Request for Retention and Supplemental Distribution of Propaganda Publications

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-02646R000600120001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 74
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 23, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: MF

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pprove? or - e ease ? ? ? ? :
.A. 111.11 III
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE: REVIEWER; 061149i.
?
?
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Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-8
THE SOVIET
UNION
AND
ISLAM
NOVOSTI PRESS AGENCY
PUBLISHING HOUSE
MOSCOW
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R. N. NISHANOV
was formerly the Secretary of the
Central Committee, Communist
Party of Uzbekistan. At present
he is Ambassador of the USSR to
Ceylon.
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THE SOVIET UNION AND ISLAM
Recently, the Novosti Press Agency issued in
English a set of four booklets with the title Mos-
lems in the Soviet Union. Each booklet is an inter-
view with an official representative of the Moslem
religion in our country and presents the views of
these individuals.
Our laws strictly protect the rights of believers.
Offences against the feelings of believers or dis-
crimination of any kind is prosecuted by law. It is
only under such conditions as exist in our country
that each citizen can be guaranteed the freedom
of belief or disbelief, the freedom of religious wor-
ship as well as the freedom to engage in religious
propaganda.
With this latter thought uppermost in mind, this
booklet is being issued to balance the conflicting
and prejudiced views presented in the Moslems in
the Soviet Union booklets and to reflect the opin-
ions and beliefs of the vast majority of the Soviet
people, including Moslems of various communities
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in the USSR. In refuting the arguments of the
Moslem theologians, it must be pointed out that the
majority of the clergy in the USSR are law abid-
ing and loyal in their attitudes toward the Soviet
Government in both its domestic and foreign poli-
cies. In the favour of Soviet Moslems, the contri-
butions of the Moslem clergy in the USSR to the
cause of world peace, to the prevention of a new
world war and to the strengthening of interna-
tional friendship should not be left unmentioned.
The first interview in the Moslems in the Soviet
Union booklets is with Mufti Ziyavutdin Baba-
khanov, President of the Moslem Religious Board
of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. His answers, as
the answers of the othe religious representatives,
give a vivid picture of the changes that have oc-
curred in Islam (just as in other religions) in the
years of Soviet power.
Replying to a question about religious rites, cus-
toms and holidays observed by Soviet Moslems,
the head of the Moslems forgets to mention?quite
deliberately it seems?the main thing: that the
overwhelming majority of representatives of what
is known as Moslem peoples have already de-
parted from religion and do not observe these rites.
The Supreme Imam makes his most important
contribution when he dwells on the structure of
the four religious boards existing in the USSR and
gives a brief history of their foundation. For ex-
ample, the Moslem Religious Board of the Euro-
pean Part of the USSR and Siberia is in Ufa. The
Moslem Religious Board of North Caucasus and
Daghestan has been functioning in the city of Bui-
naksk for over twenty years. The Moslems of three
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Trans-Caucasian republics have their Religious
Board in Baku. This Religious Board stands on
guard of the interests of both Shiites and Sunnites
who used to be hostile in their relations in the past.
The Moslems of the four republics of Central Asia
and Kazakhstan are subordinated to the Religious
Board in Tashkent.
Such centralisation has produced great positive
results, Babakhanov points out significantly, inas-
much as, for example, the Moslem believers have
got a religious centre of their own for the first time
in the centuries of the existence of Islam in Cen-
tral Asia. It is called upon to put an end to differ-
ent interpretations of the Koran and the Hadiths
by local Imams and to provide a centralised all-
Soviet interpretation. The practical volue of this
is rather obvious: to increase the subordination of
the lower links of the theological hierarchy to the
highest links.
In the second interview booklet, Muniriddin
Mahdun Isametdinov, Imam-khatib of the Tilla
Sheikh in Tashkent, speaks mostly of the people
who come to his mosque and of the ideological
contrasts in their families. It is highly noteworthy
that almost all of the most pious believers attend-
ing his mosque are people well advanced in years,
just as the Imam himself, who, incidentally, be-
came Imam-khatib of the mosque not because he
had a particularly strong inclination to do so (he
says himself that gardening had been his main
interest in life for long years) but because it was
a family tradition (his father and grandfather
were important religious leaders in their time).
The interview given by Kazi Ismail Mahmud
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Sattiyev covers, mainly, questions of Moslem cul-
ture: mausoleums, mosques and other religious
structures which are often historical-architectural
memorials of great value.
In the fourth interview, another Kazi?Abdul-
lodjan Kalonov, a member of the Moslem Reli-
gious Board?gives a detailed account of the
Board's relations with Moslem organisations in 44
countries. He says that they often exchange dele-
gations and individual representatives. Quite un-
like their past behaviour, at the present time the
official Moslem clergy does not come out openly
against the ideas of the internationalism and
friendship of peoples, seeing in them an already
confirmed, unshakeable force. On the contrary, it
does not cease repeating that it is precisely the re-
ligion of Islam that has unceasingly called for the
friendship of peoples, and Soviet Moslem organi-
sations take an active part in the international
peace movement.
A recent important example of the efforts of
Soviet Moslem leaders to support the position of
our Government in international matters was the
three-clay conference of Moslem organisations of
the Soviet Union which took place in Tashkent
from October 6 until October 8, 1970. Under the
motto "For the Unity and Cooperation of Moslems
in the Struggle for Peace and Against Imperialist
Aggression", the conference was attended by Mos-
lem religious leaders from the United Arab Re-
public, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Iraqi Re-
public, the Yemen Arab Republic, the People's
Republic of Southern Yemen, the Somali Demo-
cratic Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria,
6
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Approved For Rea?e 1999{08G4 : plN-RyP78-924F000600120001-8Ve eople s epuic oIugos avia, t u an
Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iran,
Morocco, Ceylon, Guyana, the Philippines, Ca-
meroun, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania and Gambia.
Mufti Ziyavutdin Babakhanov, who in January
1968 on his 60th birthday was given the Soviet
Government award of the Badge of Honour as a
reward for his work toward peace, delivered a
report at the plenary session of the conference.
Commenting on the conference, he said, "The
Tashkent conference is regarded to be the first of
its kind in the history of the Soviet Moslems. Rep-
resentatives of the Islamic organisations in the
Soviet Union who realise their responsibility to
preserve world peace met with representatives of
the Moslems of many countries in the world to ex-
press their protest against the criminal action of
imperialism which is causing the situation in the
world to worsen. The Israeli aggressors usurped
from the Arabs their original land. The United
States government and its political tool, the ruling
circles of Israel, bear full responsibility for the
dangerous situation in the Middle East. On behalf
of the Soviet Moslems and Moslems of other coun-
tries the conference appealed to all who cherish
the ideals of peace to "condemn and isolate the
aggressors and to make them renounce their ad-
venturist course in the Middle East."
Mufti Babakhanov went on to say, "In their ap-
peal the delegates also urged peace fighters to raise
their voice against the United States government's
aggressive acts in Indochina and to come out reso-
lutely for an immediate unconditional withdrawal
of United States troops and their allies from this
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region in order to secure for the people of Indo-
China the right to decide their own fate without
foreign intervention."
Sheikh Mohammed Miallim, who represented
the Somali Moslems at the Tashkent Conference,
on his return to the Somali Democratic Republic,
delivered a lecture before prominent religious fig-
ures at the capital city of Mogadiscio. He said,
"There is a complete freedom for professing the
Moslem religion in the Soviet Union. When I went
to the Soviet Union I realised and saw for myself
that the Soviet Government does not at all inter-
fere in the various religions, including Islam.
Therefore the old propaganda that the Soviet
Moslems do not enjoy religious freedom are lies
spread by the enemies of the Soviet Union."
He said that he went to several Moslem re-
publics in the Soviet Union where he was able
to see how the Moslem people lived. He stressed
that there are special committees that help Mos-
lems in their religious life. He stated that he was
greatly impressed by the wish of the Soviet Mos-
] ems to strengthen friendship and cooperation
with the Somali Moslems.
Thus it may be seen that Moslems, like other
religious entities in the Soviet Union, enjoy the
right to freely perform religious rites. Inasmuch
as the materialist world outlook prevails in Soviet
society and the overwhelming majority of Soviet
people are atheists, we must also respect the
rights of these Soviet citizens to freely conduct
anti-religious propaganda. Without this, there
would be no real freedom of conscience. If no-
body can be prevented from believing in any
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God, then how can anyone be prevented irom not
believing in God, from being an atheist and prov-
ing the incompatibility of religion and modern
science?
A journal, Science and Religion, published in
Moscow contains materials proving the harm of
religious prejudices, the bankruptcy of religious
philosophy and its moral danger to the people.
The Znaniye ("Knowledge") Society (a nation-
wide organisation, run on a voluntary basis) also
denotes considerable attention to atheist propa-
ganda. It sponsors public lectures of an anti-
religious nature, with believers and clergymen
having the opportunity to come out at these
lectures with their arguments. Anti-religious
propaganda is conducted on a scientific basis
without insulting the feelings of those who
cherish the faith.
In a typical discussion between the Mufti Zi-
vatyudin Babakhanov and the greatest Soviet
Islamic scholar Professor Lyutsian I. Klimovich,
the Mufti would be permitted to express his views
on Islam as in the booklet Moslems in the Soviet
Union and Klimovich, without prejudice, might
eloquently respond as he has so frequently in the
past:
Islam is an anti-scientific reactionary world
concept, alien and inimical to the scientific
Marxist-Leninist world concept. Islam is an op-
position to the optimistic and life-affirming ma-
terialistic teaching; it is incompatible with the
fundamental interests of the Soviet peoples; it
prevents believers from being active and con-
scientious constructors of the Communist society.
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The Koran was compiled to please the Calif's
feudal lords and merchants and its stories about
paradise and hell are merely a means of con-
verting the workers into will-less slaves. The
Moslem holy days, especially Kurban Bayrami
and the Ramadan fast, are survivals of a past
when man believed that by magic he could bribe
the evil spirits or gods. The hajj is a source of
income for the merchants and feudalists of Arabia
and has become of late an opportunity widely
used by the imperialists for the recruitment of
spies and diversionists.
The teachings of the Koran and the sunna on
the appearance and structure of the world de-
velop in the people wrong ideas of natural phe-
nomena and justify the cruel relations existing
among people in feudal or bourgeois societies.
The Koran rejects laws of nature and society
replacing them with the formulae: "God creates
the way He wishes" and "He does what He
wants."
It is therefore obvious that the authors of the
Koran were unfamiliar with the fact that the
natural phenomena are interrelated not arbi-
trarily or accidentally through the will and whim
of divinity, as explained by Islam, but necessarily,
naturally. Without interrelated natural phe-
nomena there would be neither elementary con-
ditions for the development of life nor for human
existence; a knowledge of nature and scientific
forecast would be impossible. Naturally, when
the Koran was being written, not only its authors
but those to whom it appealed, understood very
little of natural phenomena and, failing to find
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a proper explanation, they believed that anything
incomprehensible comes from God. However, as
F. Engels pointed out, "essentially it is entirely
a matter of indifference whether I would give
the name of accident or God to the reason of
incomprehensible phenomena. Both these names
are only the expression of my ignorance and,
therefore, have nothing in common with science.
