The Faizrakhmanist of Fäyzraxmançılar (Tatar : Фәйзрахманчылар) movement, known in the media as the "catacomb sect", is a sect of Islam based in Tatarstan, Russia. Adherents describe themselves only as Muammmin ("believers"). The sect is named after its founder, Faizrakhman Sattarov, a Russian Muslim who calls himself a prophet. [1] The sect is considered illegitimate by mainstream Russian Muslim clergy because orthodox Islam holds that there are no prophets after Muhammad. [1]
Sect founder Faizrakhman Sattarov, who was at one time a mufti, [2] presented himself as a prophet in the mid-1960s after he encountered sparks from a trolleybus cable and interpreted the sparks as a divine light from God. [1] He established the sect in the 1970s. [2] The sect is relatively small, with about 70 members. [2] Sattarov and his followers are rejected by mainstream Islamic clergy, who hold Muhammad as the final prophet of Allah. [1]
In 1996, Sattarov moved into a three-storey building in Kazan that he declared to be an independent Islamic state. [3] The sect established a madrassa (religious school) in 1997, allowing only its sect members to preach to the students. [4] Instead of using orthodox Islamic scripture, the textbooks used are written and often copied and adapted by Sattarov himself. [4]
The Faizrakhmanists stress their native roots and lack of association with other Russian and worldwide Islamic organizations. [4] The sect is believed to reject the modern Russian state and its laws, as well as mainstream and orthodox Islam. [1] In the first decade of the 21st century, Sattarov led his followers into isolation from mainstream society, pursuing an extreme version of religious separatism. [1]
In August 2012, during an investigation of attacks on Muslim clergy in Tatarstan, Russian police found an eight-level complex of underground chambers beneath Sattarov's home in Kazan, occupied by 38 adults and 27 children who lived in dug-out rooms described as being like catacombs. According to Russian authorities, most of the children had never been outside their underground home, but adult members of the sect said the children were able to play outdoors. [1] [5]
Most sect members were forbidden to leave the compound, although a few were permitted to leave in order to work as traders in a local marketplace. [1] [3] One man who lived in the underground complex with his family told news media that he had defied the restrictions to go to a job outside, escaping by jumping over the gate. [3]
Four members of the Faizrakhmanist sect were charged with cruelty against children. Authorities said the children had been living in poorly ventilated unsanitary quarters and that they displayed symptoms of anaemia and tuberculosis, [1] [5] Sattarov was charged with "arbitrariness", a criminal offence defined in Article 330 of the Russian penal code to mean "unauthorised commission of actions contrary to the order presented by a law or any other normative legal act". The penalty for arbitrariness is up to five years in prison. [6] Sattarov's three-storey brick house, located on a 700 m2 (7,500 sq ft) lot, was found to have been constructed illegally and was ordered to be demolished. [1] Sect members said they would combat the demolition by "throw[ing] [them]selves in front of the bulldozers". [5]
At the time of the discovery of the catacombs, Sattarov was reported to be 83 years old, ill, and confined to his bed in a state of delirium. [1]
Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital and largest city is Kazan, an important cultural centre in Russia. The region's main source of wealth is oil with a strong petrochemical industry.
A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name and tradition, among other activities. The term refers to the various Christian denominations. It is also used to describe the five major branches of Judaism. Within Islam, it can refer to the branches or sects, as well as their various subdivisions, such as sub-sects, schools of jurisprudence, schools of theology and religious movements.
Isma'ilism is a branch or sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept Musa al-Kazim, the younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām.
In Shia Islam, the Imamah is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further says that Imams possess divine knowledge and authority (Ismah) as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad. These Imams have the role of providing commentary and interpretation of the Quran as well as guidance.
The Khanate of Kazan was a medieval Tatar Turkic state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; its capital was the city of Kazan. It was one of the successor states of the Golden Horde (Mongol state), and it came to an end when it was conquered by the Tsardom of Russia.
Islam is a major religious minority in the Russian Federation, which has the largest Muslim population in Europe excluding Turkey. According to the US Department of State in 2017, Muslims in Russia numbered 14 million or roughly 10% of the total population. One of the Grand Muftis of Russia, sheikh Rawil Gaynetdin, estimated the Muslim population of Russia at 25 million in 2018.
Mawlid is an annual festival commemorating the birthday of Islamic prophet Muhammad on the traditional date of 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar. A day central to the traditions of Sunni Islam, the Mawlid is also celebrated by Shia Muslims.
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The territory of Tatarstan, a republic of the Russian Federation, was inhabited by different groups during the prehistoric period. The state of Volga Bulgaria grew during the Middle Ages and for a time was subject to the Khazars. The Volga Bulgars became Muslim and incorporated various Turkic peoples to form the modern Volga Tatar ethnic group.
Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam. There are many different sects or denominations, schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and schools of Islamic theology, or ʿaqīdah (creed). Within Islamic groups themselves there may be differences, such as different orders (tariqa) within Sufism, and within Sunnī Islam different schools of theology and jurisprudence. Groups in Islam may be numerous, or relatively small in size.
The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars are a Kipchak-Bulgar Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of western Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are the second-largest ethnic group in Russia after ethnic Russians. Most of them live in the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. Their native language is Tatar, a language of the Turkic language family. The predominant religion is Sunni Islam, followed by Orthodox Christianity.
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Religious exclusivism, or religious exclusivity, is the doctrine or belief that only one particular religion or belief system is true. This is in contrast to religious pluralism.
The siege of Kazan in 1552 was the final battle of the Russo-Kazan Wars and led to the fall of the Khanate of Kazan. Conflict continued after the fall of Kazan, however, as rebel governments formed in Çalım and Mişätamaq, and a new khan was invited from the Nogais. This guerrilla war lingered until 1556.
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Arbitrariness, that is the unauthorized commission of actions contrary to the order presented by a law or any other normative legal act,
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