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Haider Jamal, the Russian Muslim Peace and Justice Activist will be Remembered as a defender of Islam and Palestine

Editorial By Palestine Information Center

December 20, 2016 

 

Haider Jamal, the Russian Muslim defenders of Palestinian human rights (1947-2016)

 

Haider Jamal, the Russian Muslim Peace and Justice Activist will be Remembered as a defender of Islam and Palestine

Editorial By Palestine Information Center

December 20, 2016, MOSCOW, (PIC) + -

Being Russian didn’t prevent him from being Palestinian to the core at his heart. He abhorred sectarianism and became one of the most important figures of Muslims in Russia, and a great philosopher who skillfully spoke about Islam using his deep and well-structured concepts. He used every single platform to defend the issue of Jerusalem and Palestine.

The Russian Muslim thinker Haider Jamal (Gaidar Jakhidofitch Jamal), of Azari origins, was born in the Russian Capital Moscow, on the 6th of November in 1947 to a Muslim family. His father was a Muslim-Azari and his mother was Russian, resulting in producing this very fine man who brilliantly spoke out about Islam.

His birth to parents of different origins developed in him a refusal to discrimination based on race and religion. He refused to be called a Shite or a Sunni. He said, “I abhor this categorization based on sect among Muslims. I only call for a unified Islam and Muslim unity under the umbrella of being worshipers for Allah.”

His book, “Liberating Islam,” refuted all attempts to intentionally defame Islam, and all attempts to stick terrorism, criminal acts, and murder to it. His approach reflected the character of the man, and revealed his deep thinking and comprehensive perspective and sharp vision, to be one of the most known defenders of Islam in Russia.

Palestine, the Icon
Palestine was one of the symbols with which Jamal identified himself, as it is one of the most known issues in history that represents oppression in its worst forms. He served as its defendant and lawyer, and was one of its toughest defenders in Russia. Palestine was close to him because it liked him. Palestine was deeply in sorrow for losing him.

He was called the Palestinian Russian, in addition to other titles. He was present in all Palestine’s occasions, events, protests, sit-ins, and festivals, aiming at exposing Israel’s policies and highlighting its practices.

The man “with two big eyes,” strongly supported establishing an international court to bring Israel to account for its crimes, as he considered it a fascist state, and in this regard he said: “Israel turned the issue of the Holocaust into a religious belief, taken for granted, by using the power of Jewish lobbies in Europe. It takes action against those who try to question this issue, and at the same time, commits crimes which are more horrible than the Holocaust itself, as it continues to carry out a collective genocide and Holocaust against the Palestinian people.”

His principles were not separate from defending societal rights. He was the head of the Russian-Islamic Committee. He was the co-president of the Presidential Body for Social Movement in Russia, known as the Russian-Islamic Heritage, and a permanent member of the Pan Arab-Islamic organization. He is considered one of the co-founders of the Coordination Office of the Russian Left Front, and was a member in the National Society of the Russian Federation.

He worked in various fields throughout his life and learnt oriental languages and taught western languages. He was active in the Islamic propagation in the early 1990s. He was one of the founders of the Islamic Renaissance Party in Astrakhan city in Russia. He was the vice president of the party by then and later that year he established an independent think-tank, and named it Tawheed. From 1991 to 1993, he started publishing Tawheed Journal in Russian.

From 1993 to 1996, he presented Islamic seminars and series in the Russian TV channels, and was the head of the Islamic Department at the First Russian TV Channel, presenting “Now” program. He was in charge of presenting the Quranic chapters at the cultural TV Channel and was running “1001 Days” series at RTR TV.

Haider Jamal, who passed away at the age of 69, was one of the well-known defenders of the Palestinian cause, who contributed to the principle of moderate Islam in Russia and in countries that previously constituted part of the former Soviet Union.

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