Science does not exist where the necessary links
are broken."
Science and experience deny any "miracles",
any arbitrariness, any accident in natural phe-
nomena and in social life. Progress is possible
only on the basis of the knowledge of the laws,
with as full a consideration of objective laws
of nature and society as possible. The actions
of people have a meaning only when they may
expect some predetermined results, and fore-
casting the future is possible only because every-
thing is interconnected in nature, it develops
naturally, i.e., identical causes with identical con-
ditions linked to identical consequences.
Science and religion are incompatible. "If
science relies on fact, on scientific experiments and
conclusions strictly tested and proved by life, any
religion relies only on Biblical and other legends,
on fantastic inventions." No compromising, de-
spite the efforts of the modern defenders of Islam,
is possible, between science and Islam as well as
between science and any other religion. "Science
cannot tolerate the religious imaginary ideas of
the life of nature and man and, therefore, it is
incompatible with religion. Science helps man-
kind become familiar, deeper and deeper, with
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the objective laws of the development of nature
and society. It helps put the forces of nature in
the service of man. Science contributes to in-
creased awareness and to increased human cul-
ture; religion darkens the mind of man, con-
demning him to passivity in the face of the forces
of nature, binds his creative activity and initia-
tive."
Let us now discuss the dogmas and teachings
of the Koran affecting public life, the meaning
and ways of development of human society.
Popular works show that man has always tried
to look ahead, to look into the future as a time
for the achievement of his ideals, the fulfillment
of his ideal of a free and happy life. However,
the Koran turns the eyes of man not forward,
into the future, but back, into the past. Accord-
ing to the myth of the Koran concerning Adam
and his wife who were unaware of hunger and of
their nakedness in Paradise, who did not ex-
perience heat or thirst, the happy time in the
history of mankind, its "golden age", remained
behind.
This story, quite similar to the Biblical story,
does not have a grain of truth and is a harmful
idealisation of primitive society. "The idea that
the primitive man was given what was necessary
as a free gift from nature," wrote V. I. Lenin,
"is a foolish fable . . . There has been no golden
age behind us, and primitive man was entirely
subordinated to the difficulty of existing, to the
difficult fight with nature."
The Islamic theory of the "golden age" of the
past is an appeal to abandon the struggle for a
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just reorganisation of life on earth, a sermon of
subordination, of passivity, of lack of faith in
the triumph of human labour and in the possi-
bility of building a happy human society.
The Koran lowers the dignity of man, his mind,
his nobility, his boundless possibilitites for the
development of his creative forces. No matter
how hard man may try, according to the Koran,
he will not create anything good. The Koran
presents the life and concern of man as a false
solace, as vainglory. "Know that the life of this
world is only play, and idle talk, and pageantry,
and boasting among you, and rivalry in respect
of wealth and children; as the lightness of vege-
tation after rain whereof the growth is pleasing
to the husbandman but afterward it drieth up
and thou seest it turning yellow, then it becometh
straw." ". . . Whereas the life of the world is
but a matter of illusion." "Whoso desireth the
harvest of the hereafter, we give him increase in
its harvest." "0 mankind! Keep your duty to
your Lord and fear a day when the parent will
not be able to avail the child in aught, nor the
child to avail the parent. Lo! God's promise is
the very truth. Let not the life of the world
beguile you. . .", i.e., this is the only life on earth.
If we trust the Koran, it would seem that the duty
of man is not found in socially useful labour, not
in the joint struggle of people of various coun-
tries for better life completely eliminating na-
tional and social oppression but in patiently sup-
porting any misfortunes, the merciless oppression
of the exploiters, turning one's thoughts toward
personal "salvation" in a non-existing heaven, in
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life after death. This is an anti-social, anti-
people's teaching; it alienates the working people
from the class struggle for the reorganisation of
a society in which injustice reigns. This is why
reactionary regimes are eager to support Islam.
The role assigned to God in all those teachings
and dogmas of the Koran proves the idea of F.
Engels to the effect that "the unity of God con-
trolling the numerous phenomena of nature and
combining opposite forces of nature is no more
than a copy of the single eastern despot who
truly or really rallies the people with clashing
interests." It is not accidental that the various
"names" for God include the word "Malik", i.e.,
King. The Koran proclaims: "Blessed be He who
has the kingdom in His hands, for He is omnipo-
tent."
Islam is the religion of a class society. Its
doctrine of Paradise defends the interests of the
exploiters. The Koran promises the believers
heavenly coolness, pleasant dreams and dark-
eyed women ? the houris ? as a reward for
their obedience. "Lo! This is the supreme triumph.
For the like of this, then, let the workers work."
As all religious teachings of life after death,
the tale of the Koran on the bliss of the Moslem
Paradise was always, in the exploiting society,
a class weapon of the haves, means for turning
the working people into abject slaves. The more
difficult and hopeless the position of the exploited
in this only real world was, the more beautifully
and temptingly did the theologians describe the
imaginary Paradise.
A similar social significance is the myth of
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the torture of the sinners t e Moslem e
where the merciful God has "prepared for dis-
believers manacles and carcans and a raging
fire".
The Koran supports the exploiting society as
being of "divine origin" and proclaims that in-
equality, class oppression and slavery were estab-
lished by God. "We," states the Koran, speak-
ing in the name of God, "have apportioned among
them their livelihood in the life of the world and
raised some of them above others in rank that
some of them take labour from others." Accord-
ing to the Koran, Islam itself is one type of re-
ligion for the representatives of the power of the
exploiters ? the slave owners, the feudals and the
merchants ? and another type for the poor and
the oppressed. The first must obey only God and
His messenger; while the others, God, His mes-
senger and those in power.
Private property and inequality are firmly de-
fended by the Koran. They are depicted as the
"mercy of God". " God hath favoured some of
you above others in provision. Now those who
are more favoured will by no means hand over
their provisions to those (slaves) whom their right
hands possess so that they may be equal with
them in respect thereof." And this despite the
fact that the first ? the rich ? are afraid of the
second! "Have ye, from among those whom your
right hand possess, partners in the wealth we have
bestowed upon you, equal with you in respect
thereof, so that ye fear them as ye fear each
other?" The Koran warns the have-nots not to
try to change their difficult situation by any at-
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tempt whatsoever upon the property of the rich.
"And strain not thine eyes toward that which
we cause some wedded pairs among them to
enjoy . . ." Poverty, severe human suffering,
social injustice, slavery are all, according to the
Koran, God's good deeds.
Such ideas, stemming from the teachings of the
Koran, permeated hundreds of Moslem works and
were reflected in official documents, the purpose
of which was to praise the power based on the
oppression of the majority by the minority. For
example, in the Yarlyk of the Emir of Bukhara
Muzaffar issued to the Bey Mohammed-Sharif,
in 1884, we read: "The way the creator of the
night and the day and the Almighty, (who)
chooses whom He wishes (inaccurate version of
the 68th verse of the 28th chapter of the Koran,
which states: "The Lord creates what He wants
and freely chooses"), (promoted) the sons of man,
in His own words: 'We have honoured the chil-
dren of Adam' with the greatness of superiority
and with the announcement: 'we elevate some of
them above the others' so our just person He
has put on the throne of the kingdom and has
clothed our body with the nobility of the rule."
The big round state seal of the Bukhara Emir
on the reverse of this Yarlyk, reads: "The Emir is
the Khalifate of Almighty God ..." "His Majesty
the Merciful Khalif", was the way the Bukhara
Emir was usually addressed by petitioners and
officials in the petitions and documents submitted
to him.
History has long refuted those views and re-
vealed the total unfoundedness of the defence
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of exploitation and oppression of man by man,
as well as the weakness of those who, like the
Emir, used the Koran for their own benefit. The
Teaching according to which mankind must al-
ways live in an exploiting society split by antago-
nistic contradictions has nothing in common with
the proper understanding of the laws of social
development.
Studying the Koran, it is easy to understand
how misled are those who uncritically repeat the
thoughts of modern bourgeois interpreters of this
book, to the effect that "the Koran is the most
democratic constitution in the world".
The development of mankind also revealed the
human-hating nature of the sermons of intolerance
toward people of another faith, the promotion of
discord among the people because of their religious
affiliation. This sermon of the authors of the
Koran is explained not only by the influence of
religion in the ancient East with its characteristic
separation among the peoples of different beliefs,
but also with the conditions of the sharp political
struggle which took place during the period of
early Islam, as reflected by this book. For the
same reason, the Koran includes writings which
speak differently ("There is no coercion in re-
ligion", etc.). Subsequently, however, the Moslem
theologians depicted the sermon of intolerance
as a truth given by God once and forever. As-
cording to this "truth", "the believers should not
have unbelievers as friends". "All ye who be-
lieve! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near
to you and let them find harshness in you." "Mo-
hammed is the messenger of God. And those
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with him are hard against the disbelievers. . .".
In our time, the struggle for peace, for national
independence and democracy in all countries
rallies the forces of the atheists and the people of
different faiths ? Christians, Moslems, Buddhists,
Hindus and others. All of them cooperate with
one another as required by life, as demanded by
their noble aspirations and feelings. These people
have risen far above those laws and customs of
antiquity which, as a rule, demanded the followers
of different religions to not drink, not eat, or do
anything usual in common.
Particularly clear now is the falsity and harm
of the teachings of Islam, separating the people
into believers and nonbelievers, dividing all
countries of the world into countries of Islam and
countries of war, i.e., non-Moslem countries. This
teaching frequently permitted the oppressors and
aggressors to depict their unjust wars as "holy".
K. Marx in his article, "Declaring War", de-
voted to the Russian-Turkish War, wrote: "The
Koran and Moslem legislation based on it bring
geography and ethnography of the various peoples
down to a simple and convenient formula, di-
viding them into two countries and two nations:
believers and non-believers. The non-believer
is the larbi', the enemy. Islam places the non-
believers outside the law and creates a state of
continuous enmity between Moslems and non-
believers."
The promotion of discord among the peoples
of various faiths, cultivated by Islam as well as
by the other religions, has been frequently used
by the exploiters in their struggle against the
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national-liberation movements of the peoples of
the East for weakening them. That was the
case, for example, with the English imperialists
who, in 1947, divided India into the Indian
union and Pakistan on the basis of religion.
Under circumstances in which the peoples of
various countries have begun more and more
actively to unify their forces in the struggle for
national and social rights, when the people of
various faiths and the atheists jointly participate
in solving the problems of the entire world, the
old appeals for "holy war" and opposing the
"true" religion to the "false" one can now only
compromise those who promote such slogans. For
this reason, new interpreters of Islam have ap-
peared, in whose opinion the jihad is no longer
a "war for the faith", but only a demand for
"general mobilisation". Some Moslem theologians
as well as representatives of bourgeois Islamic
studies are engaged in promoting such an in-
terpretation.
