[Nizari Isma'ilism|Nizari Isma'ili]] Muslims—another Shia branch—are represented only by the [[Pamiris]], migrants from [[Tajikistan]].<ref>{{cite book |surname=Kalandarov |given=T. C. |title=Памирские мигранты-исмаилиты в России |trans-title=Pamir Ismaili Migrants in Russia |series=Исследования по прикладной и неотложной этнологии Института этнологии и антропологии РАН [Research in applied and urgent ethnology of the [[institute of Anthropology and Ethnography|Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology]] of the Russian Academy of Sciences] |place=Moscow |year=2005 |publisher=[[Nauka (publisher)|Nauka]] |lang=ru |url=http://static.iea.ras.ru/neotlozhka/178-Kalandarov.pdf |isbn=5-201-13758-X}}</ref> There is also an active presence of [[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadis]] and [[Non-denominational Muslim|Non-denominational muslims]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jTVjWTllOGgC&pg=PA418 |title=Islam Outside the Arab World |publisher=Routledge | author=Ingvar Svanberg, David Westerlund | date=6 December 2012 |page=418 |isbn=978-0-7007-1124-6 |access-date=2014-06-27}}</ref>

In 2021, Putin announced that some 20% of Russian aviation industry employees are Muslims.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Escobar|first=Pepe|date=21 July 2021|title=Checkmate fighter puts Russia ahead of the game|url=https://asiatimes.com/2021/07/checkmate-fighter-puts-russia-ahead-of-the-game/|website=[[Asia Times]]}}</ref>

In 2025, the [[Russian Public Opinion Research Center]] (VCIOM) found that 7% of Russians identified as Muslims<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wciom.ru/analytical-reviews/analiticheskii-obzor/religija-i-obshchestvo-monitoring-09062025|author=Bogomazova, Ludmila|title=Религия и общество: мониторинг|trans-title=Religion and Society: monitoring|publisher=[[Russian Public Opinion Research Center]] (VCIOM)|language=ru|date=2025-06-09|accessdate=2025-06-16}}</ref>

=== Conversions ===
Most Muslims in Russia belong to ethnic minorities but in the recent years there have been conversions among the Russian majority as well, one of the country's main Islamic institutions, the Moscow-based ''Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation'' (DUM RF) estimating the ethnic Russian converts to number into the "tens of thousands" while some converts themselves give numbers between 50,000 and 70,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sibgatullina |first=Gulnaz |title=Languages of Islam and Christianity in Post-Soviet Russia |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=2020 |pages=73}}</ref>

===Hajj===
A record 18,000 Russian Muslim pilgrims from all over the country attended the [[Hajj]] in [[Mecca, Saudi Arabia]] in 2006.<ref>[http://www.hajinformation.com/main/y1191.htm Russian Pilgrims Number Exceeds 18,000], Ministry of Hajj, Saudi Arabia.</ref> In 2010, at least 20,000 Russian Muslim pilgrims attended the Hajj, as Russian Muslim leaders sent letters to the [[King]] of [[Saudi Arabia]] requesting that the [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] visa quota be raised to at least 25,000–28,000 visas for Muslims.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} Due to overwhelming demand from Russian Muslims, on 5 July 2011, Muftis requested President [[Dmitry Medvedev]]'s assistance in increasing the allocated by Saudi Arabia pilgrimage quota in [[Vladikavkaz]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamdag.info/news/1107|title=IslamDag.info}}</ref> The III International Conference on Hajj Management attended by some 170 delegates from 12 counties was held in Kazan from 7 – 9 July 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamdag.info/news/1136|title=IslamDag.info}}</ref>

