Their King Refused Islam Due to Alcohol and Circumcision… How Would the World Change if Russia Were an Islamic State?

Until very late in history, Russia didn’t adhere to any religion or subscribe to any faith. In the late 10th century, specifically in 986 CE, it was composed of small villages and kingdoms worshipping Viking gods, with some scattered Christian families. Despite numerous historical attempts to Christianize Russia, it wasn’t until the emergence of Vladimir the Great in Kyiv that a pivotal shift occurred.

Vladimir the Great grew up amidst ancient paganism, surrounded by his family and people. When his older brother, Yaropolk, became the ruler of Kyiv in 983 CE, Vladimir sensed a threat to his own life and fled to Scandinavia to amass an army. He returned to battle his brother, eventually triumphing and uniting the villages under his rule. Following his victory, he erected a large statue of the thunder god, Perun, offering human sacrifices to express gratitude for his success. However, he soon realized the emptiness of pagan worship and began seeking a new religion for his kingdom.

News of Vladimir’s quest spread rapidly, attracting emissaries from neighbouring kingdoms and empires eager to win a new ally. The Khazar Jews were among the first to approach Vladimir, but he found their plight unconvincing. Subsequently, a delegation of Muslim elders from the Volga Bulgars seized the opportunity to invite Vladimir to embrace Islam, marking a turning point in his journey.

The Volga Bulgars, early converts to Islam through Arab traders during the Abbasid era, were now a part of Russia. They presented Islam to Vladimir, beginning with discussions about paradise and the afterlife, captivating him with descriptions of heavenly delights. However, when they broached the topic of circumcision, Vladimir hesitated, realizing the challenge of convincing his people to forsake two beloved indulgences: alcohol and pork.

It was this specific point that altered Vladimir’s perception of Islam entirely. Alcohol held a deep cultural significance for the Russian people, particularly in the face of their harsh climate, making vodka consumption a cherished tradition. Vladimir, after hearing the conditions, famously remarked, “Drinking is the joy of the Russians and the cause of their happiness,” ultimately rejecting Islam.

After allowing himself to hear from the Latin Christians “the Germans” and the Eastern Christians “Constantinople,” Vladimir began to explore the four directions and which one was most suitable for them in 987 AD. He decided to hold a meeting with the small princes’ council regarding the selection of the appropriate religion for the state. He consulted with them to send delegations to those kingdoms and find out which religion was most prosperous there and then embrace it. So, he sent a delegation to Rome, one to Constantinople, one to Cordoba, and one to Bulgaria. When they returned, all their responses were negative except for one delegation, which was the Constantinople delegation.

Fortunately, Vladimir’s delegation’s arrival to Constantinople coincided with the celebrations of what is known as the “Divine Liturgy,” which consisted of lights, celebrations, food, rituals, bells, etc. They participated and were amazed by what they experienced. When they returned, they began to describe the matter to Vladimir in detail, saying that due to the abundance of joy there, they were confused about whether they were on earth or in heaven and paradise. According to them, God dwells among the people there. Vladimir was enthusiastic about the matter and decided to embrace Eastern Christianity, especially since he did not want to submit to the flag or mercy of Europe and its church. Afterwards, it was done, and he declared it the official religion, making Russia to this day adhere to Christianity.

In the second half of Vladimir the Great’s rule, he converted Ukraine and Russia to Eastern Christianity, translated the distorted Gospel, converted pagan temples into Orthodox churches, and established a large church in place of the sacrifice of Theodore and John in their name. He began to rule with Christian governance, seeking righteousness and feeding the poor, etc. He established religious schools in the Slavic language, trained priests in his language, and then sent them to spread Christianity, until his death in 1015 AD. After that, Vladimir the Great was transformed into Saint Vladimir, and his feast day is July 15th in the Russian Church.

Here ends the known story, which is that Christianity entered Russia because of wine and the events that followed to this day.

Now comes the question: What if he had embraced Islam? How would the world’s landmarks change today? Let’s assume that Russia had indeed embraced Islam on this date. How would this change the world map? Imagine with me.