Together with the new interpretations of
those parts of the Koran which preach enmity
among the peoples of different faiths, the de-
fenders of Islam intensively disseminate the ap-
peals contained in the Koran for "brotherhood
among all Moslems". Yet, in such appeals, the
Koran substitutes the class interests of the
people with their religious affiliation. Essen-
tially, such ideas are similar to the evangelical
teachings of non-resistance to evil. Both the
Koran and the Scriptures ask the working
people to love their oppressors and exploiters.
The Koran says: They must do so because they
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are Moslem; the Scriptures say that evil should
not be countered.
It is not by accident that such Islamic ideas,
borrowed from the sunna, were published (from
the collection of Abdallah Suradardi) also by
such "non-resisters", as the sectarian-Tolstoians.
For example, in the "sayings by Mohammed, not
included in the Koran" published by the "Posred-
nik" publishing house (1910), the following text
is quoted: "Help your Moslem brother, regardless
of who he is: oppressor or oppressed." The anti-
people's nature of this idea is so clear that, ap-
parently, even its authors, who had ascribed these
words to the prophet Mohammed, had to think
about it. They went on: "However, how could
you help him, if he is an oppressor?" the prophet
was asked. Mohammed answered: "Help the op-
pressor to abstain from oppressing." However,
the working people will know what it means
to "help the oppressor to abstain from oppress-
ing". This means to abandon the class struggle
and the defence of social and national rights,
always bow to the exploiters and colonizers, al-
ways remain in slavery, poverty, hunger and
righteousness. Such is the real meaning of those
teachings.
Similar teachings are found on the pages of
the bourgeois newspapers published for a national
minority of Russia. The editorial of the news-
paper T ardzhuman, expressing the interest of the
Tatar bourgeoisie, the landowners and the mul-
lahs, said the following, on March 29, 1892:
"Islam levels off not only nationality but status
as well. It teaches: 'among you, there are neither
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rich nor poor, neither princes nor paupers, Dout
only Moslems'." Thus, with the help of Islam,
the exploiters and their lackeys tried to trick the
working people, to substitute their class and
national interests with religious aspirations alien
to them.
Reality was radically different from such propa-
gandaa, reflected in the progressive Russian press.
Here is, for example, how the peasants protested
against landlessness and capitalist exploitation
in the reader Matter for Conversation, published
in 1884 by the outstanding Tatar educator, Kayum
Nasyri:
"A man read the divine verse: 'Paradise, which
is as big as the skies and the earth . . .' and
started crying. He was asked why. This is not
such a terrible verse worth crying about. The
man said: 'What is the use for all this space
when I do not possess even a handful of land?' "
Such was the attitude of the poor peasants
toward the Islamic Paradise. The extremely dif-
ficult life of the landless peasants taught them
that there is not now, and there could not be,
an equality between the rich and the poor, even
though both were Moslem, that Islam itself is
far from leveling off their status.
"The Russian Moslems," we read in issue No.
3 of the social democratic newspaper Ural, pub-
lished in 1907 in Orenburg in the Tartar language,
"exactly like all the other people of the world,
are divided into classes, whatever their religion
or nationality. The Moslems as well . . . have, on
the one hand, landowners and capitalists, and on
the other, peasants and workers who sell their
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manpower. People sharing economic interests
constitute a given class. The interests of the
workers selling their working force are entirely
opposite to those of the owner who purchases
this manpower . . ." In our days again, this article
in Ural remains topical since today the bourgeois
ideologists still are trying to confuse the people
with anti-scientific assertions to the effect that
"Islam levels off the nations", that the "Moslems
are one nation", that "there are no classes and
class struggle among the Moslems", that Islam
opens a "third way" of development, and similar
stupidity.
Historical experience has indicated that this
propaganda becomes particularly intensive in
periods of upsurge of the liberation struggle of the
working people. Thus, after the three-year period
of black reaction, 1908-1910, when a new revolu-
tionary upsurge began, the newspaper published
in Petersburg, In the Moslem World, on Novem-
ber 11 (24), 1911, turned to the "Moslem intelli-
gentsia", with the appeal to go to the masses,
not with Marx's Das Kapital, but, above all, with
the Koran and the Shariat". This historical fact
is eloquent proof of what precisely the bourgeois
Moslem press values in the Koran. Actually, in
our time, when the imperialists have lost their
former domination over the countries of the East,
some religious preachers, adapting themselves to
the new circumstances, have tried to find some-
thing "common" between the Koran and Das
Kapital; they write articles and books in the spirit
of the "religious socialism", on "socialist ideas in
Islam". In a word, times change and, together
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with them, the interpretation of the tcoran ana ot
Islam changes.
In our time again, preachers of Islam use the
Koran as a means to protect the private ownership
relations. Defending the "vitality" of the Koran,
they point out that it, as well as the Shariat based
on it, condemns some crimes. The Koran, for ex-
ample, demands the punishment of people for
thievery.
Indeed, the 42nd verse of the 5th chapter of
the Koran states: "As for the thief, both male
and female, cut off their hands. It is the reward of
their own deeds, an exemplary punishment from
God." The Shariat explains that the right hand
of a thief should be cut even if he has stolen no
more than a quarter of a dinar. Thus, if a poor
man, threatened by death from hunger, has stolen
something on the market place, he, according to
the Shariat, must be deprived of his right hand.
As far back as 1875, the greatest Azerbayd-
zhani educator, Akhundov, wrote that this law
displayed cruelty "for the sake of providing
property security to some individuals". "It is well
known," he continued, "that the thief steals be-
cause of his incapacity to earn means of exist-
ence. If his hand be cut off, he will become even
more incapacitated and, in such case, he will
have to go back to stealing (for which, according
to the Shariat, he should be deprived of his left
hand as well) or die of hunger. Thus, in fact, cut-
ting off a hand means, in a way, killing the in-
dividual. If, in punishment for the theft For one
quarter dinar, his hand is not cut off or he is not
punished at all, it is possible that he will repent
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and try to find a way to support himself and make
use of his own life. Nothing in the world is more
precious than life, which should not be taken
away in the name of any justice whatsoever for
petty reasons."
A Shariat is in effect in Saudi Arabia, according
to which the thief has his hand cut off and it is
typical that "this barbaric habit has been fully
retained on the concessions granted to Aramco"
(American Oil Company exploiting the natural
wealth of Saudi Arabia). However, the knife of
the executioner is sterilised in a hospital, and the
American physician who is present at this me-
diaeval torture sews up the wound. The noted
writer of the English workers' movement, R.
Palme Dutt, quotes this fact as an example of
"combining most modern imperialism with me-
diaeval reaction".
Stealing is a crime and, naturally, must be
punished. However, all the facts prove that even
this cruel punishment promoted by the Koran as
"punishment from God", applied in the course of
many centuries, has not been able to cure this
crime. The roots of mass crime in the exploiting
society are based on the regime itself, found on the
exploitation of man by man. It is only with the
elimination of the exploiting classes and the elimi-
nation of poverty and unemployment that grounds
for mass crime will be eliminated.
The moral and legal norms of the Koran and
the Shariat developed in a class society and re-
flect the interests of the exploiters. They have
nothing in common with true humanism, with the
humanism inherent to the builders of communism
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and which includes moral principles such as
"humane relations and mutual respect among the
peoples: man is to man a friend, a comrade and
a brother"; "friendship and brotherhood among
all the peoples of the USSR, intolerance for na-
tional and racial hatred"; "brotherly solidarity
with the working people of all countries, with all
peoples".
"The Moslem worker is rapidly and firmly
putting an end to old and obsolete traditions and
to everything borrowed from the outside . . . He
is making his mark"; "the Moslem workers in the
Transcaucasus are not degenerating or falling
asleep, they are growing and raising higher and
higher," pointed out the article "The Moslem
Worker," published on June 24, 1911, in the news-
paper, In the Moslem World, trying both to in-
gratiate itself with the workers and "prove" the
vitality and attractiveness of Islam. The growth
of the proletarian movement worried Islamic
ideologists; they feared the further decline of
their influence among the masses. It was not by
accident that this article included an appeal to
renew and correct Islamic obsolescence sooner.
Before it is too late, wrote the author of the article,
"we must, above all, deliver our religion, Islam,
from those deadly forms in which it has been
bound, clean up the weeds which have grown in
it . . . Our intelligentsia must recall that in the
fields, in factories and in plants, millions of its
darker brothers are working the land, hammering
the iron and dying in an impossible struggle . . .
They need spiritual food." The Koran (as well as
its new interpretations), translated into Tatar and
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some other Eastern languages of the peoples of our
country, was the "food" suggested by the sup-
porters of the reformist current of Islam.
The ideologists of Islam were also afraid that
some of the national intelligentsia, agreeing "with
the materialistic understanding of human life",
would become stronger and stronger, that it would
take up Marxism, the only proper way. Pointing
this out, one of the actual editors of In the Moslem
World, A. G. Datiyev, wrote: "During our un-
afraid slumber this segment of our intelligentsia
will find the causes of the awakening in the
'class contradictions' and will encourage this
awakening with the principles of 'class struggle'
while they are working in factories and plants."
This, according to Datiyev, should not be allowed
to occur and he appealed to go to the people
"with the Koran and the Shariat", and with Marx's
Das Kapital. "If the words 'Moslems are
brothers'," adds Datiyev, "are frightening to . . .
some of the Moslem intelligentsia, it is easy to re-
place the word 'brother' with their agreeable word
'comrade' and say that 'Moslems are com-
rades' . . ."
Closely linked to such writings aimed at trick-
ing the working people were arguments on the
new translations and interpretations of the Koran.
Such arguments were fanned by the desire of the
bourgeoisie of Islamic countries, interested in
bourgeois reforms, for finding their justification
in the Koran. The constitutional way of govern-
ment, in particular, according to the new tafsir,
was justified with the 153rd verse of the 3rd
chapter of the Koran which states, among others:
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"Consult with us on the matter." Referring to
this text, which had nothing in common with a
constitution or a democratic regime, not so long
ago a theologian wrote: "Islam means de-
mocracy . . ."
It was not by accident that in bourgeois, land-
owning Turkey the task of the new interpretation
of the Koran was considered one of the main
goals of the theological faculty of the University
of Istanbul. The faculty was inaugurated in 1924,
after the overthrow of the Khalifate. "The most
important thing," stated the report of the special
commission of this faculty, "is not the translation
of the Koran into Turkish and not its versification.
The main thing is a new interpretation of its con-
cepts and rules, their reevaluation. If this book
is not reevaluated from the scientific point of
view," unwillingly acknowledged the authors of
the report, "hardly anything in it could be under-
stood."