===Language controversies===
For centuries, the [[Tatars]] constituted the only Muslim ethnic group in European Russia, with [[Tatar language]] being the only language used in their mosques, a situation which saw rapid change over the course of the 20th century as a large number of Caucasian and Central Asian Muslims migrated to central Russian cities and began attending Tatar-speaking mosques, generating pressure on the imams of such mosques to begin using Russian.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chris-kutschera.com/A/islam_russia.htm|title=The Rebirth of Islam in Russia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.religare.ru/analytics4454.htm|title=РЕЛИГАРЕ - "Русский ислам" как явление и как предмет исследования|website=www.religare.ru|access-date=12 June 2008|archive-date=12 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712122317/http://www.religare.ru/analytics4454.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> This problem is evident even within Tatarstan itself, where Tatars constitute a majority.<ref>http://www.allrussia.ru/pressreview/default.asp?id=37870&rub_id=19&VYear=2000&VMonth=4&VDay=18{{Dead link|date=February 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Public perception of Muslims===
A survey published in 2019 by the [[Pew Research Center]] found that 76% of Russians had a favourable view of Muslims in their country, whereas 19% had an unfavourable view.<ref>{{cite news |title=European Public Opinion Three Decades After the Fall of Communism – 6. Minority groups |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/10/14/minority-groups/ |work=Pew Research Center |date=14 October 2019}}</ref>

== Islam in Russia by region ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100;" cellspacing="4"
|+Percentage of Muslims in Russia by region:
|- valign="top"
! Region
! data-sort-type="number" style="max-width:8em" | Percentage of Muslims
! Source
|-
| {{flag|Adygea}}
| 24.60
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Altai Krai}}
| 1.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Altai Republic}}
| 6.20
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Amur Oblast}}
| 0.63
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Arkhangelsk Oblast}}
| 0.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Astrakhan Oblast}}
| 14.62
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Bashkortostan}}
| '''54.3'''
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Belgorod Oblast}}
| 0.62
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Bryansk Oblast}}
| 0.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Buryatia}}
| 0.20
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Chechnya}}
| '''95.00'''
| [[Chechnya|Source]]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
|-
| {{flag|Chelyabinsk Oblast}}
| 6.87
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Chukotka}}
| 0.00
| [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Source]]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
|-
| {{flag|Chuvashia}}
| 3.50
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Republic of Crimea|name=Crimea}}
| 15.00
| [[Republic of Crimea (Russia)|Source]]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
|-
| {{flag|Dagestan}}
| '''83.00'''
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Ingushetia}}
| '''96.00'''
| [[Ingushetia|Source]]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
|-
| {{flag|Irkutsk Oblast}}
| 1.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Ivanovo Oblast}}
| 0.50
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Jewish Autonomous Oblast}}
| 0.80
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kabardino-Balkaria}}
| '''70.40'''
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kaliningrad Oblast}}
| 0.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kalmykia}}
| 4.80
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kaluga Oblast}}
| 0.63
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kamchatka Krai}}
| 1.20
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Karachay-Cherkessia}}
| '''64.20'''
| [[Karachay-Cherkessia#Religion|Source]]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
|-
| {{flag|Republic of Karelia|name=Karelia}}
| 0.20
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kemerovo Oblast}}
| 1.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Khabarovsk Krai}}
| 1.13
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Khakassia}}
| 0.60
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug}}
| 10.88
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kirov Oblast}}
| 0.87
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Komi Republic}}
| 1.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kostroma Oblast}}
| 0.60
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Krasnodar Krai}}
| 1.37
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Krasnoyarsk Krai}}
| 1.50
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kurgan Oblast}}
| 2.62
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Kursk Oblast}}
| 0.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Leningrad Oblast}}
| 0.75
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Lipetsk Oblast}}
| 1.13
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Magadan Oblast}}
| 1.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Mari El}}
| 6.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Mordovia}}
| 2.50
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Moscow}}
| 3.50
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Moscow Oblast}}
| 2.12
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Murmansk Oblast}}
| 1.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Nenets Autonomous Okrug}}
| 0.00
| [[Nenets Autonomous Okrug|Source]]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
|-
| {{flag|Nizhny Novgorod Oblast}}
| 0.13
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|North Ossetia-Alania}}
| 4.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Novgorod Oblast}}
| 0.80
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Novosibirsk Oblast}}
| 1.13
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Omsk Oblast}}
| 2.75
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Orenburg Oblast}}
| 13.87
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Oryol Oblast}}
| 0.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Penza Oblast}}
| 5.75
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Perm Krai}}
| 4.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Primorsky Krai}}
| 0.50
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Pskov Oblast}}
| 0.20
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Rostov Oblast}}
| 1.13
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Ryazan Oblast}}
| 1.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Saint Petersburg}}
| 2.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Sakhalin Oblast}}
| 0.40
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Samara Oblast}}
| 2.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Saratov Oblast}}
| 2.40
| [[Saratov Oblast#Religion|Source]]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
|-
| {{flag|Sevastopol}}
| 0.00
| [[Sevastopol|Source]]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
|-
| {{flag|Smolensk Oblast}}
| 0.12
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Stavropol Krai}}
| 2.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Sverdlovsk Oblast}}
| 2.88
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Tambov Oblast}}
| 0.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Tatarstan}}
| '''53.80'''
| [[Tatarstan#Religion|Source]]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
|-
| {{flag|Tomsk Oblast}}
| 1.13
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Tula Oblast}}
| 1.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Tuva}}
| 0.00
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Tver Oblast}}
| 0.75
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Tyumen Oblast}}
| 5.75
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Udmurtia}}
| 4.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Ulyanovsk Oblast}}
| 6.87
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Vladimir Oblast}}
| 0.63
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Volgograd Oblast}}
| 3.50
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Vologda Oblast}}
| 0.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Voronezh Oblast}}
| 0.38
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Yakutia}}
| 1.40
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug}}
| 17.40
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Yaroslavl Oblast}}
| 0.75
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|-
| {{flag|Zabaykalsky Krai}}
| 0.25
| [http://sreda.org/maps/arena_russia_main/arena_statistic.xls Source]
|}

