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Islamic Politics at the Sub-regional Level in Dagestan: Tariqa Brotherhoods, Ethnicities, Localism and the Spiritual Board

2005; Routledge; Volume: 57; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09668130500126577

1465-3427

Кимитака Мацузато, М. А. Ибрагимов,

Islamic Studies and History

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes The Salafites in Dagestan established a 'sharia (divine law) zone', covering Karamakhi and other ethnically Dargin villages in May 1998, which existed until the military conflict in September 1999. This article is one of the outcomes of the research project 'Islam and Politics in Russia: A Multi-Layered and Comparative Approach' (2003 – 06) and the 21st Century COE Programme 'Making a Discipline of Slavic Eurasian Studies: Meso-Areas and Globalisation' (2003 – 08) financed by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Sciences and Technology. E.F. Kisriev, Islam i vlast' v Dagestane (Moscow, 2004), Ch. 6. See also Dmitry Makarov, 'Dagestan's Approach to the Islamic Mega-Area? The Potentials and Limits of Jihadism', in Kimitaka Matsuzato (ed), Emerging Meso-Areas in the Former Socialist Countries: Histories Revived or Improvised? (Sapporo, 2005) pp. 195 – 220. Besides Chechnya, Dagestan neighbours Azerbaijan and Georgia. Moreover, this region is Russia's exit to the Caspian Sea, the strategic and economic importance of which skyrocketed through the projects for the trans-Caspian transport of oil and natural gas. One of the four schools of law of Sunni, established by Idris al-Shafii in the eighth – ninth century. This school was very influential under the protection of the Seljug Turks and one of the most important Sunnite jurists and the establisher of Sufism, Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (1058 – 1111) was from this school. Later, the Shafii school declined, mainly for political reasons, and today this school continues to be dominant only in the peripheries of the Muslim world, such as Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia and Dagestan. Magomed-Mukhtar Babatov, a theological leader of the Kumyk opposition, and Mavludin Netifov, imam of the Belidzhi mosque, interviewed by the authors in Kakhlai town, Makhachkala (23 February 2004) and Belidzhi town, Derbent raion (26 February 2004) respectively. Shamil' Shikhaliev, a former expert of the Dagestan Government Committee on Religious Affairs, interviewed by M.-R. Ibragimov in Makhachkala (31 December 2004). The importance of the religious territorial communities for the Shafii school is testified by the fact that in Dagestani religious statistics Friday mosques are categorically distinguished from 'quarter mosques', while the similar statistics in the Volga – Ural region only boast of the total number of mosques without this distinction. As is well known, the Dagestani religious authorities try to build gigantic Friday mosques in populous cities so that the Muslims of the city should actually be able to gather on each Friday, while, for example, the Friday mosque (Lya-lya Tiuripan) of Ufa City with a million population does not respond to this request at all despite its post-modernist, luxury architecture. In spite of the endeavour of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Dagestan to extend its influence even forcibly, there have been very few examples of a split of Sunnite Muslims at the community level (in other words, of construction of a 'second' Friday mosque) in Dagestan: those took place in Derbent City (analysed in this article) and a few other villages in Southern Dagestan. This article shares much with Dmitry Makarov's excellent study of Islamic politics in Dagestan, but his perspective does not go below the level of the republic (D.V. Makarov, Ofitsial'nyi i neofitsial'nyi Islam v Dagestane (Moscow, Institut vostokovedeniya RAN, 2000)). See also Dmitrii Makarov & Rafik Mukhametshin, 'Official and unofficial Islam', in Hilary Pilkington & Galina Yemelianova (eds), Islam in Post-Soviet Russia: Public and Private Faces (London and New York, RoutledgeCurzon, 2003), pp. 117 – 163. An Islamic reformist movement trying to return to 'pure Islam' practised by the first three generations of Muslims after the Prophet Muhammad (al-Salaf), eliminating the deviations (bid'a) added in the later period. In the modern Muslim world, this movement was founded by Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab from the Hanbali school of law in the eighteenth century. Therefore, this movement is often called 'Wahhabism', with pejorative nuances. On the dangers of secularising Muslim political systems according to the European model of secular states see V.O. Kushnirenko, 'Reformvannya shariata yak osnova modernizatsiï islams'koï derzhavy v konteksti teoriï konstytutsionalizmu. Avtoreferat dysertatsiï … kandydata politychnykh nauk', Kyïv, 2004. Makarov, Ofitsial'nyi i neofitsial'nyi Islam … , pp. 121 – 123. On the functions of the spiritual board during the early period see D.D. Azamatov, 'Orenburgskoe magometanskoe dukhovnoe sobranie v obshchestvennoi i dukhovnoi zhizni musul'manskogo naseleniya Yuzhnogo Urala v kontse XVIII – XIX vv. Dissertatsiya … kandidata istoricheskikh nauk', Ufa, 1994. Both approaches, divisions according to state boundaries and pluralisation, facilitated the increase in the number of spiritual boards. There were only four spiritual boards in the Soviet Union, and now '43 spiritual boards of Muslims' are operating in Russia alone (Kaflan M. Khanbabaev, deputy chairman of the Dagestan Government Committee on Religious Affairs, interviewed by Matsuzato in Makhachkala, 18 February 2004). For these research purposes the present authors found no alternative but to rely upon a large number of interviews with religious and secular leaders. In contrast to the struggle between traditional Islam (Sufi) and the Salafites during the 1990s, which was accompanied by public debates and produced a massive number of publications, the clientelist struggle between Sufi brotherhoods, in particular their intrigues at the community level, have barely been expressed in the press or broadcasting media. The authors conducted fieldwork in three cities (Makhachkala, Derbent and Buinaksk) and three raiony (Untsukul'sk, Tabasaran and Derbent) in Dagestan. The list of sources of this article includes interviews, sometimes repeated ones, with six sheikhs (in Dagestan there are, presumably, 16 sheikhs), five imams, an assistant mufti of Dagestan, a Shiah leader (the chairman of the Derbent Friday Mosque), two former and present Salafites, six officials of the secular authorities at the republican and municipal levels, and two police officers. Of course, many more religious and secular leaders were interviewed to prepare this article. The same questions were addressed to several respondents to compensate for the absence of printed sources. Islam: entsiklopedicheskii slovar' (Moscow, 1991), pp. 224 – 225. In this article Sufism, tariqaism and muridism are used as interchangeable terms. On the history and the present situation of Sufism in Northeastern Caucasus see Aleksei Malashenko, Islamskie orientiry Severnogo Kavkaza (Moscow, Moskovskii tsentr Karnegi, 2001); Gosudarstvo i religiya v Dagestane: Informatsionno-analiticheskii byulleten', No. 1 (4), Makhachkala, 2003. Specialists in Caucasian Islam, such as Dmitrii Makarov, Aleksei Malashenko and Galina Yemelianova, rely upon the term 'wird' to convey the meaning of these coherent collectives – brotherhoods (for examples see Makarov, Ofitsial'nyi i neofitsial'nyi Islam…, p. 7; Galina M. Yemelianova, 'Sufism and Politics in the North Caucasus', Nationalities Papers, 29, 4, 2001, p. 664). The original meaning of wird was 'mythic prayer given by sheikhs to their disciples' (wird-method) but it began to imply coherent brotherhoods (wird-orders). This phenomenon is remarkable since it repeats the ancient metamorphosis of the concept of tariqa. It was because of this early conversion that only Dagestan and Chechnya follow the Shafii school in the former USSR territories. This fact is a source of pride for the Dagestani Muslims since it testifies that the other Muslim peoples in the former Soviet Union became acquainted with Islam through the Golden Horde or the Ottoman Empire (both sponsored Hanafi), while Dagestani peoples accepted it almost directly from the Prophet Muhammad. A.P. Shikhsaidov, 'Islam i stanovlenie dagestanskoi istoricheskoi traditsii', Islam i islamskaya kul'tura v Dagestane (Moscow, 2001), pp. 35, 38. Makarov & Mukhametshin, 'Official and Unofficial Islam', p. 148. Data provided by the Dagestan Government Committee on Religious Affairs. Religii i religioznye organizatsii v Dagestane (2001), pp. 72 – 73. Il'yas-khadzhi Il'yasov, interviewed by the authors