Dagestan Moslems collect signatures in support of Turkish theologian

In the capital of Dagestan, the believers have launched a campaign in support of Said Nursi, a well-known Turkish theologian and philosopher, whose works have been declared to be extremist literature.

We remind you that in spring of 2007 the Koptevo District Court of Moscow at its closed session satisfied the claim of the Prosecutor's Office of Tatarstan and classified all the works of the Turkish religious figure to be extremist literature. In the course of the trial, the conclusions were announced of Spiritual Departments of Russian Moslems, scientists-theologians, human rights activists and Russian Ombudsman stating that Said Nursi's works have nothing to do with extremism.

They were objected by employees of the Institute of Linguistics and the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Science, who had arrived to an opposite conclusion. They assert that Said Nursi's brochures support the idea of Islam superiority and waning character of all other faiths.

The Court found the arguments of ethnographers and psychologists weightier. Advocate Sergey Sychov expressed his intent to appeal against the Court's judgement at higher instances up to the European Court for Human Rights, if necessary.

The "Rossijskaya Gazeta" newspaper has published the complete list of extremist literature prepared by the Federal Registration Service of Russia. The list comprises 32 works, 27 of them were written by Muslim writers.

"Said Nursi is just an author who calls all the people to peace and good neighbourhood. The announcement of his works to be extremist is a mere provocation and the 'first signs', and I'm afraid that soon the books of almost all famous Islamic scientists will be censored and banned, including the Sacred Koran," Magomednur Israpilov, Imam of the Makhachkala Mosque, said.