===Islam in Moscow===
According to the 2010 Russian census, Moscow has less than 300,000 permanent residents of Muslim background, while some estimates suggest that Moscow has around 1 million Muslim residents and up to 1.5 million more Muslim [[migrant workers in Russia|migrant workers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rg.ru/2009/02/09/migrant.html|title=Строители и гувернантки покидают Москву|website=Российская газета|date=9 February 2009 }}</ref> The city has permitted the existence of four mosques.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/roads/2013/08/moscow_s_underground_mosques_russia_s_intolerance_toward_muslims_may_be.html|title=Underground Islam|first=Simon|last=Shuster|date=2 August 2013|journal=Slate}}</ref> The mayor of Moscow claims that four mosques are sufficient for the population.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/1121/Moscow-mayor-No-more-mosques-in-my-city|title=Moscow mayor: No more mosques in my city|date=21 November 2013|journal=Christian Science Monitor}}</ref> The city's economy "could not manage without them," he said. There are currently four mosques in Moscow,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/world/280820151 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904012805/http://rudaw.net/english/world/280820151 |archive-date=2015-09-04 |title=In Moscow, more Muslims than mosques}}</ref> and 8,000 in the whole of Russia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.interpretermag.com/7500-mosques-have-been-erected-in-russia-since-putin-became-president/|title=7500 Mosques Have Been Erected In Russia Since Putin Became President|website=www.interpretermag.com}}</ref> Muslim migrants from Central Asia have had an impact on the culture with [[Samsa (food)|Samsa]] becoming one of the most popular take away foods in the city.<ref name=bbcnews/>

==List of Russian muftiates==
{{also|Russian Council of Muftis}}
{| class=wikitable
|colspan=4 align=center| '''All-Russia boards'''
|-
!scope="row" width="250"| Grand Muftiates
!scope="row" width="300"| Grand Muftis
!scope="row" width="100"| Term of office
!scope="row" width="100"| Headquarters
|-
|The {{LinkedLabel|Q1973842}}<ref name="Lunkin" /><ref name="popov" />
|[[Shaikh al-Islam|Sheikh-ul-Islam]] [[Talgat Tadzhuddin]]
|1992–present
|[[Ufa]]
|-
|The {{LinkedLabel|Q4171314}}<ref name="popov">{{cite book|surname=Popov |given=Igor |chapter=1.3.1 Сунниты |trans-chapter=1.3.1 Sunnis |title=Справочник всех религиозных течений и объединений в России |trans-title=The Reference Book on All Religious Branches and Communities in Russia |chapter-url=http://www.russiafaiths.blogspot.com/p/islam-1.html |language=ru |url=http://www.russiafaiths.blogspot.com/p/book-index.html |year=2016 |access-date=2023-12-25}}</ref>
|Sheikh [[Rawil Ğaynetdin]]
|2014–present
|Moscow
|-
!scope="row" width="250"| Muftiate 
!scope="row" width="300"| Mufti 
!scope="row" width="100"| Term of office
!scope="row" width="100"| Headquarters
|-
|The {{LinkedLabel|Q28001031}}<ref name="popov" />
|Albir Krganov
|2016–present
|Moscow
|}

