UNIAN, 21.07.2009
Out of more than 1 milliard of Muslims of the planet, in Ukraine live approximately 500 thousand- 2 million persons. Some of them, like the Crimean and the Kazan Tatars, live here for ages. Others are students, experts and businessmen from the Arabian and Oriental countries which are considered to be the biggest business partners of Ukraine. For example, Egypt is the leading buyer of our wheat, Jordan, Syria and Pakistan – metal. Notwithstanding successful interstate business, Muslims, even natives of Ukraine, hardly feel themselves in their native cities and settlements at home. Many prefer to hide their religious adherence, and have strong reasons for that.
"As a Muslim, I wear Hijab. When I came to apply for job to the company, there were no misunderstandings because of that. Some of employees stared at me with interest, but as a whole everything was good", Imara Latifi, born Iranian, the citizen of Ukraine, the manager-economist of one of network travel agencies of the capital, tells. Some years ago in their department appeared a new chief. He asked Imara to stop wearing Hijab when she is at her working place. She had or to dress as everyone, or to leave. "To be a Muslim, observing precepts, and to work in the Ukrainian company is a problem", the Crimean Tatar, the journalist Sevgil Musaeva, says.
Islam orders to its adherents to observe five pillars, namely: recognition of uniform God and His Prophet, observance of the holy month of Ramadan, performance of Hajj, observance of Namaz five times a day, and giving charity to the needy.
"Namaz should be performed only after ablution, Abdest. If you work in-home, it is easy. But if you work in the office, among many people, it is rather problematic. Where in an ordinary office it is possible to make ablution, washing not only hands, but also feet? And praying in the face of employees, it is possible to draw upon oneself negative emotions and misunderstanding", Sevgil says.
Though the article No 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine guarantees outlook and creed freedom, in practice performance of pillars can put a believer in an awkward position. Depending on the enterprise, even religious behavior of Christians is not always perceived by colleagues adequately. What to speak about other religions. As a result, a person faces a dilemma – to hide his sincere belief, or to become an object of steadfast attention of his environment. And this attention is not always positive. Because of that the majority of Muslims are afraid to focus attention on their religion.
"I cannot imagine a situation in which I approach to the chief and ask him to allow me to perform Namaz in the office. And to leave to make Namaz out of office is just dangerous", this opinion held most of interrogated Muslims working in the Ukrainian companies.
As a bright example of misunderstanding and disrespect to difference of cultures, serve our passport office, regional especially. As it is known, in a photo in the passport a person should correspond to his or her daily appearance.
"If a person, for instance, constantly wears moustaches or a beard, no one will ask him to shave for passport! A Muslim woman always appears in Hijab in public, so to ask her to remove Hijab is the same as to demand from a man to shave moustaches for the sake of a photo! In this respect we feel uncomfortable for our wives, mothers, daughters and sisters. After all, there is no operating Ukrainian law or the statutory act which forbids to be photographed on documents with Hijab on. And the requirement to cover a head of a woman concerns not only Islam. It is present in the Bible, too", Igor Karpishen, the head of the board of the Spiritual Management of Muslims of Ukraine "Ummah", states.
Along with disrespect for traditions, a problem for Muslims is returning of their cultural monuments. On the territory of Crimea, Kiev and Donetsk lived generations of the Tatar families. In the XVth century there was a name Tatarka on the Kiev Shchekavitsa Mountain, the old Muslim cemetery is located in the same place. In the Kiev area there are primordially Muslim names of settlements, such as Ramadan. The largest Crimean-Tatar communities exist in Bakhchisarai, Eupatorium (Gezlev) and Simferopol (Ak-Mosque). In these cities monuments to victims of deportation are established. Basically financing of the Crimean mosques is conducted through the Ministry of Culture of Turkey, and also by donations of a local community.
"The government of Crimea does nothing to preserve Islamic monuments. In Kerch there is a mosque of the XIXth century. It suffered during the Second World War, but no one hastens with its reconstruction. The Ministry of Culture of Crimea allocated 50 thousands of Hrivnya for its repair, but the money was stolen", Sevgil Musaev is troubled.
The question of the transfer to Muslims of historical buildings - mosques and medrese - is stopped. Though the Decree of the President of Ukraine "About measures on returning to the religious organizations of cult property" is accepted in far 1992.
"For five years we strive to return a Muslim community an old mosque in Nikolaev. For the same amount of time we deal with the question of building of a mosque in Dnepropetrovsk. The money for this mosque was collected by Muslims of Dnepropetrovsk for more than 100 years ago by all the community. Now in the building of the former mosque are located a cafeteria and different firms", Rustam Gafuri, the head of Information Department of the Spiritual Management of Muslims of Ukraine, says.