in Makhachkala on 21 August 2003. In addition, Il'yas-khadzhi explained the strength of Islam in Dagestan by the passionate mentality of the Dagestani people and the predominance of the Shafii school of law. Dagestanskaya pravda, 5 September 2001, p. 1. Makarov, Ofitsial'nyi … p. 7; Makarov & Mukhametshin, 'Official and Unofficial Islam', pp. 134 – 135. However, as Makarov remarks, this popular association between national dignity and Sufism is quite problematic. Although he had grown up in the muridist tradition, Shamil' tried to build a sharia state and, accordingly, was critical of the 'ada (local customary law) characteristics of Sufism (Malashenko, Islamskie orientiry …, pp. 28 – 29). However paradoxical it was, what consolidated muridism-tariqaism in the Northern Caucasus was the tsarist government's de-Shamilisation policy, which promoted 'ada as a counterbalance against sharia. A.I. Osmanov, A.S. Gadzhiev & G.A. Iskenderov, Iz istorii pereselencheskogo dvizheniya i resheniya agrarnogo voprosa v Dagestane (Makhachkala, 1994), p. 26. On the ethno-demographic situation in Dagestan see Magomed-Rasul A. Ibragimov, 'Naselenie (etnodemograficheskii obzor)', in S.A. Arutyunov et al., Narody Dagestana (Moscow, 2002), pp. 36 – 49; Enver Kisriev, Respublika Dagestan: Model' etnologicheskogo monitoringa (Moscow, 1999), pp. 19 – 23. According to the 1989 census, the number of those who received higher education among 1,000 persons of the nationality was 168 among Mountain Jews, 134 among Laks, 124 among Russians, 92 among Lezgins, 84 among Aguls, 82 among Kumyks, 72 among Azerbaijanis, 67 among Tabasarans, 66 among Avars and 64 among Dargins. Among Dagestani ethnicities Chechens are least educated, producing only 36 persons with higher education among 1,000 (Sotsial'no-demograficheskaya kharakteristika naibolee mnogochislennykh natsional'nostei Dagestana po itogam perepisi naseleniya 1989 g. (Makhachkala, 1992), pp. 70 – 78. This is exemplified by the affirmative action policy directed at Lezgin youth in entrance examinations for the North Caucasian Islamic University, which belongs to the DUMD. The same policy is pursued by the Imam Shaji Islamic University (which belongs to the Kumyk opposition) in Makhachkala. 'Tabasaran raion is one of the largest raiony in the Republic of Dagestan with a population of 56,000 … More than half of the population is composed of children, school pupils and youth. 25,000 are of working age, among whom only 14.2% are employed in the spheres with social significance and individual labour. The annual natural increase of the population amounts to 950 – 1,050 persons. This is the largest number not only in Dagestan but also in the Russian Federation'. ('Tabasarantsy: Istoriya, Ekonomika, Kul'tura, Nauka, Traditsii', Vozrozhdenie, 2002, 9, p. 11). The flattery of this committee toward 'Wahhabis' generated serious tensions between the Dagestan government and the DUMD in 1998 – 99 (Makarov & Mukhametshin, pp. 145 – 149). The committee chairman, A. Magomedov, justifies his behaviour during this critical period by his consideration that 'someone needed to contact them, so as not to make them uncontrollable (interview with the authors, Makhachkala, 20 August 2003). As a result of this activity, more than 900 personal names were recorded as having left for abroad to study Islam since 1996 (data provided by the Dagestan Government Committee on Religious Affairs in December 2004). Dagestanskaya pravda, 16 June 2001, p. 2. Said-Afandi al'-Chirkavi, Sokrovishchnitsa blagodatnykh znanii, 2nd edn (Moscow, 2002), pp. 4 – 6. Ibid., pp. 6 – 7. A Kumykised Dargin sheikh who influenced the future Kumyk opposition greatly and died in 1999. Murtazali-khadzhi Karachaev, rector of the Imam Shafii Islamic University, interviewed by the authors in Makhachkala, 23 February 2004; Magomed-Gadzhi Gadzhiev, vice-rector of the same university and son of Mukhammad-Amin, interviewed by the authors in Makhachkala city, 25 February 2004. Arslanali Gamzatov, chairman of the Council of Ulama of Dagestan, rector of the Saipully Kadi Islamic University, interviewed by the authors in Buinaksk city, 23 February 2004. In fact, our fieldwork confirmed Dmitrii Makarov's observation that Said-Afandi's disciples share a specific mentality which leads them to call all sheikhs, but their own, mutasheikhy (false sheikhs) (Makarov, Ofitsial'nyi …, p. 11; see also Yemelianova, 'Sufism and