{| class=wikitable
|colspan=4 align=center| '''Interregional boards'''
|-
!scope="row" width="250"| Muftiates
!scope="row" width="300"| Muftis
!scope="row" width="100"| Term of office
!scope="row" width="100"| Headquarters
|-
|The {{LinkedLabel|Q28000852}}<ref name="Lunkin" /><ref name="popov" />
|[[Ismail Berdiyev]]
|2003–present
|Moscow and [[Buynaksk]]
|-
|The {{LinkedLabel|Q20888318}}<ref name="Lunkin" /><ref name="popov" />
|Nafigulla Ashirov
|1997–present 
|Moscow and [[Tobolsk]]
|-
|}

{| class=wikitable
|colspan=4 align=center| '''Notable regional muftiates'''
|-
!scope="row" width="250"| Muftiates
!scope="row" width="300"| Muftis
!scope="row" width="100"| Term of office
!scope="row" width="100"| Headquarters
|-
|The Muftiate of the Republic of [[Dagestan]]<ref name="Lunkin" /><ref name="popov" /> 
|Sheikh [[Ahmad Afandi Abdulaev]]
|1998–present 
|[[Makhachkala]]
|-
|The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Republic of [[Adygea]] and [[Krasnodar Krai]]<ref name="Lunkin" />
|Askarbiy Kardanov
|2012–present 
|[[Maykop]]
|-
|The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Republic of [[Bashkortostan]]<ref name="Lunkin" /><ref name="popov" />
|Ainur Birgalin
|2019–present
|[[Ufa]]
|-
|The [[Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Chechen Republic]]<ref name="Lunkin" /><ref name="popov" />
|[[Salah Mezhiev]]
|2014–present
|[[Grozny]]
|-
|The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the [[Kabardino-Balkaria|Kabardino-Balkarian Republic]]<ref name="Lunkin" />
|Hazrataliy Dzasejev
|2010–present
|[[Nalchik]]
|-
|The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the [[Karachay-Cherkessia|Karachay-Cherkess Republic]]<ref name="Lunkin" />
|[[Ismail Berdiyev]]
|1991–present
|[[Cherkessk]]
|-
|The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Republic of [[North Ossetia–Alania]]<ref name="Lunkin" />
|Khajimurat Gatsalov
|2011–present
|[[Vladikavkaz]]
|-
|The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Republic of [[Tatarstan]]<ref name="Lunkin" /><ref name="popov" />
|Kamil Samigullin
|2013–present
|[[Kazan]]
|-
|The Spiritual Centre of the Muslims of the Republic of [[Ingushetia]]<ref name="Lunkin" />
|Isa Khamkhoev
|2004–present
|[[Magas, Ingushetia|Magas]]
|-
|}

