The Central Spiritual Muslim Board of Russia has “sharply and categorically denounced” the actions of Jamaliddin Makhmutov, head of the St. Petersburg-based Al Fatah organization, who is suspected of keeping drugs, ammunition and extremist literature in a prayer room at a local market.
“This deplorable fact that banned substances and materials were kept in a religious building blatantly contradicts all norms of the Islamic faith and represents the most serious crime against our society,” the board’s presidium said in a statement on Monday obtained by Interfax-Religion.
Islam “has always been resolutely opposed to drug addiction, and views it as the most terrible vice of social life,” the board said.
Police found six books promoting extremist ideas in a prayer room on the premises of St. Petersburg’s Sennoy market on June 10. A criminal case has been opened based on harges of inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred.
Policemen also confiscated 15 5.45-millimeter cartridges and ten grams of marijuana from the room, which was leased to Al Fatah Islamic organization leader Makhmutov.
The Al Fatah head has already been summoned to the Admiralteisky district’s investigation department for questioning.