The political structure of the Central Asian republics usually excludes the participation of the opposition in the life of the country. In the best case, open opponents of the government will face exile outside the homeland, which happened to the Uzbek poet and politician Muhammad Salih. However, this name is not only a dissident from Uzbekistan, he has many namesakes from among Islamic theologians.
The Poised Poet
The name of Muhammad Salih became famous in his homeland in 1977. Then the budding poet published his first collection of poems, which brought him the glory of the avant-garde. This was especially unusual for the Central Asian republics, where literary figures were particularly loyal to the authorities and the official ideological attitude.
In response, he received a revealing article “On the harmful influence of the West, ” written by Laziz Kayumov, the chief ideologist of the Uzbek SSR.
Until the end of the eighties, Muhammad Salih remained in the underground of official literature, considered far from national traditions. In his work, the Western currents of avant-garde, surrealism, as well as the Sufi philosophy of the sages of the East were miraculously combined.
Therefore, more than 20 books were published, he translated Kafka into the Uzbek language, and he was written about in dozens of languages in different countries.
Coming into politics
Due to his unofficial nature and semi-underground activities, Muhammad Salih did not join the Communist Party and did not participate in the political life of the country. His first active step in the country's public life was the manifesto, written in 1984, which sharply criticized the policy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan in the field of national literature.
During perestroika, the doors to big politics open for the world famous and respected poet. Muhammad Salih founded the Birlik movement, and soon his own political party, Erk. He successfully held elections to the Supreme Council of the Republic and became a deputy.
One of the notable political initiatives of the Erk party was the demand for recognition of the state sovereignty of Uzbekistan, adopted in 1990.
Oppositionist in exile
After the collapse of the USSR, Muhammad put forward his candidacy for the first and so far the only truly alternative presidential election. However, the writer, divorced from real power, could not compete in an unequal struggle with the scorched politicians who remained to rule the republic after the collapse of the Communist Party.
According to unofficial data, he even got ahead of the former first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Uzbek SSR I. Karimov, but the counting of votes becomes the decisive in such cases, during which the oppositionist was left with miserable crumbs in the form of 12%.
In response, a demonstration was brutally suppressed by the authorities. This was the reason for the further prosecution of the "wrong" party. Newspapers were closed, and criminal cases were instituted against Erk leaders. Soon Salih himself was imprisoned. Only under pressure from the world community, he was released on his own recognizance, but prudently did not wait for a “humane” court and fled to Turkey through Azerbaijan.
As the leader of the opposition in exile, Muhammad Salih remains to this day. Today, he leads the National Movement of Uzbekistan, which brought together all dissatisfied with the current state of affairs at home.
Commentary on the Quran from Saudi Arabia
Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen is a well-known theologian in the Arab world, an interpreter of the Koran and a Sharia lawyer who has lived in Saudi Arabia throughout his life. From an early age, he devoted himself to serving the Almighty and studying the foundations of Islam. The theologian studied at Ali ibn Abdullah al-Shuhaytan madrasah, where he studied the Qur'an from beginning to end, then continued his education at Abdul-Aziz ibn Salih madrasah.
However, the main mentor of the young Muhammad was al-Saadi, who taught him the rules of Sharia and the main principles of the interpretation of the Koran. The pious young man did not become content solely with theological disciplines, but began studying the basics of Islamic law with the supreme qadiy (judge) Unaiza Abdurahman ibn Ali.
In 1954, Muhammad Salih al-Uthaymeen returned to his native Unaiza, where he began teaching. First, he instructed youth in a mosque, and then at the Sharia faculty at the University of Muhammad ibn Saud. Having lived a long and pious life, the venerable imam died in 2001 and was buried with honors in Mecca.
Active Hatib
Sheikh Muhammad Salih al Munajid is another authoritative Muslim theologian who is still active. He was also born and raised in Saudi Arabia, from an early age mastered the wisdom of the holy books and as a result achieved the high status of an imam, teacher and khatib (preacher).
Sheikh Muhammad Saalikh al-Munajid serves in the mosque, giving a course of lectures on the studies of authoritative Muslim theologians. He is not limited to this and is actively conducting preaching work on radio and television.
Here he puts forward his own views on the features of education in the Islamic spirit, the subtleties of the education of a true Muslim, and answers ordinary questions related to the observance of a strict ritual.
He has released many recordings of his sermons, and since 1997 has been running his own website, where he answers questions about faith.