==Notable Russian Muslims==
{{More references needed section|date=April 2025}}
{{See also|List of Chechen people|Notable people from Dagestan|List of Ingush people}}{{image array|perrow=5|width=120|height=120| border-width = 1 | image1 = Хабиб Нурмагомедов-2. 12.9.2019 (cropped).jpg| caption1 = [[Khabib Nurmagomedov]] | image2 = Ravil Gainutdin, September 2010.jpeg| caption2 = [[Rawil Ğaynetdin]] | image4 = UsmanNurmagomedov.png| caption4 = [[Usman Nurmagomedov]] | image5 = Abdulrashid Sadulaev 2021.jpg| caption5 = [[Abdulrashid Sadulaev]] | image6 = Artur Beterbiev, December 2019.jpg| caption6 = [[Artur Beterbiev]] | image7 = Ramazanramazanov1.JPG| caption7 = [[Ramazan Ramazanov]] | image8 = Umar Dzhabrailov 2016 (cropped).jpg| caption8 = [[Umar Dzhabrailov]] | image9 = Aslan Maskhadov.jpg| caption9 = [[Aslan Maskhadov]] | image10 = Islam Makhachev 2022 UFC belt (cropped).png| caption10 = [[Islam Makhachev]] | image11 = Ramzan Kadyrov (2018-06-15) 02.jpg| caption11 = [[Ramzan Kadyrov]] | image12 = Khamzat Chimaev 2022.png| caption12 = [[Khamzat Chimaev]] | image13 = Alisher Usmanov podium 2013 Fencing WCH SMS-IN t205959.jpg| caption13 = [[Alisher Usmanov]] | image14 = Shaimiev official portrait 04.jpg| caption14 = [[Mintimer Shaimiev]] | image15 = Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Fight Night 136 in Moscow, Russia.jpg| caption15 = [[Magomed Ankalaev]] | image16 = Islam-Beka Albiyev at Rio 2016.jpg| caption16 = [[Islambek Albiev]] | image17 = Marat Khusnullin official portrait.jpg| caption17 = [[Marat Khusnullin]] | image18 = Safin toronto 2008.jpg| caption18 = [[Marat Safin]] | image19 = Wishnu Wardhana, Vladimir Putin, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and Ziyavudin Magomedov - APEC CEO Summit 2012.jpg | caption19 = [[Ziyavudin Magomedov]] | image20 = Nabiullina Federation Council 2023.jpg | caption20 = [[Elvira Nabiullina]] | image21 = Alina Zagitova, Team Tutberidze Show.png | caption21 = [[Alina Zagitova]]}}
* [[Khabib Nurmagomedov]], professional [[Mixed martial arts|mixed martial artist]] and first Russian [[Ultimate Fighting Championship|UFC]] champion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-06 |title=What is the hat Khabib Nurmagomedov wears and did he actually wrestle a bear? |url=https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/06/what-is-the-hat-khabib-nurmagomedov-wears-and-did-he-actually-wrestle-a-bear-8011590/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Metro |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov]], [[Soviet Army|Soviet]] military veteran, former judoka and combat sports coach, and the father of former UFC Undisputed Lightweight Champion [[Khabib Nurmagomedov]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Rob |title=Khabib Nurmagomedov Pays Tribute to Late Father Abdulmanap on Instagram |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2901310-khabib-nurmagomedov-pays-tribute-to-late-father-abdulmanap-on-instagram |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=bleacherreport.com |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Islam Makhachev]], professional [[mixed martial artist]] and current UFC undisputed lightweight champion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sherdog.com |title=Islam Makhachev MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography - Sherdog.com |url=https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Islam-Makhachev-76836 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Sherdog |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Khamzat Chimaev]], professional UFC middleweight fighter.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-31 |title=UFC Fighter Khamzat Chimaev Receives UAE Citizenship |url=https://www.telecomasia.net/news/mma/ufc-fighter-khamzat-chimaev-receives-uae-citizenship/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=www.telecomasia.net |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* [[Nassourdine Imavov]], professional UFC middleweight fighter.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bowker |first=Dylan |date=2024-09-23 |title=Is Nassourdine Imavov Muslim? What is his religion? Here's what you need to know about the UFC middleweight's background |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/news-is-nassourdine-imavov-muslim-what-religion-here-s-need-know-ufc-middleweight-s-background |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=www.sportskeeda.com |language=en-us}}</ref>
* [[Usman Nurmagomedov]], a professional mixed martial artist and current [[Bellator MMA]] undisputed lightweight champion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-28 |title=Двоюродный брат Хабиба – тайский боксер. Он зрелищно дерется и вырубает, а в апреле дебютирует в Bellator - Okko MMA - Блоги Sports.ru |url=https://m.sports.ru/boxing/blogs/2902567.html |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Sports.ru |language=ru}}</ref>
* [[Umar Nurmagomedov]], a professional mixed martial artist.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mma.metaratings.ru/articles/nurmagomedov-v-bellator/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=mma.metaratings.ru}}</ref>
* [[Magomed Ankalaev]], professional mixed martial artist and UFC undisputed [[Light heavyweight]] champion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 December 2022 |title=Магомед Анкалаев - Первое большое интервью |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed0YVxaO3vc |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>
* [[Zabit Magomedsharipov]], former professional mixed martial artist.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morgan |first=John |title=Zabit Magomedsharipov's younger brother, Gasan, withdraws from CFFC 82 (Updated) |url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/story/sports/mma/2020/08/07/zabit-magomedsharipovs-younger-brother-gasan-added-to-cffc-82/81761849007/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=MMA Junkie |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Tagir Ulanbekov]], professional mixed martial artist.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 May 2017 |title=Я не люблю читать историю, я её создаю |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lszHJ-WcaSI |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>
