The Anti-Religious Campaign, 1959–1964

With Party chairman Nikita Khrushchev’s success against the “Anti-Party Group” in 1957, the hard line against religion once again became a viable project for the first time since the 1930s. Khrushchev launched his anti-religious campaign in late 1958 as a “corrective” to what he viewed as the state’s unacceptable lethargy toward religion in the period since World War II. His campaign restricted SADUM’s finances significantly. However, it also coincided with Moscow’s drive to enhance Soviet ties with the Muslim world. As a result, the muftiate suffered financially at home but enjoyed a significant boost in its overseas prominence. Ironically, SADUM emerged from the Khrushchev years even more indispensable to the state than before.