According to information on the organization's official website, DUMNO "restores mosques and the system of educational institutions destroyed during decades of Soviet Power, disseminates knowledge about Islam, and strengthens moral values."
Nature of the Organization
DUMNO is the largest structure uniting all Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region. It organizes the activities of Nizhny Novgorod's mukhtasibs (Islamic administrative districts), 57 mosques, and centrally oversees the activities of the region's Islamic educational institutions: a higher education institution (Faizkhanov Islamic Institute), two secondary vocational schools (Makhinur Madrasa") and (Medina Madrasa"), and 4 Sunday schools (Mektebe Ikhsan", Mektebe Arafat", mektebe named after Kh. Faizkhanov, Mektebe Rashida").
Historical Background
The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region (DUMNO) was established in 1993 on the basis of the Nizhny Novgorod mukhtasibat as part of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the European Part of the CIS and Siberia (DUMES). Following the split of DUMES, from 1993 it became an independent administration within DUMTSER (now the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the European Part of Russia (DUMER)).
Five Nizhny Novgorod mukhtasibats — Nizhegorodsky, Krasnooktyabrsky, Pilninsky, Sergachsky, and Spassky — corresponding to the districts of compact residence of Tatar Muslims in Nizhny Novgorod and Nizhny Novgorod Region, were established in 2001.
Component Parts
DUMNO comprises 52 parishes.
DUMNO has representative offices in a number of Russian cities.
Authority
From its earliest days, DUMNO has been headed by the imam-khatib of the Cathedral Mosque, U. Yu. Idrisov.
The supreme governing bodies of DUMNO are the majlis (Plenum), which includes the imam-khatibs of all mosques in the region, and the presidium, consisting of the chairman, his deputies, the head of the administrative staff, the managing director, and the imam-mukhatasibs.
DUMNO Structure
The DUMNO administrative staff is headed by T. N. Sharafutdinov. The structure currently includes a number of departments whose heads are appointed by the chief of the DUMNO administrative staff.
Among DUMNO's departments: - Department of Education and Science (which oversees the system of spiritual education institutions in Nizhny Novgorod Region: summer schools, Sunday schools — mektebe (Islamic primary schools) at mosques, the Nizhny Novgorod Islamic Madrasa "Makhinur," madrasa branches in rural villages of the region, and the Nizhny Novgorod Islamic Institute named after Husain Faizkhanov);
- Department of Public Relations (responsible for improving DUMNO's public image, developing the organization's internal and external public relations policy, disseminating informational materials and press releases about the organization's activities, providing informational support for all DUMNO events, and supervising the activities of DUMNO's official media organs);
- Department of Information and Islamic Outreach (the department's primary tasks are media coverage of DUMNO's activities and events, as well as the compilation, registration, and storage of archives documenting all DUMNO events and activities — documents and photographs);
- Department of International Relations (the department coordinates DUMNO's foreign contacts with representatives of other countries, organizes the reception of foreign delegations, and facilitates the dispatch of DUMNO representatives abroad. It represents DUMNO's interests in international organizations and associations, at conferences and other international events);
- Department of Charitable Activities (the department's primary goal is the revival and organization of charitable work and social service to the people);
- Department of Capital Construction (the department's primary tasks are the construction and renovation of buildings, as well as premises and auxiliary facilities of cultural and community significance);
- Department of Registration (the department's primary tasks include: carrying out functions related to the registration and oversight of public associations, religious organizations, and other non-profit organizations; ensuring legal compliance within the organization; providing legal protection of the organization's interests; advising heads of structural units and staff on registration matters; and registering congresses, plenum sessions, and majlis meetings);
- Legal Department (the department's primary tasks are ensuring legal compliance within the organization, providing legal protection of the organization's interests, handling contractual and litigation matters, advising heads of structural units and staff on legal questions, monitoring the implementation of DUMNO resolutions, and registering congresses, plenum sessions, and majlis meetings);
- Administrative and Facilities Department (the department handles various maintenance and technical work at DUMNO and its subdivisions — the ROMs (regional departmental offices));
- Department for Liaison with Security Structures (the department facilitates cooperation between the clergy and law enforcement agencies and other security structures in the areas of coordinating municipal administrative units' efforts to counter ethnic and religious extremism, establishing systems for monitoring, analysis, assessment, and forecasting of inter-ethnic relations, and providing practical and methodological assistance to military command and educational units in conducting assessments of the religious situation within military collectives and in areas where military units are stationed);
- Publishing Department (the department organizes and produces print materials covering DUMNO's activities and the life of Muslims in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, as well as promoting Islamic values);
- Human Resources Department (the department's primary tasks are organizing and conducting all forms of staff training and professional development, maintaining personnel records, standardizing organizational and administrative documentation, and ensuring the rights, benefits, and guarantees of the organization's employees).