* [[Ikram Aliskerov]], professional mixed martial artist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Икрам Алискеров (Ikram Aliskerov) – биография и лучшие бои средневеса UFC, статистика - MMAExpress |url=https://mma.express/fighters/ufc/ikram-aliskerov |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=mma.express}}</ref>
* [[Abubakar Nurmagomedov]], professional mixed martial artist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abubakar Nurmagomedov (Welterweight) MMA Profile |url=https://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3895515/abubakar-nurmagomedov |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=ESPN |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Gadzhi Rabadanov]], professional mixed martial artist.
* [[Saygid Izagakhmaev]], professional mixed martial artist.
* [[Zubaira Tukhugov]], professional mixed martial artist.
* [[Rudolf Nureyev]], considered the greatest male ballet dancer of his generation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rudolf Nureyev's short biography |url=https://nureyev.org/rudolf-nureyev-biography/main-dates-of-his-life/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Fondation Rudolf Noureev |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Marat Safin]], former world No. 1 [[tennis]] player.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Сафин Марат Михайлович |url=https://www.vesti.ru/article/2181372 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20231024124828/https://www.vesti.ru/article/2181372 |archive-date=2023-10-24 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=vesti.ru |language=ru}}</ref>
* [[Vyacheslav Polosin]], former [[Russian Orthodox Church]] priest who was at the forefront of a campaign to make Orthodox Christmas a public holiday in Russia<ref name=bbcnews>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17436481| work=BBC | location= | title=Moscow's Muslims find no room in the mosque| date=2012-03-22 | access-date=2022-07-15}}</ref> and converted to Islam in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamdag.info/story/1057/|title=IslamDag.info}}</ref>
* [[Abdulrashid Sadulaev]], widely regarded as one of the most dominant active [[Freestyle wrestling|freestyle wrestlers]] in the world as well as one of the greatest freestyle wrestlers of all time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-21 |title=The Tank of Dagestan: Abdulrashid Sadulaev was born to be a champion |url=https://www.si.com/olympics/2016/08/21/abdulrashid-sadulaev-gold-rio-wrestling-russian-tank |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=SI |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Alina Zagitova]], [[figure skater]].
* [[Shamil Musaev]], [[Freestyle wrestling|freestyle wrestler]].
* [[Movlid Khaybulaev]], professional mixed martial artist.
* [[Movsar Evloev]], mixed martial artist, in the [[Featherweight (MMA)|featherweight division]] of the [[UFC]]. A professional since 2014, he has also competed at [[M-1 Global|1 Global]], where he is the former [[M-1 Global#M-1 Global Bantamweight Championship|bantamweight]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bhowmick |first=Tanushree |date=2024-12-04 |title=What is Movsar Evloev's Religion? Is the UFC Featherweight a Muslim? |url=https://www.essentiallysports.com/ufc-mma-news-what-is-movsar-evloevs-religion-is-the-ufc-featherweight-a-muslim/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=EssentiallySports |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Musa Evloev]], [[Greco-Roman wrestling|Greco-Roman]] wrester and Olympic gold medalist.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bhowmick |first=Tanushree |date=2024-12-04 |title=What is Movsar Evloev's Religion? Is the UFC Featherweight a Muslim? |url=https://www.essentiallysports.com/ufc-mma-news-what-is-movsar-evloevs-religion-is-the-ufc-featherweight-a-muslim/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=EssentiallySports |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Imam Shamil]], political leader and [[Imam]] of [[Dagestan]], who resisted against Russian expansion of the Caucasus.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shāmil {{!}} Imam, Caucasus & Chechnya {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shamil |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Ramazan Ramazanov]], professional [[Kickboxing|kickboxer]] holding seven times world [[Muay Thai]] world championship wins.
* [[Alisher Usmanov]], Russian oligarch with est. $16.7 billion in March 2025.
* [[Ziyavudin Magomedov]], Russian billionaire and oligarch.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Vinogradov |first1=Sergey |last2=RIR |first2=specially for |date=2012-09-19 |title=A port to withstand the storm |url=https://www.rbth.com/articles/2012/09/19/a_port_to_withstand_the_storm_17753 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Russia Beyond |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Elvira Nabiullina]], head of Russia state bank.
* [[Vladislav Surkov]], businessman and politician, former advisor to the President of Russia.
* [[Akhmad Kadyrov]], first president of the Chechen republic.
* [[Ruslan Baisarov]], entrepreneur and businessman.
* [[Musa Bazhaev]], president of Alliance Group.
* [[Malik Saidullaev|Malik Saidulaev]], businessman and politician.
* [[Ziya Bazhayev]] (1960–2000), founder of Alliance group and philanthropist.
* [[Umar Dzhabrailov]], businessman and politician.
* [[Islambek Albiev]], gold medalist wrestler at the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in Greco-Roman wrestling
* [[Abdulkhakim Ismailov]], (1916–2010), [[World War II]] soldier. He was photographed by [[Yevgeny Khaldei]] raising the [[Raising a Flag over the Reichstag|flag of the Soviet Union over the Reichstag in Berlin]] on 2 May 1945, days before Nazi Germany's surrender.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moscow |first=A. P. |date=2010-02-17 |title=Soviet soldier pictured in iconic 1945 Reichstag photo dies |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/17/soldier-reichstag-photo-dies |access-date=2025-05-26 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> 