1. Regarding the Crusades that will happen after years of the occupation of Jerusalem, their focus will be more on reclaiming the “closest” Russian territories from Muslims. The closest confrontation would likely be a war between Islamic Russia and Europe. Most likely, the idea of the Crusades would be cancelled, and there would be no Saladin or the Battle of Hattin. The Ayyubid state might not have emerged to complete Egypt under the rule of the Shia Fatimids, and perhaps the Middle East would have turned to Shiaism as a result of the absence of Saladin associated with the Crusades and his coup against Al-Adid.
2. If World War I were to occur, countries like Russia would participate, but with a slight difference; they would fight alongside the Ottomans. This might tip the balance in favour of the Germans and Ottomans at the expense of Britain and its allies, leading to the continuation of the Caliphate instead of its fall. Or even if the Ottoman state fell, Russia would establish a new caliphate. Britain would withdraw quickly from Egypt, and Egypt would remain a Khedival state under the rule of the Alawite dynasty, with no Sultanate or Kingdom, and of course, we wouldn’t have heard of the Free Officers or the July Revolution.
3. There wouldn’t be a major World War II, and there would be no reason for it to happen, as Germany would continue as a kingdom after World War I. Thus, Nazism and Hitler wouldn’t rise due to Germany’s defeat from the beginning. The world would consist of great powers in constant conflict, including the Kingdom of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman state. Britain would disintegrate, and France would disintegrate, with no Balfour Declaration and no 1948 war.
4. The United States would emerge under Islamic or Ottoman Russian administration, not British as history tells us. So, America would be geographically closer to Islamic Russia, with no Hollywood, no Gulf War, no fall of Baghdad, no Vietnam War, and of course, no existence of Israel or the Cold War. The world would move in completely different footsteps from what it has experienced until today.
5. Football wouldn’t become the popular game worldwide; perhaps wrestling or ice hockey would, as they are favourites in Russia, as we know. Football, which is of English origin, might disappear forever. And Arabic Russia would speak a different path in many fields like literature and cinema.
6. The Gulf, which emerged due to the Arab Revolt, would disappear, and Wahhabism wouldn’t emerge. Simply because the Ottomans are present. At that time, the Arabian Peninsula Emirates would be under Ottoman or Russian rule. In other words, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar would remain as they are, and they might discover oil, or maybe not. God knows best, but most likely not, or very late, because there would be no agreements, no America, no King Abdulaziz who unified Najd, and England wouldn’t support him either. No Britain, so no Max Steineke, the oil discoverer, and perhaps the Arabian Peninsula would have lived in poverty. God knows best.
7. Al-Andalus would remain an Islamic state in Spain because its fall was due to states like the Ottomans and the Mamluks being busy with their wars with each other. If Russia were to be the third Islamic kingdom, it would achieve global balance by then, and the Andalusians would resort to it to defend their land. Instead of the invasion of Ferdinand and Isabella to the Andalusian lands, Russia might intervene and created a war between them and the Castilians, changing the balance in favor of Al-Andalus, expanding to include Spain, which would turn into an Islamic kingdom continuing to this day.
8. There would be no football, and therefore, no El Clásico, no Messi or Ronaldo. The Olympics in general might replace the FIFA World Cup known today.
9. There would be no Sykes-Picot Agreement because there would be no World War II. The old geographical divisions would remain as they are: Egypt and Sudan as one country, Palestine and Greater Syria including Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan as one country. Cyprus and Italy would be Arab states. The Maghreb would be Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco as one country. The idea of visas and travel difficulties between Arab countries would be less, with greater facilitation for Russia and the Ottomans.
10. The Muslim Brotherhood would not exist because the emergence of Hassan al-Banna came about with the fall of the Islamic caliphate. As long as the state continues, the idea won’t exist. Additionally, Britain would withdraw from Egypt, as we mentioned. So, there wouldn’t be the 1919 Revolution either. Saad Zaghloul might have been one prime minister like others without any championship, and Sayed Darwish would be an ordinary composer without patriotic songs. The parties would be limited to Wafd and Watan only, and on the same method, there would be no communist or communist parties, as the origin is Russia, and Russia is Islamic. So, the idea itself never came to the world.
11. Che Guevara would have continued his life as a doctor, not a revolutionary because there would be no war between America and Cuba. Abdel Nasser would have retired as a brigadier general, gotten married, and continued his life normally because there wouldn’t have been a war in 1948 in Palestine. There would be no September 11 events because there wouldn’t have been the idea of organizing Al-Qaeda since Russia is Muslim, and there would be no Chechen war. So, Osama bin Laden would become the chairman of the board of the bin Laden Group “if it appeared” and would continue his life as an engineer from Hijaz and only a businessman.
12. The discovery of Pharaonic civilization would be on the line because Napoleon wouldn’t have come since there would likely be a third front for wars away from the French-British competition, with the Russian line entering the middle, and their war outside Egyptian territories with Russia and the Ottomans. This might have led to Muhammad Ali not coming to Egypt originally because he came leading a group fighting Napoleon. So, Egypt would remain an Ottoman Mamluk state, and our ruler until now would be Prince Yezbek al-Adl under Russian or Ottoman rule, with an Ottoman governor and a sheikh for the country. Of course, the monuments would remain ruins, and the pyramids would have been built by ancient people, etc.
13. Asia would be the most advanced continent compared to fragmented Europe. There’s a high possibility that America would remain divided into separate states and territories like the Republic of Texas and the Kingdom of Dakota, etc. Russia could expand its territory to include lands in America, and Native Americans might embrace Islam and still exist as indigenous Muslim populations to this day. Columbus wouldn’t sail to discover America because his voyage sailed with support from Isabella, whom we assumed Russia would defeat. So, the American territories would be purely under Ottoman and Russian territories after their discovery by Arabs.
14. The world would currently consist of continental Islamic kingdoms such as the Ottomans, Russians, and America, with countries and states beneath them, and continental Christian kingdoms like Germany and Italy with fragmented countries and states beneath them. There would be smaller kingdoms like Hungary, Mali, Japan, and China, etc. Japan, for example, would remain closed to itself, without Hiroshima and Nagasaki, remaining in conflict with China. Korea would be one country, Croatia would be a kingdom, Portugal would be a kingdom with half Muslims and half Christians, and so on.
15. Many assumptions are raised due to one historical incident that could change the world today for the better.