In the final account, all the new interpretations
of this book which are still appearing, in large
numbers, in the capitalist countries, aim at adapt-
ing the obsolete religious teachings and dogmas
of the Koran to the requirements of the bourgeois
society. Among others, they deal with the colour-
ful description in the Koran of the charms of
Paradise and the horrors of Hell. The Koranic
Paradise and Hell, according to such interpreta-
tions, are stories of the emotions of the "soul".
Naturally, essentially these new interpretations
change nothing. In this case, they leave un-
touched the belief that man has a spiritual
double ? "the soul". In other words, the authors
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of the renewed versions try to retain one of the
errors which appeared in early human history,
when the people were engaged in a struggle
against the dominating forces of nature, when
they lacked, whatsoever, any accurate knowledge
of the work of the mind and blindly believed that
the phenomena of the world around them were
controlled by some supernatural beings, by spirits.
The idea of Allah as being the one God, the
Creator of the world, the Ruler of everything in
nature and in the life of the people, developed
under the period of the establishment of class
relations among the Arabs. This idea developed
in the minds of the people as the imaginary "copy
of the one Eastern despot" (F. Engels) and coin-
cided with the left-overs of primitive beliefs,
retained in Islam, according to which God was
an anthropomorphic being. Such a depiction of
God abetted the interests of the dominating classes
of the Kalifate and the other feudal and feudal-
theocratic monarchies. With the help of such ideas
the power of the Khalifs and the Sultans became
divine, they called themselves "the shadow of God
on His earth".
Deliverance from religious left-overs is a long-
term project, particularly in capitalist countries
where there are sources supporting religion, where
its social roots are strong, where religion is sup-
ported by the dominating exploiting classes which
consider it a suitable ideological weapon. How-
ever, under new conditions, when the Khalifate
has disappeared; where in the majority of Islamic
countries republican regimes have developed;
when the political activity of the masses, their
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culture and social awareness have risen; when
science and technology are developing, the re-
ligious concepts of the Middle Ages are losing.
For this reason, many of the modern Islamic ideo-
logists are trying to "renovate" the old ideas of
God, even though they still turn, above all, to
the Koran, to achieve this.
The power of monopolistic capitalism is face-
less. As though reflecting it, the theologians of
our days in bourgeois countries promote the text
of the Koran which, assumedly, contained traces
of religious-philosophical influences ("God is the
light of the sky and the earth"), interpreting most
of the other passages as allegories. Verse 35,
chapter 24, which mentions God as something
faceless, even though embracing everything that
exists, is now considered as a sort of a slogan
in many religious articles. An example of this
is the heading of the work by S. Vahiduddin,
"The Koran on Prayer," published in the Moslem
journal Islamic Review. To this same purpose,
the Moslem theologians turn to texts of a pan-
theistic nature, i.e., to ideas which identify nature
and God, borrowed from the mediaeval mystics-
Suf ists.
Despite the fact that, in our century, the total
unfoundedness of the aspirations of the theo-
logians to subordinate science to religion has been
exposed, they nevertheless keep trying to adapt
to science. To this effect, they distort scientific
data concerning the world surrounding us, again
defend the dogma of the non-creation of the Ko-
ran, try to identify God in nature, write of the
mystery of the universe, apply various forms of
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philosophical idealism. However, the theologians
still lack any persuasive grounds whatsoever in
favour of the "scientific nature of the Koran or
the "lack of contradiction" between Islam and
science other than their wish to find the most
efficient means for the artificial renewal of re-
ligious feelings.
In this connection, a characteristic article is that
by Hammouda Choraba on the theory of acquisi-
tion of Al-Ach'ari, published in 1955 in the
Islamic Quarterly in Londan's Islamic Cultural
Centre. "I realise," writes its author, "that I am
sympathetic to the resolution of the matter by
Al-Ach'ari, despite the weaknesses of his proofs,
for if we believe, as Al-Ach'ari said, that we have
created nothing and that our capacity to work has
vanished but that we always, in any work, need
God's help, our religious feeling will increase; yet,
the theory of the Mu'tazilites asks us to feel that
we are creators and that we do not depend upon
God." That is what the author is most afraid of.
The desire, whatever the case, to belittle the
creative value of human labour and of the people
is the main point in the article of the modern
theologian. Its author cannot even conceal his
intention. "Possibly," he writes, "by disseminating
the theory of the kasba, this might impoverish man
of the reality of his choice, but it may also weaken
the solution of the problem by Ibn-Rosht (Aver-
roes, 1126-1198), according to which man is free
in his choice but limited by circumstances."
Thus, the struggle against free thought and
science is now the main thing, forcing the modern
theologians to tolerate mediaeval casuistry and
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considerations the erroneousness and absurdity of
which had been proven already in the Middle
Ages, among others by the famous philosopher
Ibn-Rosht and Nasiraddin Tusi.
It is interesting, from this point of view, to
look at the report of the Pakistani philosopher
K. M. Jamil, "Philosophy and Religion", de-
livered at the section of religious philosophy of
the Fourth Pakistan Philosophical Congress in
Dacca in February 1957. On the basis of verse
103, chapter 6 of the Koran ? "Vision compre-
hendeth Him not but comprehendeth all vision",?
Jamil tries to restore the scientifically rejected
opinion of the mystery of the world and the in-
adequacy of human feelings to comprehend the
world in its totality. On the basis of this er-
roneous idea he praises the Moslem mystics-
majubs and the people of other stages of "holi-
ness", as "unsurpassable" in the knowledge of the
"supernatural" and as being inaccessible to the
philosophers. Repeating and defending the old
theories of the mystics, according to whom supe-
rior knowledge is reached by "inner contempla-
tion", by "a miracle", Jamil repeats to a great
extent the theories of the most modern West
European and American reactionary philosophers.
The "theory" of the mystery of the world and
the inadequacy of human feelings expresses the
fear of the exploiting classes for their future and
their desire to distract the masses from the main
social problems facing them. It is not accidental
that the paper on "philosophy and religion" com-
bines the appeals for the reconciliation between
science and religion with the striving "to free
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mankind from the ever growing influence of ma-
terialism".
The readiness of the representatives of bour-
geois science to help, with all possible means, the
further reforms in Islam so that it could be re-
tained as a weapon useful to the colonizers also
explains the fact that the organs of West European
Islamism publish, more and more frequently, ap-
peals to the Moslem organisations to adopt a
"critical" attitude toward the mediaeval "values"
of Islam. In particular, this task has been fre-
quently entrusted to the theological faculty of the
University of Ankara, inaugurated at the begin-
ning of 1949. "If the theological faculty in An-
kara, on the basis of studies of sources, would
engage in historical criticism, benefits to Islam
would be great and Turkey could return to the
reorganised Shariat," i.e., draft Moslem legisla-
tion which would reflect no longer the feudal but
the bourgeois interests.
With a view to adapting to modern conditions
and misleading the masses, the theological faculty
of the University of Ankara was also given the
task "to promote comparison between the spiritual
values of Islam and the modern sciences . . ."
This is not a new venture and its meaning is
clear. Attempts at "reconciling" religion with
science, i.e., falsifying science, have been fre-
quently undertaken by Christian theology as well,
on which, let it be said immediately, relies the
author of the cited article. In our days, the church
has frequently engaged in such "proofs", in its
struggle against science, for the success of true
knowledge, of a scientific-materialistic outlook,
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cannot but undermine the foundations of any re-
ligion as an anti-scientific ideology.
In our century ? the time of breakdown of the
colonial system and the all-round upsurge of the
activity of the masses ? the modern Moslem theo-
logians and bourgeois Orientalists are finding it
more and more difficult to implement their inten-
tions of renovating, bringing back to life the
Koran and Islam as a whole. In the foreign East,
in Islamic countries, particularly in those which
acquired political independence and are actively
fighting for peace and progress, there are forces
which are becoming stronger and stronger, waging
the struggle against rightlessness, routine and
Philistinism. The times when it was considered
that knowledge of the Koran was the greatest
virture and a sign of all-round education have
passed on forever. Very interesting, in this sense,
are the observations made by the Czechoslovak
travelers, Engineers I. Ganzelka and M. Zikmund,
who visited Libya in 1947. In that country (it
became independent in 1951), as Ganzelka and
Zikmund wrote, "Rank and file Moslems appeared
who dared to make an attempt, even though
mental and within a circle of close friends, on the
inviolable dogmas of the Koran. These people
were blinded by the beauty of a new TripoMania
which would have no illiteracy, which would have
enough schools for everyone, in which not a single
woman would wear the veil. These young Arabs
are getting so used to the tremendous switch in
their thinking that they are already trying to bring
it in order and are beginning to search for ways for
implementing their dreams." The ideas of such
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people, as pointed out by the Czechoslovak travel-
ers, are quite sober. "We do not need people who
know by heart the Koran," we frequently heard the
indignant criticism from the mouth of the 18-
year-old Salim Shatani. "We are short of physi-
cians, engineers, builders, agronomists. We know
how to drive a car, but we do not know how to
construct it. We know how to turn on a switch,
but we do not know why there is electricity. We
need teachers who, instead of the Koran, would
talk to us about democratic constitutions or of the
technology of producing colour films . . ."
The progressive literary workers of the Near
East speak of the Koran already not as something
outside of time, "uncreated", but as a work cover-
ing a certain epoch of our literature, together
with other such works. More and more people
realise that only on the basis of progressive scien-
tific knowledge ? and not of religious dogmas
and teachings of the Koran, the Bible and other
books proclaimed by their preachers as sacred but
in fact reflecting the erroneous concepts and ideas
of ancient people concerning nature and society ?
is it possible properly to evaluate the past, the
present and the future of mankind, to use most
fully the wealth of nature for the good of the
people.
The sober critical evaluation of teachings and
dogmas found in the Koran and other religious
works helps many people realise their lack of
logic and anti-scientific nature and successfully
overcome religious left-overs. Considerable in-
terest in this respect are the admissions and articles
of former clergymen who have broken with Islam
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or any other religion. In the soviet union, w ere
the church is separated from the state and the
school from the church and where all citizens
have real true freedom of conscience, these people
have been offered the possibility to express their
views in the press, at lectures, in the cinema, on
radio and television.
Thus, the former Ahun Abbaz Aleully, who lost
many years in the study of the Koran and its
interpretation in four Central Asian religious
schools, speaking of how he lost faith in the
veracity of the "sacred books", said: "C:ould any
sensible man agree, for example, with the Moslem
dogma of "predestination", according to which
the fate and actions of any believer have been
predetermined by God, i.e., that the poor must
remain poor, the rich, rich; the unhappy, un-
happy, etc? Or could any honest man agree that
for the sake of disseminating Islam the believer
must enslave and even destroy people professing
another faith? That is precisely the call of the
Moslem dogma."
