"The Case of Sultan-Galiyev" Introduction MLRG.online 8 March, 2026
The imperialist war of aggression against the state of Iran is now more than a week old, and showing no signs of fast resolution. The war has raised in some an anxiety about whether criticising and opposing the imperialist war is to defend the theocratic regime. We argue that is incorrect and we have made our position on the war clear (1 March, 2026; MLRG.online). Nevertheless, other legitimate queries about the relation of Marxism and Islam have been raised. Some comrades in correspondence to us have suggested there was inadequate consideration of Islam in either the USSR or in the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania (PSRA). It is difficult to measure the extent of what is adequate. But it was very far from ignored. As far as the attitude to Islam and religion in the PSRA, we have dealt with that previously…. We characterise the decisions on religion in the PSRA – ‘mandating” atheism – as an ultra-left error. We place that in the context of strong pressure from the People’s Republic of China then undergoing the Maoist so-called “Cultural Revolution”. We argued the context also included the erection of the Cult of Personality around Enver Hoxha, by revisionist factions of the Party. More broadly, and more in relation to the USSR – we believe it is inaccurate to argue that there was inadequate consideration of Islam. The life of Mir-Said Sultan-Galiyev was one of fighting for a so-called “Islamic communism”. The struggle against this anti-Bolshevik tendency speaks to just how deeply the party leaders were immersed in this question. Even more broadly about the relation of Islam to the Marxist movements, mention should be made of Maxime Rodinson (Obituary at Guardian by Johnson, Douglas (3 June 2004; “Maxime Rodinson, Marxist historian of Islam”). He performed some fundamental scholarly work from the Marxist viewpoint . For example his work on the social and historical reality of “Mohammed” (Harmondsworth UK; 1971 At internet Archive)… Despite that he certainly lapses into what seem to us to be frank errors. Such as: “There is such an entity as the Arab nation. In the form in which we know it today, it emerged in the centuries following the Arab conquests by the Arabs of Arabia who had become Muslims through the preaching of the Prophet Mohammed…”: Maxime Rodinson, “Marxism and the Muslim World”; New York 1981; p. 208…… ->http://mlrg.online/history/the-case-of-sultan-galiyev/ H -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#41088): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/41088 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/118295925/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
