Press Release
((وَمَا نَقَمُوا مِنْهُمْ إِلَّا أَن يُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيدِ))
"And they had no fault except that they believed in Allah, the All-Mighty, Worthy of all Praise!" [Al-Buruj: 08]

The anti-Islamic policy of the Russian authorities has become more and more obvious. The Kremlin does not want to admit its inability to stop the expansion of Islam. And regional authorities have no idea how to please the Kremlin in this issue, which is clearly seen in the example of Tatarstan.

On 14 February 2013, there was the next wave of searches in the houses of Muslims in Tatarstan. At this time some residents of Naberezhnye Chelny among them older women were brought as "extremists". Early in the morning, intelligence services broke into dozens of residences of those whom they suspected of involvement in the banned Nurdzhular organization in Russia. The past searches were aimed to intimidate Muslims in the region, because otherwise it is difficult to explain why the whole detachments of the armed "men in masks" broke into houses of the elderly women. The result of the searches or another "trophy" of armed forces became a seizure of nearly a thousand Islamic books.

Obviously, the regional authorities are aware that pursued Muslims in Tatarstan are not a threat to the public or the government itself. The regional authorities have to execute a will of the federal services in the anti-Islamic policies of the Kremlin. Thus in January, Kazan's Al-Ikhlas Mosque was closed under the pressure of these services. They continue to make attempts to bring criminal charges against the Imam of this mosque.

They try to accuse Kazan Muslims of organization of a car rally with the Islamic flags and banners at the end of December 2012. The charge is based on the assertion that these flags and banners supposedly are only attributes of the party, Hizb ut Tahrir. On the basis of the prohibition of the party in Russia, there is an attempt to ban Islamic attributes that the party uses. Taking into account the current situation in Russia this is not surprising: Hijab and Hajj are announced as the manifestation of extremism.

Anti-Islamic policies of the Kremlin also touched migrants. There is an announcement from FMS posted up for a week in Kazan's Bulgar Mosque which informs that this service holds passport control weekly. Thus Muslim migrants are warned about the undesirability of their visit to the mosque, now that the reason for deportation becomes their religious affiliation.

The Kremlin is not original in their hatred of Islam, since the actions of the authorities against Muslims are exactly the same used by the Quraysh nobility at the time of the Prophet (saw). The Quraysh, wishing to stop Islamic Dawah, also fabricated accusations against the Messenger of Allah (saw) and his companions (ra). The following analogies are clearly seen:

• accusation of madness is now called religious fanaticism;
• accusation of witchcraft transformed in accusation of zombiing;
• accusation of denial of the ancestral religion now served as undermining the foundations of the state or the rejection of "traditional Islam";
• accusation of dissension among the Quraysh now is called unconstitutional appeals.

If so inclined the list could be continued.

Now the works of world famous Islamic scholars are declared as extremist and they try to recognize the flag and the banner of the Prophet (saw) as extremist. On this basis, the charges will now be built against the old Muslim women of Naberezhnye Chelny and against the imams and the Al-Ikhlas mosque attendance.

They try to portray Muslims as villains who are destroying the foundations of the modern "Quraysh." They form anti-Islamic public opinion. The authorities hope to convince the public that we need a tough fight against "extremism" that enables them to fight against the spread of Islam with impunity. And the impunity of security forces and government officials, in their opinion, should terrify all believers.

The analogous situation developed with the companions of the Prophet (saw) in the Meccan period of their lives. The polytheists tried to force Muslims to renounce their faith using various perverse methods and abused those who practiced and called for the religion of Allah. But the strength of the Muslims' faith, their patience in the way of the call to obedience to the Lord of the Worlds allowed them to survive this difficult time. Then Allah (swt) humiliated Kufr and exalted the religion of the truth and then the rest of the Quraysh believed.

Truly, this example is enough for Muslims to try to be worthy of their pious ancestors, to continue to exert all efforts to spread Islam. Allah (swt) said:

(يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ)

"O you who believe! If you help in the cause of Allah, He will help you, and make your foothold firm." ^{[Muhammad: 07]}

 The Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Russia