Shockingly, people have a problem with this.

(Fox News) — Was it a call to bring the revolts and violence of the “Arab Spring” now sweeping the Middle East to Russia?

That is the question that swirled throughout Moscow when a top imam called for the addition of the Islamic crescent moon symbol to the Russian emblem.

The surprise call by Talgat Tadzhuddin during an interview with a leading Russian newspaper was met with alarm because the imam heads the Central Spiritual Association of Muslims of Russia, a major regional Islamic association.

As quickly as the word of the proposal became public it ignited a wave of condemnation.

“According to this logic,” Georgiy Vilinbakhov, head of Russia’s Heraldry Service argued, “we must change the name of Russia, put a green stripe on or flag and move the capital city from Moscow to somewhere on the border between Europe and Asia.”

The fears of renewed tension between the state and the Islamist were exacerbated because Moscow had just seen serious clashes between Islamic and Russian youths.

Moreover, Russia has been involved in a number of disputes along its southern tier that pit predominately Muslim populations seeking autonomy and Islamic governance against Russian troops.

In Chechnya, for example, Russia has fought two brutal wars and been the subject of major terror attacks by Islamic separatists from the region. The two most significant were the 2004 attack on a school in Beslan that left more than 300 dead and the 2002 siege at a Nord Ost theater by 50 Chechen soldiers that left at least 170 dead.