Another former clergyman, Mullah Khamid
Bat chayev from Arkhyza (Karachai-Cherkess
Autonomous Region), criticising the Koran on its
theory of predestination, points out that, accord-
ing to this teaching, man is unable to change
anything whatsoever. "If we believe this," he
continues, "my rejection of religious beliefs also
has been predetermined by God Himself. Yet,
had God existed, He would have hardly promoted
in me disbelief in His power. The point is pre-
cisely that there is no God or any other super-
natural force ... It is not God, it is not any super-
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natural force but man himself who has built
powerful machines, factories and plants, pene-
trated into the secret of the atom, created artifi-
cial satellites of earth, an artificial planet, put on
the moon the pennant of the USSR, photographed
the invisible side of the moon, successfully
launched a space ship and is preparing for
travel to other planets of the solar system."
Islam, as any other religion, retreats when
faced with the voice of the mind and knowledge.
The dogmas and teachings of the Koran are his-
torically limited and their ideas are incompatible
with those of science and progress.
Thus has Klimovich, the greatest Soviet scholar
on Islam, eloquently expressed the views of the
overwhelming atheist majority of the Soviet
Union.
The struggle against Islam in the Soviet Union
was complicated by serious difficulties caused by
a number of factors. First of all, in the organisa-
tion of atheistic propaganda it was necessary to
take into consideration the degree of the economic,
cultural and everyday backwardness of the Mos-
lem area where, prior to the October Revolution
itself, feudal forms of class enslavement and
oppression were still intact. The masses of the
people were, almost without exception, illiterate
and, as V. I. Lenin indicated, "it is impossible to
construct a communist society in an illiterate
country." Women in Moslem areas were treated
as chattels and were completely isolated from
sociopolitical, productive and cultural life. The
Moslem clergy continued to exert a strong in-
fluence upon all aspects of life. Orthodox Islam
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was closely intertwined with pre- f slarriic bellets,
rites and customs. In the Moslem areas sof Tsarist
Russia, the ideology of Islam for a period of
centuries had the decisive role in all areas of
life. Islam regulated literally all aspects of the
everyday life of the people.
The ideas of religion, over a period of centuries,
were introduced into the psychology of the people,
became a firm factor in family life, and were
intertwined with national customs. The Moslem
clergy for a long time exerted exceptional in-
fluence upon people's everyday life, adding re-
ligious colouration even to those customs and
rites that did not have anything in common with
religion.
Another factor of no small importance was the
circumstance that the tsarist government, which
had converted most of the Moslem areas of
Russia into colonies and carried out a forcible
policy of Russification, left Islam completely un-
touched. On the contrary, the government did
everything to support the mosque, so that, with
its help, the government could keep the oppressed
peoples in a more reliable state of obedience.
That, to a great extent, contributed to the rein-
forcement of the positions of the Moslem clergy.
In its turn, the clergy, like the local feudal lords,
eagerly collaborated with the tsarist administra-
tors, obediently executing their will. It was pre-
cisely for that reason that the Turkestan gov-
ernors-general, Christians by religion, ordered
the Moslem population of the territory, under
threat of severe punishments, to observe unques-
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tioningly the prescriptions of Islam, to be obedient
to the clergy.
The Soviet authority, with a vital interest in
educating the people, could not leave it under the
reactionary influence of the Islamic religion. The
struggle for the development of the economy of
the territory, its culture and science, was logically
directed against Islamic obscurantism.
In his letter to G. V. Chicherin in 1921, V. I.
Lenin recommended the preparation of a circular
letter of the Central Committee of the Russian
Communist Party concerning the necessity of car-
rying out anti-religious propaganda in republics
with Moslem population, obviously with a consid-
eration of the local conditions. V. I. Lenin sug-
gested including in that circular letter a speech
given to the mullahs by the famous revolutionary
N. Narimanov, a speech that G. V. Chicherin
called a model of the "tactical approach to the
Moslem public". It was required of the local party
organisations that, in carrying out anti-religious
propaganda, they skillfully separate the truly
national customs and traditions from religious
accretions.
The atheistic work in the Moslem areas of the
Soviet Union was not only of an educational but
also a political nature. It included within itself
cessation of the actions of that part of the Moslem
clergy that violated religious legality, that openly
spoke out against the measures of the Communist
Party to carry out the socialist transformation of
the Moslem areas. That struggle was of tremen-
dous importance to the government as a whole.
V. I. Lenin, when acquainting himself with the
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draft version of the decision of the Central Com-
mittee concerning the tasks of the Communist
Party in Turkestan, proposed, "methods of com-
batting the clergy and Pan-Islamism and the bour-
geois-nationalistic movement should especially be
developed . . ." He sharply censured the attempt
of the national deviationists to justify Pan-Islam-
ism and Pan-Turkism. As is well known, during
the first years of the Soviet authority the propa-
ganda of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Islamism in Tur-
kestan were considerably activated. The bourgeois
nationalists issued the summons to unite the peo-
ples speaking the Turkic languages into a single
Moslem state.
The national deviationists dreamed of convert-
ing Turkestan into a center of the all-Turkic state.
They attempted to assert that, under conditions of
Soviet Turkestan, Pan-Islamism and Pan-Turkism
had ceased to be reactionary.
The decisive struggle against Pan-Islamism and
Pan-Turkism was of very great importance for the
unmasking of the essence of Mohammedanism,
which, in the Moslem areas, occupied positions
that still were extremely stable.
As was shown by life, the working masses of the
territory rejected those anti-socialist ideas and,
instead of uniting on the basis of religious com-
monality, unanimously supported the party line
of consolidation in the process of socialist con-
struction.
V. I. Lenin directed special attention to the de-
velopment of the tactics of the Communists of
Turkestan who, at that time, were under compli-
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cated conditions. Speaking at the 8th Congress of
the Russian Communist Party in 1919, he said,
"But what can we do with regard to such peo-
ples as the Kirghiz, the Uzbek, the Tajik and the
Turkmen, who are still under the influence of their
mullahs? Here in Russia the population, after long
experience with village priests, helped us to kick
them out . . . Can we approach these peoples and
say, 'We'll kick your exploiters out?' We cannot
do this because they are completely subjugated by
their mullahs. What is necessary here is to wait
until the development of a given nation, the dif-
ferentiation between the proletariat and the bour-
geois elements, a development that is inevitable."
V. I. Lenin warned the Communists of Turke-
stan against the mechanical copying of the tactics
and policy of the Russian Communists. He de-
cisively censured the attempts to carry out im-
mediately in the backward national borderlands
the revolutionary transformations for which the
time was not yet ripe and spoke out against revo-
lutionary actions.
In the August 16, 1923, circular letter of the
Central Committee of the Russian Communist
Party, it was emphasised that success in the eradi-
cation of religious prejudices depends "upon the
tactical attitude toward the believers with a pa-
tient and well thought-out criticism of religious
prejudices, the serious historical illumination of
the idea of god, cult and religion". Intolerence
toward administrative methods of combatting re-
ligious prejudices was expressed at the July 18,
1927, session of the Executive Commission of the
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Central Asian Bureau of the Central Committee
of the Russian Communist Party.
Among the specific peculiarities of the situation
in the Moslem areas, one must include the fact
that in these areas, until the October Revolution,
in contrast to Central Russia, no proper prerequi-
sites were formed for the more or less wide spread
of atheism. There was no industrial proletariat
here, and therefore there did not arise any revo-
lutionary social-democratic forces sufficiently in-
fluential to carry out an offensive struggle "against
every religious deception of the workers", to help
the working Moslems to liberate themselves from
the power of religion and to gain a materialistic
political philosophy.
It is not by chance that V. I. Lenin unceasingly
called for a cautious and attentive approach to the
atheistic education of the peoples professing the
Moslem religion. The Soviet and party agencies
of Uzbekistan, guided by V. I. Lenin's instruction
that "it is necessary to combat religious prejudices
extremely cautiously, otherwise much harm is
caused by those who introduce into that struggle
the insulting of religious feeling", from the very
first days of carrying out anti-religious work have
been strict about the observance of the ideological
principles of the struggle.
In Central Russia the proletariat, upon coining
into power, swept away the remnants of the Mid-
dle Ages with exceptional speed and boldness.
Most of the Russian workers and the leading part
of the peasantry, as is well known, even before the
revolution had become accustomed to seeing in the
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clergy the faithful servants of autocracy, bour-
geoisie and the landowners.
But in the national republics those views, prior
to the revolution, manifested themselves very
weakly, although atheistic thought and free-think-
ing occurred in works of the leading thinkers of
the peoples of the Moslem areas as well as in the
very rich folklore.
It was only after the October Revolution?when
the reactionary part of the Moslem clergy joined
forces with the landowner elements and came out
in opposition to the land-and-water reform, the
freeing of women, and industrialisation and col-
lectivisation of agriculture?that a broad social
base was placed under atheistic education.
The Party decisions adopted during the first
years of the Soviet authority were of great impor-
tance in the struggle against religion and reli-
gious-everyday survivals. Those decisions include,
in particular, the "Political Directive for Work
Among the Peoples of the East," adopted by the
Central Committee of the Russian Communist
Party on February 21, 1920; the resolution of the
12th Party Congress concerning the state of anti-
religious propaganda and agitation; and others.
Guided by V. I. Lenin's instruction that the suc-
cessful struggle for the consciousness of the masses
of the people requires first of all the unmasking of
the tie between the class interests and class organi-
sations of the present-day bourgeoisie, on the one
hand, and the organisations of religious institu-
tions and religious propaganda, on the other, the
Communists of Turkestan explained to the work-
ing Moslems the class essence of the actions of the
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reactionary Moslem clergy and indicated whose
interest that clergy was defending, what goals it
was pursuing.
It is well known that many Moslem ministers
of the cult, especially the upper stratum of the
clergy, gave a hostile reception to the decrees of
the Soviet state that were aimed at the nationalisa-
tion of the land and the socialising of the means
of production. And it could not have been other-
wise, for the mosques were major landowners.
They did everything to hinder the liberation of the
women and to hinder the separation of the instruc-
tion of children from the mosque and thus un-
masked themselves in the eyes of the people.
All these acts of the socialist state brought tre-
mendous segments of the population out from un-
der the unquestioning obedience to the clergy, and
it was precisely those segments upon which, for
the most part, the income of the mosque and its
future depended.
During those years there were also serious fail-
ures in atheistic work, which we must not forget.
Those failures occurred because no consideration
was made of the local conditions, the historical pe-
culiarities of the development of the Moslem peo-
ples of the Soviet Union.
In the fight against religion, administrative
measures do not produce the desired results. The
chief method here is persuasion. It is necessary to
conduct the propaganda in such a way that the
people themselves make the choice, after being
persuaded concerning the advantages of the new
life.
For example, in March 1923 the Communists of
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Khodzhent held an "education week"; public ex-
aminations were organised for the students at the
old schools?the maktabs?and the new, non-re-
ligious schools. After one of the examinations in
the Russian and Uzbek languages. which, inci-
dentally, was held inside a mosque, the teachers
in the religious schools were forced to admit de-
feat. Frequently, as a result of this type of demon-
stration, the local population requested the Peo-
ple's Commissariat of Education to replace the
religious schools with lay ones.
