About Geydar Dzhemal(Heydar Jamal)

7 min readMay 24, 2023

Brief biography

Geydar Dzhahidovich Dzhemal (Russian: Гейда́р Джахи́дович Джема́ль, Azerbaijani: Heydər Cahid oğlu Camal, sometimes transliterated as Heydar Jamal; 6 November 1947(Moscow) — 5 December 2016(Almaty)) was a Russian Islamic public figure, activist, philosopher, poet, political and social activist. He was the founder and chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia

He was also the Co-chairman and member of the Presidium of the Russian Social Movement “Russian Islamic Heritage”, permanent member of the Popular Arab and Islamic Congress.

Geydar Dzhemal, a remarkable figure in modern Islamic thought, left a profound and lasting impact on the Muslim community and the post-Soviet space as a whole. His influence extended far and wide, with renowned individuals acknowledging his significance. Alexander Dugin, a contemporary Russian philosopher and the author of the “4th Political Theory,” regarded Dzhemal as his teacher, highlighting the profound effect his works had on his formative years. Maxim Shevchenko, a Russian journalist and political figure, considered Dzhemal both a friend and a mentor. More recently, even Alexey Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky, recognized Dzhemal as a brilliant thinker who accomplished intellectual feats. The list of testimonials and acknowledgments of Dzhemal’s impact goes on, attesting to his unique and influential role in shaping contemporary discourse.

Geydar Dzhemal’s evolving perspectives throughout his life mark an intriguing journey. While his early works sometimes may bear slight influence of a Shia ideas, his later writings reflect a radical and complete shift towards orthodox Islamic views[However, Dzhemal himself wasn’t Shia and it would be inaccurate to confine the discussion of Dzhemal’s views solely within the narrow framework of Shia and Sunni categorizations, as his ideas encompassed a much broader scope]. Dzhemal’s intellectual contributions hold significant importance as a milestone in modern Islamic thought. Engaging with his works can be a thought-provoking experience, with some ideas appearing mind-blowing while others may spark controversy or invite further discussion. What remains crucial is that Dzhemal’s breakthrough has played a vital role in fostering a contemporary discourse among the Islamic community and the broader Russian intelligentsia.

Vladimir Stepanov, Igor Dudinsky, Evgeny Golovin and Geydar Dzhema (Soviet period)

In the 1960s and 1970s, Dzhemal joined a number of loosely-affiliated bohemian underground organisations associated with Yuri Mamleev.

In 1965, after graduation from school, Dzhemal entered the Institute of Oriental Languages at Moscow State University, but a year later was expelled for “bourgeois nationalism”. He later took a job as an editor at the “Medicine” Publishing House, where he met a Moscow State University graduate, Ilya Moskvin. He worked at the “Medicine” as an editor and edited many books on psychiatry.

From 1980, Dzhemal was a member of the Islamic movement of Tajikistan, and in 1990, joined members of the underground organizations of the Caucasus and Volga regions of Russia in the formation of an umbrella Islamic Revival Party that was active throughout the Soviet Union and whose leadership came from various Islamic traditions. The party alleged that only Soviet Muslims (Turks, Caucasians and Islamised Slavs) would allow the Soviet Union to meaningfully oppose the West. During the Civil War in Tajikistan, Dzhemal worked as an advisor to Davlat Usmon, one of the founders of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan.

In the Islamic Renaissance Party in Astrakhan, he became a deputy chairman of the party. In the same year, he established an information center Tawḥīd and launched the Islamic Russian-language newspaper Al-Waḥdat (Unity). During the disintegration of the USSR, the Tajik branch of the IRP would be his next step where he assumed the position of Russian delegate at the Russian Center, a representative body within the party’s central committee.

During the Tajik Civil War of 1992, he was appointed as a political advisor to Vice Premier of the Islamic Democratic Coalition Government led by Davlat Usmon. He was a participant in the Popular Arab and Islamic Conference in Khartoum and consecutively became a member of its permanent council. During his time in Khartoum, he became acquainted with Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi, who requested he run the Islamic Committee of Russia. Around this time he also began to produce TV series and films about Islam and philosophy, such as Now, All Koran Suras, and One Thousand and One Days.

