A book about Muslims involved in the ATO presented in Kyiv
In Kyiv, the book “From the Maidan to the ATO: Ukrainian Muslims in the context of the military-political crisis (2013-2016)” dedicated to Muslims who are struggling for Ukraine's sovereignty with the Russian aggressor in the Donbas was presented. This was reported by Ukrinform.
The book was presented by the author – associate professor of the Department of Religious Studies and Theology of the National University “Ostroh Academy” Mykhailo Yakubovych.
“This book is not about war, there is no extensive description of participation in military battles, detailed descriptions of military operations, my task was different – to tell about the inner world of people, volunteers, to tell why they, being Muslims, decided to enroll in the Armed Forces of Ukraine or other formations, what was their motivation – whether it was patriotic or religious. I tried to show how they see Islam in these processes and in general, whether they see it there, because
According to the author, the greatest problem in writing the book was the issue of the safety of soldiers and their families, because of foreign citizenship or the presence of relatives in the Russian Federation, most Muslim fighters did not want to disclose their names or did not want to publish their stories in the book.
In turn, Said Ismagilov, the Mufti of the Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine “UMMA”, who attended the presentation, said that most fighters are afraid to tell their names during an interview because of the high probability of repressions against members of their families.
“Communicating with many Muslims who participated in the anti-terrorist operation, I can definitely say that most fighters cannot tell their name, surname, and to show their face, because among them there are Crimean Tatars whose relatives mostly remained in the occupied Crimea, people from other countries – Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, etc. They cannot tell their names not because they are ashamed, but because their relatives can be subjected to repressions,” Ismagilov said.
Yakubovych said that the book can be divided into two topics – Islam in Ukraine and the history of foreign Muslims who defend the sovereignty of our state in the east of Ukraine.
“This book is about two fields – Ukrainian Islam, which is still in its infancy, and the history of foreigners who became into the ranks of Ukrainian military formations and who also have their own motivation. The book is divided into several parts, the first section, although it may look too theoretically, tells that there are different views in the Islamic world and among Islamic scholars on the participation of Muslims in the war in secular states,” Yakubovych said, adding that the book describes the military chaplaincy of Muslims in the Armed Forces.
The author hopes that this book will further inspire more scholarly work on the role of Muslims in the struggle for Ukraine's sovereignty.“The book's timeline ends in 2016. I want to believe that I will have strength, inspiration, and opportunities to expand this topic, and other authors will join us so that we have a great volume about what role the Muslims of Ukraine played in the broad sense and in the events in the east of Ukraine, and how it influenced Ukraine's defense of its independence, its statehood,” Yakubovych noted.
