The rise of Salafism in the North Caucasus and the confrontation with the traditional Sufi Islam (original) (raw)
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the North Caucasus experienced a lack of Muslim religious figures because of the “Russification” and the Kremlin’s policy against religion adopted during the Soviet times. Muslim scholars and experts from the Middle East and the Gulf arrived in the North Caucasus with the aim of filling this lack, promoting the “real Islam” and attracting the young generations in their madrasa. As a result, radical Islam has spread in the North Caucasus mainly due to the two Chechen conflicts and the propaganda activities carried out by Muslim Arab countries, first among all the Saudi Arabia. The region started soon experimenting with the rise of Salafi ideology adopted by Sunni extremist local armed groups engaged in the fight against the Russian central authority. Even though the Kremlin managed to regain the control of the region after years of fighting and huge investments and thanks to military campaigns and counter-terrorist measures, particularly in the Chechen Republic, the North Caucasus is experiencing the expansion of Salafism opposed to the traditional Sufi Islam. This paper would like to describe the current religious situation in the North Caucasus characterised by the rise of Salafism which it could be considered as an antagonist of Sufism. This confrontation is part of the conflict between the Russian authorities and the local insurgency which has affected the region since the fall of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, Salafists accused Sufi religious figures of supporting the central authorities and promoting the false Islam: these accusations resulted in terrorist attacks and killing attempts against Sufi imams and local religious figures.
Related papers
This 2006 article offers an analysis of Islamist extremism, an increasingly salient security threat, in the post-Soviet Caucasus and Central Asia. Explaining the historical background of Islam and its evolution in the area, it then focuses on the recent instrumentalization of the "Wahhabi threat" by the authorities in Russia and Central Asia in a bid to discredit and crackdown on political opponents.
This study deals with the rise of Salafi-jihadism in Azerbaijan and its implications for this post-Soviet state. The study argues that while the introduction of Salafism to Azerbaijan may be attributed to external factors (the impact of the Dagestan insurgency; the revolutionary appeal of Salafi-jihadism, etc.), the radicalization and militarization of a portion of the country's Salafi community can primarily be attributed to internal factors (use of indiscriminate violence by authorities against the members of the country's Salafi community). The text also points to the authorities' increasingly indiscriminate anti-Salafi efforts, imbued with nationalistic overtones, aimed against the country's Dagestani-populated north, where Salafism has been on the rise.
Competing Islamic Traditions in the Caucasus
Caucasian Review of International Affairs, 2009
The common dichotomized classification of Islam in the Caucasus (“traditional” versus “fundamentalist”) does not take into account all major processes taking place in the region. The Sufi-Wahhabi discourse simplifies the social interactions between Muslims and suggests homogeneity of each of these categories. In this paper I would show how the term “Wahhabi” has been employed by the local community of Muslims who live in the Georgian Pankisi gorge (Chechen Kists) to express their resistance towards new and radical ideas and practices. In this social conflict, Sufi brotherhoods assume the role of the defenders of traditional order, while the reformists attempt at changing not only religious but also social structures.
The politicization of Sufism in Chechnya
The present article analyses the evolution of Sufism in Chechnya. The study of the Sufi community, by one of its members, contributes to an understanding of the changes that took place in Chechen society in the second half of the twentieth century. Particular attention is paid to the integration of Sufi orders into the political system of the Republic. This essay investigates the isolation of Chechen Sufism from the rest of the Sufi world and its reasons, likewise its impact on the formation of a specifically Chechen Sufism. First among studies of North Caucasian Sufism, it raises the issue of the substitution of the political system by Sufi orders. There is a growing tendency towards the politicisation of Sufism in Chechnya, reflecting the alliance of Sufi orders with government. It is also a result of the quest for a political system in Chechen society, where clan relations are still strong.
This article seeks to reveal the specific features of the social environment in the North Caucasus that have generated insurgency across the region. It identifies a blend of Salafi-jihadism and ethno-nationalist separatism as the ideological sources of the local resistance movement(s). The papers further asserts that the holdover of archaic forms of social organization that emphasize the custom of blood feud as an effective means of social mobilization ensures a constant influx of new recruits to the expanding insurgency, a process that has persisted in spite of the enormous material advantages of the Russian state.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.