That was my visit to the den, where in the opinion of the FSS officers the fate of a man is decided!!!
On 30 October 2013 at 3 p.m. I came on a summon to the Department of FSS at 19 Krupskaya Street, Ufa. At the entrance I was met by an investigator Yamaletdinov Ruslan and two other officers. Ruslan told me to go with two of his colleagues on the so-called preventive conversation. The two officers accompanied me, if I was not mistaken, on the 5th floor, the one went before me the other behind. They led me into the office, where Rustam, whom I knew since 2008 (that year they for the first time initiated a case against me on the article 282 for participation in Islamic political party Hizb ut Tahrir).
Rustam started the conversation: “How are you?”. I told him that, on the whole, I was good, except for their struggle against Islam and Muslims! Then he asked: “What have we done against Islam and Muslims?”. To which I responded by asking: “And then what am I doing here?”.
Without stopping to think, he began talking to me about the All-Russian Muslim campaign organized on 27 September. That, they say, you raised a big problem, at a time when no one ban hijab. I said to him: “It is not we and not on 27 September who raise the issue of hijab. It was raised by a director of Stavropol school, and then discussed by the president of the country! I have recently had to go to a school where the student was held for a day in the corridor because she came to school in hijab”.
Rustam said to me: “It is the headmaster who decides whether to go to school in headscarves or not”. I answered him that there is no law to ban wearing the headscarf, there is a recommendation. To receive an education for children is a requirement, not to wear a headscarf is a recommendation. Now tell me what dominates?”. The FSS officer evidently did nothing to say and switched to the topic of female students: “Well, then nobody forbids female students to wear hijab!”. I answered him: “A medical school? Dozens were expelled for their religious affiliation on false reasons!”
Then he surprised me with a question: “Why have they never gone there in head scarves, and suddenly started?” I told him with a smile on my face: “What’s the difference? They have come to the conclusion that Islam is the truth, that they have put the hijab on!”
Then Rustam changed the subject: “A ban of the Quran, no one forbids It. Why did you start talking about Gappaev Abdullah and who killed him at all? Why were you silent when Valiulla Yakupov was killed? … Here I stopped him and said not to jump from one topic to another, each case should be dealt separately! If we talked about the murder of Abdullah Gappaev, so I was inclined to think that it’s your colleagues in Dagestan did!
They wrote a lot about Valiulla Yakupov! Maksim Shevchenko (the Russian public figure) said to Russian President about the absurdity of the ban of the Quran in Ufa. Why shall I prove these to you? And you forgot to mention the destruction of Al-Ikhlas Mosque in Kazan! And didn’t we tell the truth when saying that in Russia they were struggling with Islam?
“And what about 4 men whom you are now accusing on article 278? Isn’t it funny to accuse on such an article the people who have no arms?” Here he, by Allah, began to laugh. I told him: “It’s ridiculous for everybody! And you are too funny! Imagine Rasim Sataev (one of the four Muslims in Ufa, accused on article 278 CC RF – the violent seizure of power) how can he seize the power in the country?! This is an absurd! You destroy people’s lives! And it’s not just of the four brothers, as well as their children, wives and mothers!
Then he interrupted me with an absurd question: “They allow you to pray salat, why are you complaining?” I replied: “Yes, allow, and what?! What are you trying to say? Why should we be silent and won’t protest when they ban the Quran, hijab, kill innocent preachers, imprison innocent Muslims and demolish the mosque? You amaze me! It is like “do not complain, we have not raped you yet! Then what are we supposed to do just to pray salat and wait when you will forbid this!?”
