Institutional Conflict in the Russian Muslim Community and the Moscow Kremlin Exploitation

This article studies the situation of Muslims in Russia in two-levels: firstly, the relationship within the Muslim community and secondly, their relationship with the church. Differences between Muslim leaders and the Islamic organizations of the Russian Federation and how the Russian government benefits from these controversies are studied in this article. Also, the religious and administrative organizations of Muslims in Russia have been investigated. Competition between Islamic organizations and the RussianChurch as the second most important rival for Islamic organizations and Muslims (beside the government) is another influential matter in this article. This paper hypothesizes that the main feature of Islam in Russia is the institutional conflict between Muslim leaders and organizations with each other on one hand and the serious competition between these and the Orthodox Church leaders and organizations (with the Russian government support). To control Muslims and preventing from their empowerment, the central government in Moscow Kremlin is exploiting the institutional controversies within the leading personalities and organizations.