Since 1995, the Islamic Council became affiliated with the Union of Muslims of Russia led by Nadirshakh Khachilaev. From 1996 he became advisor to Alexander Lebed and cooperated with him and the Union of Patriotic and National Organisations of Russia to support a block on General Lebedev’s presidential campaign.

While being a member of the Central Council СПНОР Djemal was an intermediary between Lebedev and Maskhadov during the First Chechen War. He established connections with Muslim organizations in Europe with headquarterslocated in Florence, Italy. The first meeting was held in December 1993. He maintained contact with the British Muslim Council, the Islamic Parliament of the United Kingdom, and the Sorbonne Friends of Islam Club, created by Roger Garaudy and Rashid Benissa, the UNESCO Senior Inspector for Refugees.

In 1993, Djemal got acquainted with the son of the deceased Ayatollah Khomeini, Ahmad. In the early 1990s, Dzhemal put on a few TV shows on Islamic issues (Nyne (Today), Minaret, etc.). In May 1994, Djemal’s documentary, Islamic Republic of Iran, was broadcast by the Russian channels Pervij and The First creating a political scandal which resonated with anti-Iran sentiments in Russia.

Alexander Dugin, Geydar Dzhemal, Yuri Mamlev

In 1998, he toured South Africa, giving lectures. At the invitation of Nelson Mandela’s associate Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Djemal went to South Africa to deliver a course of lectures on social anthropology and political philosophy at the University of Cape Town. For this course, he received an honorary doctorate at the University of Cape Town.

In 1999, at the Eastern Orthodox-Islamic conference in St. Petersburg he put forward the thesis of the possibility of an anti-imperialist strategic alliance between Muslims and Orthodox Christianity’s spirituality.

For 25 years, Djemal gave lectures, wrote and published articles on a wide range of topics and public commentaries on political and social events, and cooperated in various intellectual gatherings in Russia and abroad.

In 2010 Dzhemal commented on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Intellectual club Florian Geyer. Geydar Dzhemal, Maxim Shevchenko.

In 2011, Dzhemal founded the intellectual club Florian Geyer.

Geydar Djemal died on 5 December 2016 in Almaty.

Dzhemal described his religious views as follow:

“Recently, many people have asked me about my belonging to one direction or another within Islam. Some people say, “We agree with you in many ways, but here you are Shia. Oh, if you weren’t Shia!..”
To once and for all remove any questions that arise in the brothers, I officially declare the following:

1. I follow myself and support all who follow, the Quran and the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
2. I stand for the complete and inseparable theological and political unity of all Muslims on the platform of jihad in the path of Allah until all religion on The Earth belongs to Him Alone.
3. I do not follow any of the living Shiite Mujtahids.
4. I categorically reject pantheism and the Sufi Aqeedah based on it and the teachings of Muhammad ibn al-Arabi, which is the basis of the Irfan of the Kum theological school.
5. I do NOT curse any of the Rashidun (May Allah be pleased with them!).
6. I believe that in all directions of Islam, created by sincere Muslims making efforts in the way of Allah, except for misconceptions, there is also a grain of truth, which will be demanded in the 73rd direction/sect, designed to carry out the complete victory of Muslims over Dajjal under the leadership of the expected Mahdi (and on the arrival of Mahdi is agreed upon by all sects of the Muslims!)”

Bibliography

1981 — Orientation — North

2003 — The Revolution of the Prophets

2004 — Exemption of Islam

2004 — A Window Into the Night. Poems

2005 — Islamic Intellectual Initiative in the 20th Century (under the general editorship of Mr. Dzhemal)

2010 — Dawud vs Jalut (David vs. Goliath)

2010 — Wall of Zulkarnayn

2010 — Fusils and Karamultuks

2020 — New theology. Selected lectures

2021 — Logic of Monotheism. Selected lectures

2022 — Knowledge of Meanings. Selected lectures