* [[Gasret Aliev]] (1922–1981), World War II soldier, awarded [[Hero of the Soviet Union|Hero of Soviet Union]] medal.
* [[Magomet Gadzhiyev]] (1907–1942), World War II [[submarine]] commander and Hero of the Soviet Union.
* [[Hasbulla|Hasbulla Magomedov]], comedian, entertainer and internet personality.
* [[Abdulkadir Abdullayev]] (b. 1988), professional boxer, gold medal winner at the [[European Games]] and a bronze at the world championships.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Qolşärif Mosque.JPG|[[Qolşärif Mosque]] in [[Kazan]], belonging to the [[Hanafi]] school, is one of the largest mosques in [[Russia]].
File:Nurd Kamal Mosque.jpg|[[Nord Kamal Mosque]] in [[Norilsk]], the world's northernmost mosque.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-muslims-russia-arctic-idUSL1072493620070415|title=Arctic mosque stays open but Muslim numbers shrink|date=15 April 2007|newspaper=Reuters|last1=Paxton|first1=Robin}}</ref>
File:Иркутск. Соломатинская улица Мечеть 1906г.jpg|Tatar mosque in [[Irkutsk]], [[Siberia]], 1906
File:Noyabırsk yamal i nenitski otonom bölgesinin en büyük şehiri rusyanında petrol ve gaz yataklarınında merkezi -62derece sıcaklık by ismail soytekinoğlu - panoramio.jpg|Mosque in [[Noyabrsk]] in Siberia's [[Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug]]
File:Moscow Cathedral Mosque 2015-08.jpg|[[Moscow Cathedral Mosque]]
File:Town of Karachaevsk central mosque. Russia, Karachaevo-Cherkessia.jpeg|Central mosque of Karachaevsk, [[Karachaevo-Cherkessia]]
File:Lala Tulpan.jpg|[[Lala Tulpan]] in [[Ufa]], [[Bashkortostan]]
File:Perm asv2019-05 img48 Cathedral Mosque.jpg|[[Perm Mosque]], [[Perm Krai]]
File:Башня Сююмбике, вид с Преображенской башни.JPG|[[Qolşärif Mosque]], [[Kazan]], Tatarstan
File:Korovin kazan.jpg|[[Ivan the Terrible]] subjugated the [[Tatars|Tatar]]s and forcibly converted{{Citation needed|reason=This claim needs a reliable source.|date=November 2021}} some of them to [[Christianity]].
File:Мемориальная мечеть, Memorial Mosque.jpg|Memorial mosque in Russia
File:Mosque SPB.jpg|[[Saint Petersburg Mosque]], Saint Petersburg 
File:Астрахань. Белая мечеть.JPG|White mosque in [[Astrakhan]] 
File:Mechet 25 prorokov.JPG|[[Mosque of Twenty-Five Prophets]] in Ufa, [[Bashkortostan]]
File:ЖумгІа мажгит, МахІачхъала (crop).jpg|[[Grand Mosque of Makhachkala]] in [[Makhachkala]], [[Dagestan]]
File:Central Mosque (Izhevsk)-11.jpg|Mosque in [[Izhevsk]], [[Udmurtia]]
File:Якутск. Мечеть.jpg|Mosque in [[Yakutsk]], [[Yakutia]]
File:Grozny. Grozny-City Towers. Mosque "The Heart of Chechnya" PB040177 2700.jpg|Mosque in [[Grozny]], [[Chechnya]]
File:Dzerzhinsk. City Mosque.jpg|Mosque in [[Dzerzhinsk, Russia|Dzerzhinsk]], [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Nizhy Novgorod Oblast]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Islam|Russia}}
* [[Islam in Europe]]
* [[Islam by country]]
* [[Islam in the Soviet Union]]
* [[Islam in Tatarstan]]
* [[List of mosques in Russia]]
* [[Religion in Russia]]
* [[Islam in Bangladesh]]
* [[Islam in China]]
* [[Islam in India]]
* [[Islam in Indonesia]]
* [[Islam in Iran]]
* [[Islam in Nigeria]]
* [[Islam in Pakistan]]
* [[Islam in the Philippines]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{Country study}}
* [[Hélène Carrère d'Encausse|D'Encausse, Hélène Carrère]]. ''Islam and the Russian Empire: Reform and Revolution in Central Asia'' (University of California Press, 1988)