Concerning cemeteries the similar questions arise. Muslims ask from authorities to allocate sites of city cemeteries. Sometimes they are refused; sometimes they allocate the land conditionally, whereas actually non-Muslims are buried there.
"Unfortunately, in our society there is a bias to Muslims on racial, national and religious grounds. There were attacks even on ambassadors, for example, on the ambassador of Indonesia, there were murders, for example, of the citizen of Syria. There are acts of vandalism, defilement of tombs", Rustam Gafuri says.
The situation is aggravated by unwillingness of the authorities and law enforcement bodies to recognize, how developed in Ukraine xenophobia is. According to the legal experts, only one of fifty crimes committed on interethnic or religious ground is classified by agents of national security in conformity to its true reasons.
"In our Spiritual Management there are many ethnic Ukrainians, Muslims who are a part of our society. Friends and parents of many of us are Christians, but we understand each other, and we are glad that each of us found his way. And intolerance is not defined by religion or nationality. They are the people who, for unknown for them reasons, start to show aggression in relation to another people. As a rule, these are the people with low self-esteem who try to find negative in associates", Igor Karpishen is convinced.
Dialogue in whisper
The answer to the question, "what to do with xenophobia", is not found by any state. And the public and religious organizations try to smooth down misunderstanding. From the beginning of the 90th of the XXth century in the country operate some Islamic associations – the Spiritual Management of Muslims of Ukraine, the Spiritual Management of Muslims of Crimea, the Spiritual Centre in Donetsk, the Spiritual Management of Muslims of Ukraine "Ummah", the All-Ukraine Association of Social Organizations "Аlraid", along with the spiritual centers, cafes and Halal restaurants which allow to observe Shariat norms in food open, too.
The speech is about meat of an animal which blood at sacrifice flown at full. In the capital and big cities this meat is on sale in the mosques, on the territory of Crimea Halal is sold in special stalls, with a half moon sign. The Ukrainian Muslims make pilgrimage to Makkah and Madina – from Ukraine Hajj costs approximately $3300, in 2008 it was made by about 200 of our compatriots. However, the information about the life of Muslims in Ukraine can be found, as a rule, only on profile sites and forums in the Internet, whereas not the most positive opinion on Islam is formed from the general news stream.
Ignorance generates hostile and aggressive attitude to one of the world religions. Therefore, representatives of Muslim associations deduce the dialogue on the state level.
For example, Orthodox confessions conduct with the Ukrainian authorities, negotiations about the necessity of obligatory teaching at schools of Christian ethics. Though according to research data "The International Freedom of Religion – 2008", conducted by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Work of the USA State, only 52 % of our compatriots recognize themselves as Orthodox Christians, from 500 to 2 million persons practice Islam, about 50 thousand – Judaism, and as much – Buddhism. In Crimea, in the Nikolaev and Kherson regions live about 8 thousand of the Karaims. In Kiev and regional centers of families about 1 % of families profess Hinduism.
Muslims of Ukraine consider that if to bring up a question on introduction of ethics in educational institutions, it is necessary to speak about universal ethics, and to call for creation of the Commission concerning the program of universal ethics.
"It is impossible to tell on the nation-wide level about one religion, and to be silent about another. In the Ukrainian schools study not only Christian children. If to teach ethics from only one side, the children will have the prejudiced attitude to non-Christians, whereas Muslim children will feel as strangers in the multi-national and multi-confessional Ukrainian society", Rustam Gafuri marks.
Misunderstanding on the educational level outgrows into intolerance, creates problems for normal coexistence of Ukrainians and citizens of other states working and studying on the territory of Ukraine.
The mite in cooperation between local authorities and Islamic religious associations is brought by the international organizations. Annual Iftar (breaking of fast in the month of Ramadan) is visited by ambassadors and representatives of Jordan, Morocco, the USA, Poland, Slovakia, Vatican, etc.
Special value is given to the new edition of the Law of Ukraine "About a freedom of worship and religious organizations" which is developed by the State Committee of Ukraine on Affairs of Nationalities and Religions. In the army, in prisons there are representatives of different religious trends. The bill is directed on giving the chance to people in hospitals, army and prisons, to observe pillars of their religion.
Relations between employers and Muslims are meanwhile assigned to the believers. For example, our heroine, Imara Latifi, answered to the remark of the new chief that if she does not satisfy the company as economist and professional, she will leave. But she will not neglect her religious instructions and internal principles for the sake of work. Imara was not fired – they found understanding with the chief. "Moreover, when all the employees were sewed by firm clothes with short sleeves, the company sewed for me a firm suit with the wrists covered".
Margarita ORMOTSADZE, especially for UNIAN
(Given in reduction)
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