During the very first years of the Soviet author-
ity the atheists in the Moslem areas of the Soviet
Union carried out a decisive struggle for the lib-
eration of everyday life, the national traditions,
and customs from a religious colouration, a strug-
gle against those rites that did not have anything
in common with the national spirit and were
forced on the people by Islam.
In the early 1920's the People's Commissariat
of the Nationalities of Turkestan adopted the de-
cision "to deem to be extremely desirable, apart
from the existing religious holidays, the establish-
ment of national and national-revolutionary holi-
days of the indigenous nationalities of the Turkes-
tan republic". The Communists, fulfilling that de-
cision, used all means to involve the local popula-
tion in the organisation and holding of revolu-
tionary holidays; with every passing year they
became broader and broader, and the influence of
the religious holidays lessened.
For example, in April 1923 the city and regional
party committees mobilised all the primary party
organisations, all the Communists, in active anti-
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religious propaganda during the period of the pro-
longed Moslem fast, the month of Ramadan. Long
before the fast, pretty tea rooms were set up with
the patricipation of unions of poor peasants. Dur-
ing the month of Ramadan, people would go to
the tea rooms, various types of meetings would be
held, and vital political and economic questions
and local needs would be discussed. Experienced
agitators spoke at those meetings, relying on in-
teresting materials and their ability to catch the
interest of the audience.
In 1925-1930, at congresses and plenary sessions
of the Central Committee of the Communist Party
of Uzbekistan, for example, decisions on ques-
tions of the fight against religion were adopted.
Special conferences were convoked, organisations
of the Union of the Godless were created, the
broad publication of atheistic literature was begun,
and mass meetings and debates were held, as were
other measures aimed at unmasking the reaction-
ary activity of the Moslem clergy and aimed at
the complete liberation of the working Moslems
from the influence of religion.
Of great importance for the development of the
atheistic movement in the national republics was
the special resolution "Anti-religious Propaganda
Among the Nationalities of the USSR," adopted
at a conference at the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Uzbekistan in April 1926.
Serious attention was directed at the training
and proficiency up-grading of atheistic personnel.
Anti-religious universities, schools and depart-
ments were opened up at institutions of higher
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learning, and atheistic seminars, courses and clubs
were formed.
In the course of the industrialisation of the
country, the collectivisation of agriculture, and the
carrying out of the cultural revolution, there oc-
curred the smashing of the economic, social, and
family-everyday foundations and bulwarks of Is-
lam. The solution of the national question in our
country on the basis of the principles of Marxism-
Leninism consolidated all the peoples of our
Motherland into a single fraternal family. The
anti-popular and anti-humanitarian idea of the
imaginary "national exclusivity" of the peoples
professing Islam collapsed. During the years of
socialist construction in the Moslem areas, "the
most profound source of religious prejudices"?to
use V. I. Lenin's definition?the poverty and ig-
norance of the masses was undermined.
The victory of the materialistic, scientific politi-
cal philosophy over the reactionary ideology of
Islam became a fact. The peoples of Central Asia
are proud of their successes in science and culture.
They are armed with Marxist-Leninist ideology
and are guided in their life not by religious ethics
but by the principles of the moral code of the
builder of Communism.
At the same time, it would be premature to con-
sider that all the tasks in the field of the fight
against religion have been resolved.
The modern clergy, including the Moslem
clergy, continues to this day to fight not only for
the preservation, but also for the reinforcement,
of their position.
In certain Moslem areas one still observes fre-
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quently certain religious rites at weddings, tne
birth of a child, and during funerals. There still
exist, here and there, various kinds of "mazars"?
or so-called "holy places"? near which charlatans
are actively operating.
It happens that religious rites are performed by
representatives of even the intellectual occupa-
tions. For example, in the Andizhan Region in
1968, among those who entered into matrimony
according to the Moslem custom?with the observ-
ance of the marriage ceremony "nikokh"?there
were 70 workers in public-education agencies, 62
students, and 10 physicians. In words these people
defend the scientific philosophy, but in deeds they
are led about by religion. People like that harm
Communist construction, and their behaviour has
a pernicious influence upon the consciousness of
people.
There have been instances when individual
Communists have a conciliatory attitude toward
the religious ideology, toward the anti-humanitar-
ian acts of the clergy, and sometimes even observe
religious rites themselves.
Instances such as these are intolerable. The
Central Committee of the Communist Party of
Uzbekistan has severely censured them and sug-
gested to party organisations that they decisively
demand of all Communists the unquestioning ob-
servance of the party rules.
In our atheistic work we must consider the fact
that at the present time the religious system of
Islam that took centuries to form is being mod-
ernised, and there is a growth of adaptive tenden-
cies among the clergy that is attempting, in one
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way or another, to make religion conform to mod-
ern-day life, to preserve Islam in new forms that
are more acceptable to the consciousness of mod-
ern people.
The Moslem clergy is actively "renewing" its
ideological arsenal and cult practice and rejecting
absurd and repellent traditions. The "cleaning up"
of religion makes it more flexible and thus, to a
certain extent, reinforces the positions of that anti-
scientific ideology.
Understanding that for Soviet people, including
the overwhelming majority of the faithful, the
chief thing in life is the construction of Commu-
nism, the clergy attempts to suggest to Moslems
the idea that the goals of Islam and Communism
coincide. Moslem theologians assert that the social
principles of socialism evolve from the Islam dog-
ma, that the prophet Mohammed himself called
upon the Moslems to construct a society based
upon the principles of social justice and the equal
rights of all its members, irrespective of race, na-
tion or social status.
The modernistically inclined Moslem clergy in
our country, just as those who share its views in
the camp of Christian theologians and bourgeois
Islamists, state that religion always has been and
remains to this day the source of high morality.
Proceeding from this concept, the muftis in their
"fetvas", the imam-khatibs in their "khutbas",
and the mullahs in their sermons place their prin-
cipal emphasis upon the moral teachings of Mo-
hammed and the moral teachings of Islam: be
honest, work honestly, respect your elders, be
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etc.
Speculating in moral teachings taken from the
arsenal of morality that is common to all mankind
and sanctified by religion, the Moslem clergy at-
tempts to preserve its influence upon the faithful.
At the present time the official Moslem clergy
does not come out openly against the ideas of the
internationalism and friendship of peoples, seeing
in them an already finally confirmed, unshakeable
force. On the contrary, it does not cease repeating
that it is precisely the religion of Islam that has
unceasingly called for the friendship of peoples.
"Islam calls for friendship among the peoples of
various nationalities, irrespective of where they
were born and live, irrespective of the colour of
their skin and their cultural development," states
the imam at one of the Uzbek mosques.
However, religious prejudices continue to feed,
to one degree or another, the backslidings of na-
tionalism which manifest themselves in local in-
terests, in national limitation. Religious survivals
hinder the development of common, international
features in the spiritual make-up of the socialist
peoples and hinder the profound perception by
Soviet citizens of the commonality of the goal?the
construction of Communism.
Moslem ministers of the cult skillfully utilise the
national feelings of the faithful. Frequently they
complain about the loss of national traditions and
customs and attempt to represent Islam as the true
preserver of national individuality.
Defending in every way the national exclusivity
sanctified by Islam, the nationalistic elements
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cause unhealthy feelings among part of the popu-
lation and give rise to oppositional moods with
regard to the Soviet way of life and the common-
wealth of peoples of our country. In their attempts
to rely upon religion, they look for, and frequently
find, persons sharing their views precisely among
the representatives of the Moslem clergy and the
fanatically inclined believers.
Party organisations cannot overlook this. In the
Policy Statement of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union, "The Hun-
dredth Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilich
Lenin," it is stated:
"The interests of the working class oblige Com-
munists to fight both against the underestimation
of national peculiarities and against their exag-
geration. In its struggle against national-devia-
tionism and great-power chauvinism, the CPSU
has always been guided by the fact that neither
nationalism in any of its forms nor national nihil-
ism are compatible with socialism."
One of the chief tasks in the struggle against the
ideology hostile to us is the complete overcoming
of nationalistic and religious survivals, the educat-
ing of Soviet people in the spirit of international-
ism, in the spirit of a materialistic political philos-
ophy. That demands the creation of a deeply
thought-out system in organising atheistic work
among the population.
In the Moslem areas an active struggle is being
waged against religious ideology for the education
of the workers in the spirit of Marxist atheism. A
number of measures have been carried out to in-
tensify atheistic propaganda among the popula-
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tion, and much attention is being devoted to ques-
tions of training and retraining cadres of atheists.
Scientific and technical progress deals a crushing
blow to theological sermons about the submissive-
ness of man, his weakness and insignificance. Ac-
cording to the teaching of the church, man must be
a meek lamb eternally reliant on the will of God.
"Who will enter the kingdom of heaven?" one
theologian asks in his sermon. And he replies:
"The spiritual beggars, the humble?those who do
not think much of themselves but consider them-
selves merely sinners and the worst of all." In the
present time, such sermons can be influential only
among the most backward people. But the light of
science and truth gradually reached even them.
The former seminarian A. A. Kukharenko writes:
"I have become more and more convinced that
religion gives a distorted interpretation of the
world around us, casts man back into the past, and
dooms him to helplessness in the face of the forces
of nature. I have seen with my own eyes that re-
ligion is not interested in scientific progress, for
every scientific discovery has dealt a new blow to
it."
Yes, modern scientific and technical progress
penetrates the everyday life of every person. His
own work experience constantly convinces him of
the might of knowledge, destroys religious views,
and instills a materialist world outlook.
The main aesthetic significance of scientific and
technical progress is the fact that technology, as
K. Marx said, is "the embodied force of knowl-
edge", and simply, graphically and convincingly
shows man's ability to get to know the world about
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him, to alter it, and thereby to utterly refute re-
ligion's doctrine of the incapacity and fundamen-
tal impossibility of getting to know the "divine
creation"?nature. Man differs from animals in
that he does not adopt nature's "gifts" in their
original form but transforms them with the help
of tools of labour and knowledge of the laws of
nature.
"Until we know the law of nature," V. I. Lenin
wrote, "it, existing and operating beyond our
knowledge, makes us slaves to 'blind necessity'.
Once we have discovered this law . . . we are the
masters of nature."
It is well known that one of the reasons for the
preservation of religious faith is man's depend-
ence on the elemental forces of nature, on the fact
that he cannot overcome them and make them
serve him and human society. But if, with the aid
of technical and scientific knowledge, he can ob-
tain a good harvest, moreover under unfavourable
natural conditions, then there is no room for slav-
ish religious submissiveness to this element which
is the embodiment of divine force in the eyes of
believers. In our day, church services for the
granting of a good harvest would seem strange
and absurd.
The victory over the elemental forces of nature
tears up the roots of religion. The Soviet people
do not place hopes in God but transform nature
with the aid of scientific knowledge. It is suf-
ficient today that in recent years alone Soviet
breeders have created 20 new types of rye out of
the 53 under cultivation. Man has raised approxi-
mately 400 improved breeds of cattle, more than
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250 breeds of sheep, and more than 150 breeds or
horses.
