Muslims of the Russian Federation as a potential (united) political force

After the collapse of the Soviet Union all the peoples of the form.er Soviet Union had experienced serious changes in the political, cultural, economic spheres, and simply in daily life. It is necessary to confess that the country is still living in a kind of ideological vacuum. It is early to say that the republics have been able to manage to shift from totalitarian regime to the democratic one, and the democracy has been firmly established in all republics. There is a search for the convenient ideology, that can combine democratic principles with the old state traditions, cultural and religious peculiarities. Today the general important feature proper to the all Muslim republics is the rise of Islam. The revival of Islam started with the early years of perestroika, today reached significant dimension. The appeal to Islam is a characteristic of many political groups in the Muslim republics of the Russian Federation. A religious revival is a complex social phenomenon that can be studied from various angles. On one hand it is return to the traditional Muslim values through the practicing Islam, as an everyday fact, on the other hand it is rise of political Islam. Both aspects of the revival of Islam are present today in the Muslim republics of the Russian Federation. A rediscovery of Islamic roots is under way in all the Muslim republics of the Russian Federation. The aim of this research is to highlight the recent political developments in the Muslim republics of the Russian Federation. In this work I tried to find an answer to such questions as: Can Islam serve as the ideological basis for the unification of the Muslim peoples of Russia, as it was at the beginning of this century? Do the Muslims of Russia have a sense of corporate identity, and, if so, to what extent can the Muslims of Russia be regarded as one entity? After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of Muslims who consider themselves believers increased substantially. High interest towards the religion among the population lead to the significant increase in the number of the mosques, religious establishments, political parties along the religious lines. Today there are two officially registered Muslim parties of all-union character , operating in Russia. This gradually accumulated but restrained political potential will sooner or later reveal itself forcing the Muslims of Russia to make step further. Today is the stage of regaining of lost values, the stage of common actions will come next. There can be little doubt that eventually the Muslim political organizations will convince the Muslim nations of advantages of cooperation.