HEAD OF WORLD UNION OF
OLD BELIEVERS
CALLS FOR WIDE DISCUSSION OF INTRODUCING POLYGAMY INTO RUSSIA
Interfax-Religiia,
26 September 2019
The head of the World
Union of Old
Believers, Leonid Sevastianov, thinks that the initiative for
the introduction
of polygamy, which has recently been voiced by Muslim clergy in
Russia, did not
come out of nowhere and deserves serious consideration.
"When we analyze modern
Russian
society, we can become convinced that polygamy exists de facto
not only in the
Muslim republics but also in places where mainly Russians live,"
Sevastianov told Interfax on Thursday.
He said that each of us
knows numerous
examples where one man has several families—one official and one
or more
unofficial, where children are born and raised. "At the same
time, women
and children in such families are deprived of rights, primarily
in the area of
inheritance of property and alimony payments," the news agency's
interlocutor
noted.
He
considers that
those cases cannot be ignored and it is necessary to make
responses. "It
follows from the Litsevoy Chronicle that the holy prelate Savva
of Serbia
(12th-13th centuries), just simply forced the princes to marry
their
concubines, thereby permitting polygamous marriages. The
pre-Petrine liturgical
tradition itself permits up to three marriages without the
ritual of a
wedding," the Old Believer leader noted.
In this
way, he
thinks, "the question involuntarily arises whether Orthodox
pre-Petrine
practice permitted polygamy, establishing profound
responsibility for men in
relations with women." This question can be answered, in
Sevastianov's
opinion, "only through public discussion."
In
conclusion he
pointed out the principal, in his opinion, task of any marital
union, which
should be taken into account by supporters and opponents of
polygamy: "Discounting
any ideology in the area of marital relations, we can easily be
persuaded that
the goal of marriage is procreation. Marriage is the natural
mechanism for
birth, training, and passing on inheritance of offspring. At the
same time,
marriage is an institution that guarantees the protection of the
rights both of
spouses and of children," Sevastianov concludes. (tr. by PDS,
posted 27
September 2019)
HEAD OF COUNCIL OF MUFTIS
THINKS
INTRODUCTION OF POLYGAMY IN MUSLIM REGIONS OF RUSSIA EXPEDIENT
Interfax-Religiia, 23
September 2019
The chairman of the
Council of Muftis of
Russia, Ravil Gainutdin, considers that official polygamy is
better than affairs
on the side.
"Aren't there lots of
non-Muslim
men who have not two nor three wives in Russian society? . . .
So one can weigh
it in the scales: either have 40 mistresses and not bear any
responsibility and
have several abandoned children or have two legal wives and bear
responsibility
before both the law and Islam," the mufti said Monday in an
interview on
Rossia-24 television channel.
Responding to the host's
question, he
declared that "if on the legislative level in the republics
where Muslims
mainly predominate bigamy or polygamy is permitted, then this
would be
appropriate."
At the same time
Gainutdin said, he
understands very well that "our state is secular, and federal
laws operate
in all territories of the Russian Federation, and federal laws
are the same for
everybody."
"I am for legality and
order, and
for the observation of the Holy Quran and its prescriptions and
for observing
federal law on the whole territory of the Russian Federation,"
he
emphasized. (tr. by PDS, posted 27 September 2019)
LEGALIZATION OF POLYGAMY
AUTOMATICALLY
PRESUPPOSES LEGALIZATION OF POLYANDRY—RIGHTS ADVOCATE
Interfax-Religiia,
26 September 2019
Recent initiatives of
Moscow muftis for
the legalization in Russia of polygamy will, in the event,
automatically
legalize polyandry, the Islamic scholar Roman Silantiev,
director of the rights
advocacy center of the World Russian People's Council, thinks.
"According to our
constitution,
women and men have completely equal rights and therefore the
legalization of
polygamy automatically leads to the legalization of polyandry. I
doubt that the
esteemed muftis wish to bring to life just such a scenario,"
Silantiev
told Interfax on Thursday.
At the same time, he
recalled that at
one time, when the topic of polygamy appeared in a clip of
"eastern
tales" of the group "Blestiashchie," this met sharp criticism on
the part of representatives of the Muslim community of the
country.
As was reported, a few
days ago the head
of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Ravel Gainutdin, expressed
the opinion that
the introduction of polygamy into those regions of the country
where the
majority consists of Muslims would be expedient. Subsequently,
the mufti of
Moscow, Ildar Aliautdinov, spoke out for the introduction of
polygamy.
"I am not personally
against having
Russian Muslims live according to their own Sharia laws,"
Silantiev added,
"although there are two delicate issues: for this it is
necessary to
abolish the secular nature of the state and to introduce Sharia
in full, that
is, not only to permit polygamy but also to cut off fingers for
stealing, or
entire limbs, and to execute for adultery. And so you get some
kind of
'glamorous Sharia.'" (tr. by PDS, posted 27 September 2019)
R.P.Ts. CALLS FOR LEAVING
TOPIC OF
POLYGAMY FOR TOPIC OF RESPONSIBILITY OF MEN
Interfax-Religiia,
26 September 2019
The Russian Orthodox
Church [RPTs] does
not agree with representatives of the Muslim clergy of Russia
who recently have
called for considering the introduction of polygamy,
particularly for the
protection of the rights of mistresses and illegitimate
children.
"We proceed from the fact
that the
problems that exist in our society are connected not with the
existence or
absence of the institution of polygamy, but with a deficit of
responsibility of
spouses in family life," the vice-chairman of the synodal
Department for
Relations of Church with Society and News Media, Vakhtang
Kipshidze, told
Interfax on Thursday.
In his opinion, both
Muslims and
Orthodox and Jews are agreed that "the root of the crisis
phenomena in
family life consist in extramarital affairs, which very often
destroy family
happiness."
In the views of the
representative of
the church, traditional religions of Russia should "unite their
efforts
for creating a lasting union of one man and one woman, and it is
this that is
the common goal whose achievement can facilitate the revival and
strengthening
of the traditional family, including having several children."
"As a Christian, it seems
to me
that the position of both a mistress and to some extent a wife
debases the
dignity of a woman. Equally, extramarital affairs of any type
degrade the
dignity of a man," the news agency's interlocutor added.
The
problem of the
lack of rights of children born outside of marriage must be
resolved by means
of strengthening the legal responsibility of their biological
fathers,
Kipshidze thinks.
As
reported, the
other day the head of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Ravil
Gainutdin,
expressed the opinion that the introduction of polygamy in those
regions of the
country where the majority consists of Muslims would be
appropriate. Later, the
mufti of Moscow, Ildar Aliatdinov, spoke out in favor of the
introduction of
polygamy. (tr. by PDS, posted 27 September 2019)
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