Dagestani Muslims: From Confrontation to Peace
Dagestan is the most unique region of Russia located between Caspian sea and Chechnya. Beginning from the moment of its being part of Russia 200 years ago till now, it has continued to impact very seriously on social and political processes of all Caucasian region. During all this period Dagestani Muslims have been trendsetters for their neighbors in the matters of Islam, Shariah, war and peace.
Religious and Ethnic Structure
First of all, Dagestan, with its 3 million population, is the most Islamized region of Russia. The process of spreading Islam has begun here since 642 AD, in the period of Caliph Umar, when the Muslim army occupied Derbent (or Bab aul-Abwab) - the biggest Dagestan city of that time.
Throughout its Muslim history, Dagestan has turned to be a center of Islamic knowledge, science and enlightenment. But in the Soviet period all Islamic heritage and potential of Dagestan to a great extent has been terminated. Nevertheless, the booming process of Islamic revival in Dagestan started immediately after the collapse of the USSR
Second, Dagestan, being the biggest Caucasian region within Russia, has the most complicated ethnic structure. According to the specialists, about 40 native indigenous tribes live in Dagestan: Avars, Dargins, Lezgis, Kumyks, Laks, Tabasarans, Noghays, Rutuls, Aghuls and others. The biggest Dagestani tribe is Avars (about 800 thousand people). The population of smallest tribes like Archis, Gunzibs, Ginukhs consist only of one village (about 500 people).
Third, the Muslim society of Dagestan is extremely heterogeneous. Among Dagestani Muslim communities with longest history can be named Sufis, Salafis and Fuqaha of Imam ash-Shafi’i Madhab. The community of Islamic reformers who follow the ideas of Jamaluddin al-Afghani, Rashid Rida, Muhammad Abduh appeared here about a hundred years ago.
Today the number of new Muslim communities is continuing to grow. They include jamaats of Ikhwan ul-Muslimeen, Hizb ut-Tahrir, at-Tabligh, Said Nursi and so on. But the most influential communities till now are Sufis and Salyafis. Yet even these two communities are not homogeneous too.
As for Sufi community, there are three Tariqahs in Dagestan – Naqshbandiyah, Qadiriya and Shaziliyah. Every big Dagestan tribe has its own Sufi sheikhs, but with no recognition for each other. The main groups within Salafi community are Salafiya al-Jihadiya and Salafiya ad-Da’wiya.
Since the collapse of the USSR, the Dagestan Muslims have gained wide freedom in organizing their religious activity, building Mosques, going for Hajj or traveling abroad for Islamic education. But some kinds of religious activities in Dagestan still remain restricted, such as the idea of establishing political Islamic parties or establishing alternative spiritual boards on Muslim affairs.
It’s worthwhile to say that the Sufi community has managed to control the official spiritual board of Dagestani Muslims during post-Soviet period, and has worked very close with the government. As for the Salafi community, on the contrary, it has been oppressed. In Dagestani constitution till now there is a law which prohibits “the Wahhabism and other extremist activity”.
Ideological struggle
The key moment in understanding the Dagestani realities is that during last 20 years after the collapse of the USSR the ideological struggle between Sufi and Salafi communities, according to some experts, has led Dagestan to the brink of latent civil war.
During the 20 years of confrontation between two communities many spiritual and political leaders of Dagestan have been killed, like Dagestani Mufti Sayyid Muhammad Abubakarov, first Russian to have obtained PhD in Shariah Murtaza, Ali Muhammadov, deputies to the Mufti, Ahmad Tagaev and Kura-Muhammad Ramazanov, Interior Minister Adilghirey Muhammad, Tahirov, two ministers for national and religious affairs Muhammad Salih Gusaev and Zahir Arukhov, hundreds of Imams, policemen and secret service officers.
The direct consequence of this conflict was the appearance of militant Jihadi groups which aim to destroy the secular political system of Dagestan and to establish an Islamic emirate on the territory of Northern Caucasus. Everyday clashes between these groups and police result in series of suicide bombing attacks in Dagestan and even in Moscow, in addition to kidnappings and executions of Muslim leaders, which has become a usual practice in the region.
In the heat of this struggle the two communities have blamed each other and accused each other of kufr (disbelief) bidaat (heresy) and “spoiling the pure Islam”. During these years the Dagestani officials, NGO’s leaders and some representatives of both communities have tried to bring the parties to the negotiating table. But all these previous attempts have failed.
Last two years the Salafi community has rapidly grown and intensified its activity. For example the leaders of Salyafi community have established an Association of Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jamaah Ulama, taken part in organizing three protests which attracted thousands of people to denounce the extra-judicial prosecution of Salafi Muslims by the authorities. The community has also prepared a set of requirements to authorities including abrogation of “anti-Wahhaby law”, permission to Salafi community to establish their own mosques, madrasahs, university and media.
The way to peace
Everyday clashes between these groups and police result in series of suicide bombing attacks in Dagestan and even in Moscow
During these two last years Dagestan government has made several serious steps aimed to put an end to this tension, as well as meeting some of the requirements put forward by the Salafi community.. In addition the Dagestani Mufti Ahmad Abdullaev has appealed to all Dagestani Muslims to stop “pining labels on each others”
“Everyone who obeys the Shariah should follow as-Salaf as-Saliheen, should consider himself from Ahlu s-Sunnah and be a Murid in the way of serving Allah,” said Mufti.
Moreover the Spiritual Board of Dagestani Muslims has liquidated its department on religious expertise of Islamic books, audio and videos production which during last years has cracked dow on what it termed as Wahhaby propaganda”. In addition to that, at the end of April, 2012 the leaders of Salafi and Sufi communities of Dagestan have met in the Central Mosque of Dagestan capital, Makhachkala, for burying the hatchets.
This meeting can be described as historical because of the past 20- year ideological struggle and tension between the two communities. At this meeting the Salafi and Sufi communities’ leaders managed to reach an agreement on stopping the ideological confrontation.
In his opening address at the meeting, Dagestani Mufti Ahmad Abdullaev declared: “Today’s meeting proves that Dagestan is the land of Allah’s grace. Our ancestry always had courage to fight for Islam and now we should have courage to sit around negotiating table and remove disagreements between Muslim communities of Dagestan”.
At the end of the meeting the leaders of two communities adopted a common resolution presented by the Spiritual Board of Dagestani Muslims and Association of Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jamaah Ulama. Highly featuring in this document are the phrases like “compliance with the Qur’an and Sunnah”, “following the four Imams of Muslim Ummah – Abu Hanifa, Malik, ash-Shafi’i and Ahmad ibn Hanbal”.
The leader of the Association of Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jamaah Ulama Halil-Rahman Shamatov believes that “the results of this meeting will appear in the nearest future”. “We have outlined the complex of problems and we’ll solve them step by step,” said Shamatov.
The Imam of the Central Mosque of Makhachkala Muhammad-Rasul Saaduev thinks that “this meeting will help to overcome existing disagreement between Dagestani Muslims”. “We have agreed to work together in order to bring peace, stability and prosperity to Dagestan,” he said.
As for Dagestani Minister for National and Religious Affairs Bekmurza Bekmurzaev at the end of that meeting he expressed assurance that “Dagestani Muslims will come to the accord”. The President of Dagestan Magomed-Salam Magomedov also supports this peacemaking process. “We need in joint efforts of all social, ethnic and social groups to defeat an evil, - he said, - Only by this way we can ensure peace and order in Dagestan”.
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