These achievements vividly confirm man's
creative abilities and his independence of super-
natural forces. They refute the tenets of "sacred"
writings on the immutability of types of animals
and plants allegedly created by God.
It is possible to judge the atheistic significance
of scientific and technical progress in the field
or assimilating nuclear power by the reaction of
churchgoers to these achievements. Today they
are not capable of anathematising scientists. Those
times are long gone. Nor can they negate the
obvious nature of the immense benefits which ac-
company the peaceful use of atomic energy. There-
fore they strive somehow to belittle their signi-
ficance and "prove" that the main thing in man's
life is "spiritual needs" and "belief in God's
almighty right hand."
Here, theologians defending religion do not
confine themselves to statements of facts about
the destructive influence of the development of
science and technology on religion. It has be-
come obvious that any science refutes religious
doctrines to some extent.
One of the American defenders of religion,
Pike, writes: "Modern apologetics has to wage
the struggle in a more extensive field than before.
Ethnographers have formulated theories of the
emergence and development of religion which are
incompatible with divine revelation; Marxism
sees in religion the ideological superstructure
built on the economic basis, the opium of the
people which prevents the the proletariat from
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realising its position as an oppressed and exploited
class; the miracles, prophesies, and historical
nature of the bible are negated by rationalists;
even more dangerous, perhaps, is the growth of
indifference with regard to religion. Theologians
must make incredible efforts to bring religious
dogmas into line with the results of the latest
scientific discoveries, without, however, subordi-
nating the former to the latter."
Today the long established tendency to "recon-
cile" science and religion has been intensified.
The preachers of Islam are reiterating the old
dogma that scientific discoveries allegedly can-
not refute Islam for these are two fields whose
"truths" lie in different planes. Moreover the
"truths" of Moslem dogma are allegedly inacces-
sible to the scientific world outlook.
The Moslem priesthood has its own interpreta-
tions of modern achievements. Even in the field
of the conquest of space, for example, it maintains
that God is allegedly so great and merciful to
man that he has permitted and helped him to
achieve the launching of spacecraft. However,
man in space will still be only a creature and
not a creator. Even there he will "experience fear
of the creator" and need God, according to the
priesthood. Science can only corroborate and
deepen Moslem dogma but in no event refute it.
But however Islam strives to adapt to modern
conditions and whatever disguise it dons, the
essence of it, like any other religion, remains
anti-scientific and alien to our world outlook.
Such time-serving does not bring the mullahs
the desired result. In fact it not so much
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strengthens the new modernist aspects oi religion
as undermines established religious tradition con-
secrated by centuries. Indeed, theologians are not
keeping pace with changes in the field of social
life, science, technology and culture. A most
prominent modern American theologian, Messol,
has to admit bitterly that in questions of modern
science any priest is a "poor outsider."
At the present stage of development of Soviet
society, when the immense tasks of Communist
building are being resolved, our party attaches
special significance to ideological work. It edu-
cates working people in the spirit of high con-
sciousness, strengthens their ideological steadfast-
ness, and teaches them to overcome the vestiges
of the past and resist any forms of bourgeois in-
fluence. And a most important constituent part
of this varied work is scientific and atheistic
propaganda.
In recent years, considerable work has been
conducted to overcome religious prejudices. It
has become more varied in its forms and methods.
Cadres of active propagandists of scientific atheism
are constantly on the increase, and special lecture
agencies, houses, museums, and atheist clubs have
been opened. But in our time the tasks of atheistic
propaganda do not amount simply to exposing
religious beliefs and prejudices. It is necessary to
instill in people the ability to take a rational
approach to the wealth of knowledge and make
use of culture, including philosophical, ethical, and
aesthetic views expressing a strictly scientific and
materialistic attitude toward a particular phe-
nomenon. The durability of the athestic temper-
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ing of working people depends ultimately on this.
As a result of the large socioeconomic trans-
formations and consolidation of socialist ideology
over the years of Soviet power, a real change has
taken place in the consciousness of the people in
Moslem areas. The ideology of Islam, which
dominated for centuries, now, since the victory of
socialism, influences only a small part of the
population and is losing more and more ad-
herents every year.
It is characteristic that even people of pro-
found faith want their children to study further
on leaving school and to become widely educated
people. Here is what housewife Kh. Sultanova
of the Fergana Region, who observes all religious
rites and customs, writes: "So that my children
will not turn out like me, we have radio and
television at home and subscribe to papers and
journals." The eagerness of believers and their
families for knowledge is convincing evidence of
the crisis of religious ideology.
Believers' desertion of religion is not an iso-
lated accidental phenomenon but a law-governed
process of the formation of a Communist world
outlook in the face of which all religious fancies
fade. The creators of technical progress are real
people, and their achievements in the develop-
ment of the sciences and technology completely
refute all religious dogmas and the very idea
of God.
A measure of the success of the anti-religious
campaign being waged against Islam in the Soviet
Union may be found in the following statistics.
Before World War I there were over 35,000
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mosques in the soviet Union. At the present time
there are barely several tens of mosques and
most of these are used for ceremonial purposes.
On the other hand, there are thousands of uni-
versities and schools providing anti-religious
training and millions of atheistic seminars, oral
journals, and question and answer evenings.
Lectures and discussions on anti-religious topics
are held every day.
In spite of the positive effect of these measures
being taken in all Moslem areas of the Soviet
Union, the level and scope of these activities still
do not meet the requirements of the program of
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union nor of
the 23rd Party Congress.
Soviet Islamic studies have covered a big and
complex way of research and creative achieve-
ments. Equipped with the methodology of dia-
lectical and historical materialism on the basis of
the study of primary sources and the forms of
Islam which remain presently, Soviet scholars
were able to critically approach many concepts
of Moslem tradition and of the West European
scientist-idealists. Considerable attention was paid
to the social nature of Islam as well as its history
among the peoples of the USSR ?a question
which was previously left almost entirely alone.
Also important were works devoted to Moslem
sects and ceremonies, customs, fasts and holidays.
On some such matters, in the course of research,
sometimes debatable or contradictory ideas ap-
peared which, in subsequent debates were clari-
fied and, as a rule, properly interpreted. Par-
ticularly lively debates were created by the
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problem of the social prerequisites of Islam, the
problem of its origins.
In the Soviet Union, under circumstances mark-
ing the alienation of wide masses from Islam, as
well as from all other religion, and, at the same
time, with the ever-intensified aspiration of the
clergy to adapt to the new circumstances, studies
of the process for overcoming Islam became par-
ticularly important. Work in this field is linked
also to providing the true picture of the history
of free thought and atheism in the republics of
the Soviet East as well as in foreign countries
in Asia and Africa. A certain, even though in-
adequate, attention is paid to the study of the
modernisation currents within Islam and the
peculiarities inherent to this religion in the various
areas of its dissemination. In a word, the tasks
facing Soviet Islamists are still quite important.
The difficulty in resolving them is frequently com-
plicated by the inadequate work on aspects of
history, philosophy, archaeology and ethnography
of many peoples of areas and countries inhabited
by Moslems.
By no means all opportunities and means of
ideological influence are being utilised in the
struggle against religion prejudices and vestiges.
In certain areas of the Soviet Union there is no
thought-out system of atheistic education. Broad
strata of the population are not yet included in
atheistic lecture propaganda. Popular lectures and
peoples' universities of atheism have not been
organised in a number of places. Scientists, in-
structors in higher educational institutions and
technical schools, teachers, doctors, writers and
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journalists are still not sufficiently involved in
lecture propaganda.
There are also substantial inadequacies in the
subject matter of atheistic lectures and discus-
sions. Cliches are frequently permitted in their
preparation; the content and nature of existing
religious vestiges are often not thoroughly re-
vealed in speeches; adaptive trends in religion in
response to present-day conditions are not being
exposed; and the pernicious work of the Moslem,
Christian and Judaic clergy is not being pointed
out.
Cult adherents use the most diverse modes
and methods to poison the minds of people with
religious opiate. For this they widely use their
preaching and philanthropic work, and they culti-
vate citizens individually. They devote special
attention to involving young people and women
in religious communities. An increase in the
number of citizens observing religious holidays
and practising religious rites is being observed in
a number of places as the result of increased
activities by the clergy, and pilgrimages to so-
called "holy places" are being revived. The ob-
servance of religious holidays is frequently ac-
companied by many days of drinking and the
mass slaughtering of cattle, and this is very detri-
mental to the national economy, diverts hundreds
and thousands of men from work, and undermines
labour discipline.
Unfortunately, the negative role of religion
in Soviet society is not always convincingly dis-
closed in propaganda. Many propagandists of
atheism at best limit themselves to citing the harm
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in observing religious holidays, rites, and fasts,
visiting "holy places" for one's health, and men-
tioning the superficial or economic damage of
these actions. Doubtless these problems must be
exposed. But the main thing is to expose the harm
of religion on a wider scale.
Religion in our country is the only form of
idealistic world outlook which opposes Marxism-
Leninism. Using such a powerful weapon as
Marxist-Leninist theory, propagandists can and
must skilfully, without hurting the feelings of
the believers, point out the groundlessness of
idealistic concepts of world outlook which religion
preaches.
Here and there some persons still aspire to
overcome religiousness in the believers "in a
single stroke" by administrative methods. In so
doing they forget that "a noisy declaration of
war on religion . . . is the best method of reviving
interest in religion and hindering the actual dying
off of religion" (V. I. Lenin, Coll. Works, Vol. 17,
p. 416). This is why religion should be overcome
not by administrative methods but by conviction
and by purposeful ideological influence on the
population.
An atheistic, materialistic world outlook as a
scientific system of views is instilled in mass aware-
ness by a broad complex of ideological methods.
Vladimir Ilich taught that "the masses must be
given the most varied material in atheistic propa-
ganda, be familiarised with the facts from the
most diverse phases of life, and approached this
way and that so as to interest them, to awaken
them from their religious sleep and to shake
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them up from all different sides, by the most
diverse methods, and so forth" (Coll. Works, Vol.
45, p. 26).
We are not, however, uniformly using all
methods of ideological influence. Such powerful
modern technical means as television, radio and
cinema are still inadequately used in scientific
atheistic propaganda. Little attention is paid to
problems of the atheistic direction of the reper-
toires of theaters, concerts, and amateur art circles.
Many cultural-educational institutions are also
not conducting active antireligious work. Certain
clubs and libraries are still infrequently holding
question and answer evenings and teachers' con-
ferences and debates on atheistic topics. There
are also serious shortcomings in the publication
of scientific-atheistic literature.
Village committees, housing organisations, and
the public are not sufficiently involved in over-
coming religious vestiges and introducing new
Soviet rites and rituals (the wedding of Young
Communist League members, the ceremonial reg-
istration of marriages and births of children, a
celebration on the occasion of receiving a first
passport, introduction into the army, being
pensioned, and so forth).