Politics …', p. 669), even without reading any writings or listening to any sermons of these 'false sheikhs'. Responding to a question on what prevented the unification of Muslims in Dagestan, Said-Afandi answered explicitly: 'ignorance and misunderstanding of Islam' which led to people 'committing the most negative deeds' (Said-Afandi, Sokrovishchnitsa … , p. 72). Yemelianova, 'Sufism and Politics …', p. 670. Makarov, Ofitsial'nyi …, pp. 9 – 10; Makarov & Mukhametshin, 'Official and Unofficial Islam', pp. 136 – 137; Kisriev, Respublika Dagestan, pp. 98 – 99. Galina Yemelianova, 'Islam and Power', in Pilkington & Yemelianova (eds), Islam in Post Soviet Russia, p. 97, A.-G. Abdullaev, 'K istorii KDUMD', Kumykskoe nauchno-kul'turnoe obshchestvo—Vesti, 2000, Vyp. 4, p. 56. Murtazali Murtazaliev, managing officer of the North Caucasus Islamic University, interviewed by the authors in Makhachkala, 21 August 2003 and 25 February 2004. Murtazaliev, 25 February 2004. He is the second eldest among the Karachaev brothers, renowned in the Dagestani political and semi-legal worlds. Makhachkalinskie izvestiya, 7 August 1998, p. 7; Islamudin Agaragimov, dean of the Imam Shafii Islamic University and the imam of Talki town (part of Makhachkala), interviewed by the authors in Makhachkala, 21 August 2003. Ethnographically there are six Kumyk raiony, among which four (Karabudakhkentsk, Kumtorkalinsk, Kayakentsk and Babayurtovsk) are completely and another one (Khasavyurt) partially independent from the DUMD (Il'yas-khadzhi Il'yasov, interviewed by M.-R. Ibragimov, 6 April 2004). The only Kumyk raion which recognises the DUMD's leadership is Buinaksk and this is attributed to the influence of Arslanali Gamzatov, the chairman of the Council of Ulama of Dagestan. Murtazali Yakubov, leading specialist of the Dagestan Government Committee on Religious Affairs, interviewed by the authors of Makhachkala, 18 February 2004. D. Dzhambulaev, 'U naroda est' ideologiya', Dagestanskaya pravda, 27 October 2000, p. 1; Magomednabi A. Ibragimov, teacher, director of the Museum of Imams of Gimry Village, interviewed by the authors in Gimry village, Untsukul'sk raion, 23 August 2003. Ramazan-khadzhi Gazimagomedov, chairman of the Untsukul'sk raion council of ulama and imams, interviewed by the authors in Kakhabroso village, Untsukul'sk raion, 23 August 2003. Similar measures to 'put drunks to shame' were adopted in other raiony, for example, Charodinsk, an Avar raion (Dagestanskaya Pravda, 3 November 2000, p. 5). In 1998 there was even an attempt to organise a Sharia vigilante corps (sharyatskaya druzhina) jointly from Salafites and Tariqaist to struggle against narcotics, drinking and crime in Kizilyurt raion (Makarov, Ofitsial'nyi … , p. 37). Gazimagomed Kamilov, director of the Gimry village house of culture, interviewed by the authors while driving, 23 August 2003. Authors' interview with Gazimagomedov, 23 August 2003. Derbent was called Bab al-abvab (the Gate of the Gates) in Arabic and Temir-kapy (the Iron Gate) in Turkic; see N.K. Kasumov, Gorod, perezhivshii veka, Derbentu – 5000 let (Makhachkala, 2003), pp. 8 – 9. The name Derbent derived from the Iranian word 'darband' meaning 'bolt'. Said-Gashcham S. Mirtaibov, chairman of the Council of the Derbent Friday Mosque, interviewed by the authors, 20 February 2004, Derbent city. The authors of this article thought it impolite to ask Siradzhudin and his disciples whether this rumour was true. However, a reliable source testifies that Siradzhudin does not deny the rumour, answering that he does not request it but his disciples do it voluntarily. Gusein-Bala Ya. Guseinov, head of the Department of Culture, Publishing and Religion at Derbent City Hall, interviewed by Matsuzato, 24 February 2004. Siradzhudin Israfilov Khuriksky, interviewed by the authors in Khurik village, Tabasaran raion, 21 February 2004; Gamzatov, 23 February 2004. This is at least partially true since we witnessed such visits when we visited his house on the Islamic New Year's Day, 21 February 2004. Authors' interview with Guseinov, 25 August 2003. Matsuzato's interview with Guseinov, 24 February 2004; authors' interview with Mirtaibov, 20 February 2004, Netifov, 26 February 2004. Piriev's group justifies the split of Muslims in Derbent by the fact that the 'first' Friday Mosque is located at a high place on the hill and therefore it is difficult for elderly parishioners to