******* Russian Muslim's Rising *******
**********************************************

Courtesy of: Islamic Horizons Magazine
November/December 2005/1426 Issue
http://isna.net

Russia's indigenous Muslims number 23 million, Ravil Gainutdin, chairman of the National Council of Muftis, told a meeting of the European Union of Muslim's in early August.

According to a census conducted three years ago, about 14.5 million of Russia's 144 million people are ethnic Muslims.

Russian is also home to an estimated 3 to 4 million Muslim migrants from the former Soviet States--roughly 2 million Azeri's, 1 million Kazakh's, and several hundred thousand Uzbek's, Tajik's, and Kyrgyz.

For several years, religious leaders have placed the number at about 20 million.

Islam was strictly controlled in the former Soviet Union, and there were only 500 Mosques
in operation. Since 1991, however, Islam has enjoyed a renaissance, and now Russia alone has over 5,000 Mosques.

Sheikh Farid Asadullin of the Moscow Council of Muftis told "The Times London",

"Ethnic Russian's, Ukranian's and Belarussian's, mostly young and intelligent, see in Islam and answer to their questions."

The Russian Orthodox Church claims 80 million followers, but experts say the number is closer to 40 million and on the wane.

Russia's total population dropped by 401,200 in the first half of 2005, but the population rose in 15 other regions, including the Republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia.

Chechnya has announced plans to build Europe's largest Mosque in the Chechen capital,
Grozny.