From Ria Novosti
MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Islamic organizations should get young Muslims involved in socially-oriented and charitable activities to shield them from radicalization and extremism, a Muslim leader said on Wednesday.
Ildar Bayazitov, deputy mufti of Russia’s predominantly Islamic republic of Tatarstan, said “socially useful” activity could also help alleviate social tension.
Priority should be given to helping drug addicts, prison inmates, disabled persons, large or incomplete families, elderly people and orphans, he said.
“The focus in official Muslim rhetoric in our country should be not on political issues related to Islam, but on its socially useful potential,” he said, adding that radical protest moods among religious youth often stem from unresolved social problems and a perceived lack of social justice.
