ABSTRACT
Before speaking of the Muslim or Islamic peoples of the Soviet Union it is important to define the sense in which these terms are used. Any commentary on Islam will explain that being a Muslim means submission to the will of God; further, that there are certain articles of faith, the 'roots' of religion, which must be accepted, and certain actions, the 'branches' of religion, which must be performed. The former include belief in God, His Scriptures and His Apostles. The latter are: bearing witness to the oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammed; performing the daily prayers; giving alms; keeping the fast of Ramadan; making the pilgrimage to Mecca. What such an explanation omits is the essential reasonableness of Islam. It is not, as the above might suggest, a strait jacket of rules, but rather a religion of the possible. It presents an ideal ('azimah), but accepts that it may not always be feasible to realize this; it recognizes, therefore, a doctrine of the 'permissible' (rukhsah), which in effect means that people should do the best they can under the prevailing circumstances. It is acknowledged that the reasons for not performing any or all of the prescribed duties may be inner weakness just as much as external pressures, but this is purely a matter for the individual's conscience.
