Lawyers have assessed the bill banning collective worship services in apartment buildings.

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If the bill banning collective worship is passed, many Muslims living in both large cities and southern Russia will face a situation where they will have nowhere to pray, as there are not enough mosques for everyone. This innovation is a violation of citizens' rights.

Bill No. 1149587-8 has been introduced in the State Duma. If adopted, it would outlaw collective worship services in apartment buildings, lawyer Muhammad Ramazanov stated on April 14.

According to him, the proposal is to ban any religious events in non-residential premises of apartment buildings (basements, ground floors, former stores), where Friday prayers, meetings, and children's lessons are often held. Apartments are to be restricted to individual prayer for residents only. Inviting guests, relatives, imams, or priests is prohibited. Even performing the Janazah prayer (funeral prayer) at the home of the deceased can be a violation: fines range from 5,000 to 50,000 rubles.

If the law is passed, all these prayer rooms—typically basements, ground floors, or purchased apartments—will become illegal.

Ramazanov is confident that this bill deprives Muslims of places to pray other than official mosques. "To put it bluntly, yes, this deprives Muslims of places to pray. For tens of thousands of believers, especially in large cities, this bill is a de facto ban on congregational prayer. In Moscow, the surrounding region, and other major cities, there is a catastrophic shortage of mosques, and they are often inaccessible by transportation. "Prayer rooms in apartment buildings aren't a whim, but the only solution. If the law is passed, all these prayer rooms—typically basements, ground floors, or purchased apartments—will be outlawed. Praying with guests, relatives, or invited imams in ordinary apartments will no longer be permitted. This applies not only to Friday prayers (Jumu'ah), which are obligatory for men, but also to the Janazah prayer (funeral prayer) or the collective iftar (breaking the fast) during Ramadan. All these practices will be under threat," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He noted that the law is written in such a way that all prayer rooms will automatically be outlawed. "The most frightening thing here isn't so much the fines, which will range from 5,000 to 50,000 rubles for individuals and up to one million rubles for legal entities, but the creation of a legal vacuum and enormous scope for arbitrary action at the local level. The law doesn't provide any exceptions, and it doesn't take into account the specifics of buildings, such as those with uninhabited ground floors. Moreover, it contains a dangerous uncertainty for Muslims. For example, the Spiritual Assembly of Muslims of Russia is directly asking: 'How will officials interpret the ritual of farewell to the deceased, when the deceased is wrapped in a shroud and relatives read the funeral prayer at the house where they lived, with the new law passed?' If the law is passed in its current form, the answer to this question will depend on the personal convictions of the individual police officer or official. "This is a direct path to abuse and selective enforcement, which will primarily harm Muslim communities," the lawyer explained.

It introduces a presumption of guilt for everyone who gathers for collective prayer and shifts the problem of a shortage of religious buildings from the state to the shoulders of believers.

All of this is a violation of citizens' rights to freedom of conscience and religion, he is confident. "And a fundamental one at that. The deputies promoting the law are talking about residents' complaints about noise, disorder, crowding, and the protection of neighbors' peace. I understand that in an apartment building, respect must be shown for one another. But the problem is that existing legal mechanisms for combating real violations (such as noise or unsanitary conditions) are already sufficient. This bill isn't about silence, but about a ban. It introduces a presumption of guilt for anyone who gathers for collective prayer and shifts the problem of a shortage of religious buildings from the state to the shoulders of believers. Muslims aren't the only ones voicing this concern. Protestant communities, for example, claim that in large cities it's "practically impossible for them to obtain land for construction," so a ban without an alternative would create "conditions for violating citizens' fundamental constitutional rights to freedom of religion," he emphasized.

The lawyer also added that it's extremely dangerous that the head of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims (CSAM), Supreme Mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin, supported this initiative. "His assertion that residents' discontent is justified and that prayer rooms should be moved to shopping centers, 'like in supermarkets,' creates the illusion that Muslims in Russia have a unified voice and that this voice is in favor of the ban. But this is not the case. Tajuddin, with all due respect, represents a single, albeit large, centralized organization. His opinion is not the opinion of the entire multi-million-strong ummah. However, for secular legislators and officials, who are often unaware of the nuances of the country's Islamic landscape, the Supreme Mufti's position is carte blanche. And they actively exploit it. The same co-author of the bill, Vladislav Davankov, directly cites the muftis, claiming that "'apartment mosques' undermine traditional Islam." As a result, a law that will impact thousands of ordinary believers is presented as an initiative coordinated with Muslim leaders. This not only increases the risks—it almost guarantees that the law will be adopted in its harshest form under the plausible pretext of combating radicalism, which in reality will result in local conflicts over the simple desire of believers to pray together. I would also like to clarify that Muslims and others have the right to practice their faith not only individually but also collectively, as stated in Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation: “Everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including the right to profess, individually or together with others, any religion or not to profess any, to freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them,” concluded Muhammad Ramazanov.

The bill is a violation of citizens' rights

Moscow lawyer Nikita Taranishchenko also believes that the bill deprives Muslims of places to pray, in addition to official mosques.

“The bill prohibits religious rites and prayer meetings in non-residential premises "The law will prohibit religious services in apartment buildings and their annexes, while religious services will remain permitted in residential apartments—but only to satisfy the personal spiritual needs of the residents themselves. In practice, this means that organized collective prayer in rented basements, ground-floor offices, and other non-residential premises of apartment buildings will be prohibited. "Thus, the law will de facto create a legal vacuum for Muslims: collective prayer will only be permitted in mosques, which are clearly insufficient for everyone who wishes to pray," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to him, if the amendments are adopted, religious services and religious gatherings will be prohibited in non-residential premises of apartment buildings, as well as in buildings built into and annexed to them. "Consequently, any prayer room located in a non-residential building, whether a commercial space, basement, or annex, will be automatically outlawed upon the law's entry into force, without any transition period," he noted.

It can be challenged in the Constitutional Court, although the feasibility of such a challenge in the current legal situation is very limited.

The lawyer is confident that the bill is a violation of citizens' rights to freedom of conscience and religion. "Therefore, it can be challenged in the Constitutional Court, although the feasibility of such a challenge in the current legal situation is very limited," he noted.

In fact, Russia has long been persecuting believers for peaceful religious activity, including at home, notes Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses*.

People are imprisoned simply for their faith, which is unacceptable to law enforcement.

"If we talk about Jehovah's Witnesses*, the Supreme Court liquidated legal entities without officially assessing their religious beliefs. That is, de jure, no peaceful activity by individual believers was prohibited. The Russian government, and later the Plenum of the Supreme Court, ruled that the worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses*, their joint performance of rituals and ceremonies, do not in themselves constitute a crime. Neither in public places nor at home. But what do we see in practice? Nearly 1,000 believers of this denomination have already been criminally prosecuted for peaceful joint worship services, including at home, with friends, and sometimes via videoconference. In none of the hundreds of trials, most of which were open, was there evidence of any actual crime being committed. "People are being imprisoned simply for their faith, which law enforcement agencies find objectionable," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to him, freedom of worship is a fundamental human right, which is effectively violated by this bill. "It is enshrined in both international law and the Russian Constitution." Anything that impedes the exercise of the right to peaceful religious expression is undoubtedly a violation of rights. We cannot comment specifically on this law, as much depends on law enforcement. The message of the anti-extremism law was to protect people from crime, but in relation to the Witnesses, for example, it is being used for repression," he pointed out.

* 396 Russian Jehovah's Witness organizations have been designated as extremist, and their activities in Russia have been banned by court order.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.