climb up to it each Friday (Makhmud-khadzhi Piriev, imam of the 'second Friday mosque' of Derbent City, interviewed by the authors in Derbent city, 20 February 2004). As argued in the introduction to this article, this justification is unacceptable from the Shafii point of view, though this pretext is used widely in cases of politically motivated splits in the Hanafi territories such as Bashkortostan. At present, 200 – 300 Muslims participate in Friday prayers, although this number is much smaller than that of the real Friday Mosque. The authors, unsurprisingly, became a target of their agitation. They repeated the same criticism that the Salafites addressed to Sufism during the 1990s. They never identify themselves as Salafites, presenting themselves only as 'real Muslims' (talk with A.A. Guseinov, merchant, and other 'lay Muslims', 20 February 2004, Derbent city). Authors' interview with Mirtaibov, 20 February 2004. MK v Dagestane, 9 – 16 December 2004, p. 5; Murad Osmanov, an assistant of the mufti of Dagestan, interviewed by M.-R. Ibragimov in Makhachkala, 20 December 2004. Authors' interviews with Isamutdin Saidov, imam of the Bab al-abvab mosque (the former Arafat), Derbent city, 19 and 20 February 2004; Siradzhudin Israfilov, 21 February 2004; Guseinov, 24 February 2004. With an interruption for service in the Soviet Army in Afghanistan (1984 – 87), Isamutdin Saidov studied at the Rybinsk Aviation Institute and the Perm Polytechnic Institute. Inspired by his own mythical experience in Afghanistan, during his studies in Perm Saidov resumed the practice of prayer which he had learnt from his grandfather in childhood and began to study Arabic independently. In 1990 he returned to his native village in Tabasaran raion, became Siradzhudin's disciple, and began to teach children Islam in his village. During this period (1990 – 95) Saidov completed a correspondence course offered by the Baku Pedagogical Institute. Having only intermediate secular education himself, Sheikh Siradzhudin appreciated and favoured his highly educated young disciple. In 1995 Saidov was invited by the Khochni Muslim community to teach Islam. To secure his income, the community gave him a job as teacher of Azerbaijani in a secular school. In 2000 the Arafat religious community asked Siradzhudin to send Saidov as their imam. Israfilov, 21 February 2004; Saidov, 19 and 20 February 2004; authors' talk with the teachers, students and parents of the Islam Institute Bab al-abvab, 25 August 2003. Derbentskie novosti, 19 October 2001, pp. 1 – 2; Saidov, 19 February 2004; Agaragimov, interviewed by the authors in Talki town, 26 August 2003. In the two communities analysed here the mosques are open only on Fridays. This is inconceivable in Mountain and Central Dagestan. Authors' interview with Netifov, 26 February 2004. Permagomed M. Magomedov, managing officer of the Belidzhi town administration, interviewed by the authors in Belidzhi town, Derbent raion, 26 February 2004. Netifov commented that this man had actually studied Islam for only three years at Saipully Kadi (Said-Afandi's) University. Authors' interview with Netifov, 26 February 2004. Byba M. Mamedov, Kullar village chief, the former teacher of the village school, interviewed by the authors in Kullar village, Derbent raion, 26 February 2004. Minutes of the assembly of the Jamaat of Kullar village, 27 November 1997. Mogamedmirza G. Sefibekov, imam of Kullar village, interviewed by the authors in Kullar village, Derbent raion, 26 February 2004. Seid B. Agaev, chief of police, and Ramaldan M. Egibekov, major in the police in Belidzhi precinct, interviewed by the authors in Belidzhi town, Derbent raion, 26 February 2004. Nizam Razakhanov, merchant, interviewed by the authors in Belidzhi town, Derbent raion, 26 February 2004. Islamskii vestnik, 1 April 2004, pp. 1 – 4. Il'yas-khadzhi Il'yasov, interviewed by Matsuzato in Makhachkala, 25 February 2004. Islamskii vestnik, 29 April 2004. Robert Bruce Ware & Enver Kisriev, 'Political Stability and Ethnic Parity: Why Is There Peace in Dagestan?', in Mikhail A. Alexseev (ed), Center – Periphery Conflict in Post-Soviet Russia: A Federation Imperiled (Basingstoke and London, Macmillan, 1999), pp. 95 – 130. This concept was proposed by Edward W. Walker, 'Russia's Soft Underbelly: The Stability in Dagestan', Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Working Paper Series, Winter 1999 – 2000.