Beneficial Activities
The Department of Education and Science actively cooperates with the region's leading universities. Since 1999, the Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N. I. Lobachevsky has offered an "Islamic Studies" program through which students of the Faculty of International Relations study the fundamentals of Islam. The activities of DUMNO's educational units are supervised by Deputy Chairman of DUMNO for Academic and Educational Affairs Abdulbari Muslimov.
DUMNO has established productive cooperation with schools in Nizhny Novgorod and the region. The libraries of these educational institutions are regularly supplemented with textbooks and other books.
The Department of Education and Science, together with the Publishing Department and the Department of Public Relations, oversees DUMNO's publishing activities. Each year, the Spiritual Administration publishes dozens of theological and historical textbooks and books devoted to the history of Islam in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, works by local authors, and collections of materials from academic and practical conferences organized by DUMNO. In total, approximately 200 books have been published since 1993.
The oldest existing DUMNO media outlet is the television program "Minaret," which has aired on the NNTV channel since 1994. DUMNO's official website, "Islam in Nizhny Novgorod" — www.islamnn.ru — enjoys great popularity. Since 2004, the newspaper "Medina al-Islam" has been published, continuing the legacy of the newspaper "Nur al-Ilm," which was published for five years, and other newspapers in Russian and Tatar.
In 2004, the first academic-theological journal of Islamic doctrine in Russia, "Minaret," was also published — the product of a joint effort by DUMER and DUMNO.
Since 2001, an annual journal, "Islam in the Nizhny Novgorod Region," has been published, containing materials on the history, culture, and daily life of Nizhny Novgorod's Muslims.
Charitable work is an important component of DUMNO's activities. Since 1995, DUMNO's Department of Charitable Activities has assisted many thousands of people in need.
DUMNO has initiated the consolidation of the national Muslim communities of Nizhny Novgorod Region: in 2004, with DUMNO's participation, the Regional National and Cultural Autonomy of Tatars of Nizhny Novgorod Region was established; in 2007, the Regional National and Cultural Autonomy of Azerbaijanis of Nizhny Novgorod Region was established.
In total, DUMNO has organized more than 50 academic and practical conferences and forums of all-Russian significance. Thanks to DUMNO's efforts, the annual All-Russian Muslim Forum has become possible, serving as a platform for advancing such initiatives as the establishment of the Council of Ulema, the legalization of the waqf property institution, and others.
DUMNO Media Organs
- Newspaper of Russian Muslims "Medina al-Islam" ("World of Islam") (circulation: 30,000 copies)
- Newspaper of Nizhny Novgorod Muslims "Milliyat" ("Nation") (published as a supplement to the newspaper "Mishär Dönyası" ("World of the Mishars"), which is published in the Tatar language and is a joint project of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region and the Regional National and Cultural Autonomy of Tatars of Nizhny Novgorod Region)
- Journal "Islam in the Nizhny Novgorod Region"
- Official website www.islamnn.ru
- Television program on the regional channel NNTV: "Minaret" (broadcast once every two weeks)
DUMNO's Plans
DUMNO's immediate plans include the construction of a Muslim Cultural Center, a DUMNO residence, a building for the Faizkhanov Islamic Institute, a mosque in the Kanavino district of Nizhny Novgorod, and the implementation of other projects aimed at developing the region's Muslim infrastructure — including the construction of mosques and the opening of prayer rooms in the cities of Sergach, Arzamas, Bor, Balakhna, and Dzerzhinsk.