Many deficiences in our atheistic work and its
insufficient effectiveness are explained to a con-
siderable degree by the fact that atheists and
agitation-propaganda workers frequently have a
poor idea of what the level of religious belief is
among certain strata of the population and what
religious vestiges still exist among us. Some
workers on the ideological front cannot explain
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scientifically the reasons for the existence of re-
ligious awareness among the people under con-
ditions of a socialist society or describe the pe-
culiarities and content of existing vestiges of the
past. Individual propagandists under the in-
fluence of the "theory" of the natural withering
away of harmful traditions and sometimes from
a false fear of offending the religious feelings of
the believers fail to carry on active atheistic work.
To improve the effectiveness of atheistic propa-
ganda, we must first of all determine the extent of
religious beliefs of various groups of the popula-
tion, the nature and content of present-day re-
ligion. This can be achieved only by conducting
special sociological studies, using the method of
selective inquiry by oral and written questionaires,
on the observance of rituals, rites and customs.
Concrete sociological research makes it possible
for atheists to discover the true historical and
economic roots of existing religious vestiges; to
determine the extent of their influence; and to
explain their nature, content and peculiarities.
All this will provide an opportunity to create an
orderly system of atheistic propaganda and to
conduct it differentially.
Sociological research, conducted in recent years
and distinguished by specific peculiarities in the
tenor of everyday life of the local population,
shows that the nature of the beliefs presents quite
a complex picture. For example, many of those
questioned observe religious rites and customs be-
cause of established traditions, others because of
the influence of parents and older relatives, and
still others because of fear of censure by neigh-
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bours and acquaintances where they live: that is,
the opinion of the backward segment of the village
inhabitants.
This is explained by the fact that remnants of
commune-family traditions which are retained in
relic forms and in such form exert a real influence
on today's life are still strong in the family life
of the local population in certain areas. Up to
this time, family rites, especially marriage, burial,
and funeral banquets, are viewed in a number
of places not as a private family act but as an
act which is public, collective, resting on old
traditions and on such archaic institutions as the
rural or neighbourhood commune. They are the
cells in which religious everyday vestiges are
preserved to a considerable extent. Moreover,
they serve as a fence which prevents new rites
and rituals, new views of life and new standards
of behaviour from penetrating family life. Here
and there among these relics the influence of the
older generation is still strong; in the majority
of cases this is a religious generation which par-
ticipates in forming public opinion within the
village.
Unfortunately, certain party organisations still
do not notice or do not attribute importance to
the preserving role of these relics. But you see,
to a considerable degree, they serve as the nutrient
soil for preserving everyday religious vestiges.
In explaining the causes, nature and content
of existing religious vestiges and in developing
recommendations and methodological aids for
propagandist-atheists, extensive assistance must
be given to party organisations by scientific re-
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search institutions. We must improve the work of
methodological councils for propagandising scien-
tific atheism, which have been established under
party committees.
One of the reasons which promote the retention
in our life of remnants of religious ideology is
the seclusion of women which is still practised
in places and which mainly explains the presence
of elements of old family, primarily feudal-
patriarchial, traditions. A certain segment of
women is still captive to prejudices and super-
stitons and believes in the "evil eye" and in magic
amulets and incantations.
We must pay special attention to problems of
the anti-religious training of women. This must
be done with consideration for their family posi-
tion, age, education, national traditions, and cus-
toms. Work among women, the fight against ves-
tiges of feudal-bey attitudes toward them, the
merciless eradication of vestiges of feudal-pa-
triarchial life, and extensive introduction of new
traditions these are the most important practi-
cal goals of party organisations in ideological
work.
The creation of cultural and living conditions
necessary for women is very important to in-
creasing their labour and political activity. It is
impossible to condone the fact that certain party,
and Young Communist League members are in-
different to the family and living conditions of
people and problems of the relations between
spouses, and this facilitates the maintenance of
a patriarchial tenor of family life. It should be
remembered: the more actively we implement
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measures outlined in recent years y the
Committee of the Communist Party for reorganis-
ing and improving the standard of living of
Moslem areas, the more successful will be the
struggle against various vestiges of the past, in-
cluding everyday-family relations. An improve-
ment in life and its reorganisation on Communist
principles is the most important prerequisite for
overcoming religious vestiges.
The successful carrying out of atheistic work
requires not only a clear-cut concept of a certain
dogma and the extent of the population's religious
beliefs, but also a knowledge of the believers'
psychology. V. I. Lenin pointed out that "we
must learn to approach the masses especially
patiently and cautiously so as to be able to under-
stand the special features and peculiar traits of
the psychology of each stratum . . ." (Coll. Works,
Vol. 41, p. 192).
Attention to such social-psychological factors in
people's life as, for example, personal grief or the
misfortunes of relatives, disappointment in life or
persons, the loss of vital ideals, suffering be-
fore death, the feeling of solitude and such
are sometimes of decisive importance because
these factors are the nutrient medium for the
religious sentiments of the believers or vacillators.
Therefore, atheistic propaganda which does not
take into consideration the psychology of the be-
lievers, their sentiments, and experiences will al-
ways be abstract, inefficacious and fruitless.
Atheistic training must encompass all ages and
all strata of the population. In this work one
must not forget about those people who for some
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reason or another prove to be isolated from pro-
duction collectives and from active social life and
are secluded in a small, narrow domestic world.
It is among this category of Soviet people ?
householders, pensioners and invalids ? that we
most frequently of all encounter believers; it is
among them primarily that atheistic work should
be done on an individual basis.
But it would be quite incorrect to think that
the propaganda of atheism must be carried on
only among believers as certain organisers of this
work suggest. The fact of the matter is that, ac-
cording to sociologists' data, among non-religious
strata of the population there are many persons
who, although indifferent to religion, are by no
means convinced, conscious atheists. They do not
possess the necessary scientific information about
religion and frequently have very false impres-
sions about it and have a vague idea of its role
in society. Their atheistic training is necessary
not only to avoid their converting to the position
of religion but also to involve them in anti-
religious work later when they become convinced
atheists.
Cases of party members participating in re-
ligious rites, which still occur, are quite intoler-
able. The inadequate level of education work in
certain party organisations, the slackening control
over the adherence by Communists to fixed re-
quirements as regards religion frequently leads
to a situation where initially small concessions
to religious believers end in a complete departure
of individual party members from the scientific-
materialistic world outlook and lead to a break
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with the party. Certain party committees do not
draw the proper conclusions from such cases and
now and then formally discuss problems related
to Communists accountable to the party on re-
ligious grounds.
Giving people access to scientific and tech-
nical progress and elevating their general educa-
tional level play a great role in forming a
materialistic world outlook. To improve scientific-
atheistic propaganda it is necessary to utilise all
the various forms and means of ideological and
political influence of workers in their native
language. The best party and Young Communist
League propagandists, political information work-
ers, agitators, persons in the arts and literature,
scientists and teachers in school and higher edu-
cational institutions should be involved in this
work.
Party organisations should do everything to
form in each settlement, village, and production
collective family a bellicose atheistic social
opinion. We must remember V. I. Lenin's in-
structions that the party cannot and must not be
indifferent toward obscurantism in the form of
religious beliefs and that scientific-atheistic
propaganda must constitute one branch of party
work.
We must decisively put an end to passiveness
in regard to religion and to the work of the
clergy and continuously unmask the reactionary
essence of religion and the damage it does, divert-
ing part of our country's citizens from conscious
and active participation in Communist construe-
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tion. Anti-religious work must be carried on
systematically, with all persistence.
The basis of this work must be the broad
propagandising of natural scientific knowledge,
the popular explanation from scientific positions
of questions concerning the universe and the laws
of natural phenomena, the origin of life and man
on earth, the latest discoveries of science and
technology, and man's victories in space. We
must reveal scientifically the reactionary essence
of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and religious
sectarianism and explain wherein lies the harm
of religious vestiges and why there is a struggle
between science and religion.
It is expedient in clubs, palaces of culture, and
red corners to organise cycles of atheistic lectures,
combining the common body of subject matter to
correspond with local conditions. The titles of the
lectures must not antagonise believers or non-
believers. The people's universities of atheism,
where anyone who wishes can attend a systematic
course of scientific atheism is still a better form
of lecture propaganda. We should be concerned
not only about increasing the number of these
people's universities but also about the quality
of their lectures. It is desirable to hold teacher
conferences more frequently and to organise
cinema lectures, radio lectures, and television
lectures and question and answer evenings on
atheistic topics. It would not be a bad idea to
supplement the question and answer evenings with
a concert, the showing of an anti-religious film,
and the organising of a picture exhibit, a photo-
graphic exhibit, and a showcase of books. Much
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attention must be paid to the all-round develop-
ment of individual anti-religious work among the
believers. Only the combining of broad scientific-
atheistic propaganda with diverse forms cif indi-
vidual work can bear tangible fruit.
Experience shows us that atheistic propaganda
has the greatest effect when it is combined with
the widescale introduction of new civil rites and
rituals. To mark in a new way such very im-
portant events as birth and marriage in the life
of each man means to gradually narrow and
then reduce to nothing the sphere of the clergy's
activity. However, certain party organisations
underestimate the importance of propaganda and
the introduction of new traditions, and individual
party and Young Communist League leaders do
not participate in the realisation of new rites
and rituals, frequently reserving the last word
for the cult adherents.
It is necessary to constantly reveal the re-
actionary essence and role of religious rites and
holidays and to cleanse progressive popular tradi-
tions of religious-mystical terrors. Here we must
not forget that people who are captives of re-
ligious customs and harmful traditions frequently
deny themselves everything necessary (the ameni-
ties of housing, the acquiring of modern house-
hold utensils and clothes, nutrition, and cultural
leisure) for the sake of having abundant enter-
tainment and gifts at the time of religious holi-
days and weddings. This situation seriously im-
pedes the development of the people's cultural
life. New holidays and rites must embrace both
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the public and private life of man and stir him
to active participation in Communist construction.
The goals of intensifying atheistic propaganda
require an expansion of the training of atheist
personnel. This requires broader utilisation of
the means which have proved themselves: uni-
versities of Marxism-Leninism, theoretical con-
ferences and seminars on problems of scientific
atheism, continuously operating schools for
lecturers and schools for agitator-atheists.
We must strive for philosophers and historians,
biologists and physicists, doctors and educators,
and other representatives of our glorious intelli-
gentsia to take a very active part in the atheistic
training of the population. Their sphere of ac-
tivity is wherever they meet people: in the brigade
and in the shop, in the field camp and on the
livestock farm, on the construction site and in the
dormitory, in the institution and in the academic
setting. They must not be indifferent to the fact
that individual Soviet persons are still in the grip
of religious prejudices.
The struggle for the soul of man, the posses-
sion of his mind and heart, is a very complex
and difficult, but a very important and honour-
able, segment of all our ideological work. And
it requires the closest attention of all party
organisations.
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