The next question was: “Well, can’t you just be Muslims. Why do you need Hizb?” My answer: “And who are we in your opinion? We are just Muslims. And how does Hizb relate to this!? Well, you are an officer of the Department of FSS, you have many divisions here: anti-corruption, economic crimes, extremist and terrorist counteraction and, only Allah knows, what other divisions you have. You are all just FSS officers, so there are Tablighis, Sufis, Nurjulars, Salafis, HTs and we are all Muslims and each of us does what he/she considers to be a priority! And if we talk about Hizb, then since its inception the party has no recorded cases of terrorist acts, and when studying the program and other literature of the party you will not find the words and thoughts of calling for violence! And you ought to examine the program and all the literature of HT thoroughly and won’t listen to pseudo-experts from RISS (Russian Institute of Strategic Studies – Federal state scientific institution) and stop destroying people’s lives! In addition in 2008 Latipov Rustem, in three-hour conversation, clarified the activities of HT to these pseudo-experts namely to Rais Suleymanov. There is a video on YouTube, you can watch it”.
Rustam asked: “Why are you then calling to HT?” I replied: “I am calling non-Muslims to Islam and Muslims to the Islamic way of life”. Now, I would add, saying that if he wants to do dawah along with the party, all doors are open! The FSS officer asked me: “And if in Russia the number of HT members grows up to 2 000 000, you can revolt, can’t you?! And we have imprisoned four men of yours on article 278, because it is possible to seize power only by words!”
Then I could not help laughing and said to him: “Maybe tomorrow you will become a terrible criminal, then you need to be liquidated today!? Your logic is at least strange. So you can put anyone in prison, and if he does not like the current system of government, and he offers another? That he can be convicted on article 278, can’t he? You’re a strange man, Rustam!”
He told me in response: “Well, what you have in HT program in the third stage, there a force method is described, isn’t it?”
I answered: Hizb ut Tahrir works to establish the Islamic state on the method of the Prophethood. This party conducts the political struggle for power on the territory of Majal. In Russia we conduct no political struggle, we just explain that Islam is not a spiritual and priestly religion. We explain that Islam is an ideology, which solves all problems of a man! Rustam, imagine that you are a head of a strong state, which has a large and powerful army. Imagine? And now I am coming up to you and saying: “Rustam, here I have a project of the best system of government over the people in the world, moreover, the system from God Himself. Let you be like first Ansars, and you will get an appropriate reward by the Lord! Let’s establish the Islamic state on this territory! And here it does not matter you agree or refuse, then what crime I have committed asking for your help in establishing of the Islamic state??? And in such a manner Hizb like Prophet (pbuh) asks for nusra! That is the third stage!!!”
Rustam began to speak about personalities: “Well your brother (I won’t tell his name) writes in social networks, that we will do with us this and that, and then he calls for it! I replied: “Well, ask him about all these not Hizb! Hizb doesn’t call for this. And we, Muslims, wish nobody harm!!! Rustam, I swear to God, we all will die sooner or later, but anyway we have to answer for our actions before the Lord! And what you do in your department, i.e. to struggle against Muslims and Islam on the whole will lead you to no good! How many Muslims are behind bars, how many have already served because of your “work”. Then he stopped me and said: “Only about 30 people!” I indignantly replied: “Yes, even if you have imprisoned one innocent person, it is a great crime! And for that, it will be necessary to answer after death!” Then I continued: “Rustam, I wish you only the good and therefore 1,000 times think about what I have told you!”
After that I got up and asked him to stop our conversation on that and to take me to the investigator for questioning. There I got to know that they started a new criminal case on All- Russian campaign in defense of Islam, held on 27 September 2013, and I was questioned as a witness. Referring to the 51 article of Constitution of the Russian Federation I refused to testify.
At the end, just before I left, I promised to Rustam, that I would ask the Lord for them to reflect on what they were doing to Islam and Muslims, think better of it and stop! And I ask Allah to accept my dua!!! AMEN!!!
That was my visit to the den, where in the opinion of the FSS officers the fate of a man is decided!!!
(due to the fact that our conversation lasted more than an hour, and I naturally did not outlined and did not fix it, perhaps there were some inaccuracies in the words that I used in the discussion with FSS officer. We also talked about my relatives, work, and I think it’s not so important to highlight and so I did not describe it)
Your brother – Tagir Minibaev