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* Kurbanov, Ruslan. [http://www.onislam.net/english/politics/europe/457866-banning-hadiths-and-seerah-in-russia.html Reasons and Consequences: Banning Hadiths and Seerah in Russia, onislam.net]
* [http://islam.ru/en islam.ru] {{in lang|en}}
* [http://www.islamdag.info/story/1589 History of Hajj in Russia from 18th to 21st century]
* [http://www.whyislam.ru Why Islam?]
* Akhmetova, Elmira. [http://www.onislam.net/english/politics/europe/425961-islam-in-russia-history-and-facts.html Islam in Russia (History & Facts), onislam.net]
* [http://chris-kutschera.com/A/islam_russia.htm Chris Kutschera - "The Rebirth of Islam in Tatarstan"]
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060519195038/http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2006-7-16 Russian Islam Comes Out into the Open]'' [[The Moscow News]]
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/19/MNGJGMFUVG1.DTL Russia has a Muslim dilemma Ethnic Russians hostile to Muslims]
* [http://demographymatters.blogspot.com/2006/05/islam-in-russia-evolution-in-action.html Islam in Russia]
* [http://www.russian-mosques.com/en/ Russian mosques]{{Dead link|date=February 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-60626.html Moscow's Mosque Problem] - slideshow by ''[[Der Spiegel]]''
* Akhmetova, Elmira. [http://www.onislam.net/english/politics/3413/425970.html Islam in the Volga Region, onislam.net]
* Sotnichenko, Alexander [http://www.politicsandreligionjournal.com/images/pdf_files/srpski/godina3_broj2/Analiza%203.pdf Islam, Russian Orthodox Church Relations and the State in Post-communist Russia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610231101/http://www.politicsandreligionjournal.com/images/pdf_files/srpski/godina3_broj2/Analiza%203.pdf |date=10 June 2015 }} ''Politics and Religion Journal''
* [http://rbth.com/society/2014/02/03/what_is_it_like_to_be_a_muslim_in_russia_33795.html What is it like to be a Muslim in Russia?]
* [http://cdum.ru/en/ Central Muslim Spiritual Board of Russia - official website] 
* [http://www.muslim.ru/en/ Russia Mufties Council - official website]

{{Asia in topic|Islam in}}
{{Islam in Europe}}
{{Russia topics}}
{{Mosques in Russia}}

[[Category:Islam in Russia| ]]
[[Category:Religion in Russia]]