Islam

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Chechnya

Mufti of Chechnya elected leader of North Caucasian Muslims

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

The Mufti of Chechnya and known advisor to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Salakh Mezhiev, has been elected chair of the Coordination Centre of Muslims of the North Caucasus. On 28 September, the Council of Muftis unanimously elected Mezhiyev during a meeting in Cherkessk, the capital city of Karachay–Cherkessia. ‘I congratulate the respected Sheikh Salakh-Khadzhi Mezhiev on his election to this post. I am confident that he will justify the high trust placed in him by religious leaders o

Chechnya

Pankisi Imam accused of ‘spying’ on locals for Chechnya

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•1 min read

An Imam appointed to a mosque in eastern Georgia’s Pankisi Valley has been accused of spying on local residents for the Chechen Government. On 21 March, Khasan Khalitov, a Chechen opposition blogger based in Turkey, claimed that Tahir Duishvili had been appointed directly by the Chechen Muftiate. The Muftiate is the traditional representative body of local Muslims in Chechnya. ‘[Chechen Head Ramzan] Kadyrov’s Muftiate invited Tahir Duishvili to become an imam in one of the Mosques in Pankisi

A mob led by Orthodox priests attempting to break into Imam Merab Mikeladze’s home to disrupt his prayer.

Georgia

Mob led by Georgian Orthodox priests threatens local imam over Friday prayer

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

Georgian Orthodox priests in southwestern Georgia led a mob of 200 people in an attempt to break into the house of a local imam to disrupt Friday prayer. The mob attempted to break into Imam Merab (Yusuf) Mikeladze’s house in Adigeni in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region on Friday. Batumelebi reported that Mikeladze had been holding Friday prayers at his house for the past ‘few years’, which some in Adigeni, including members of the Orthodox clergy, protested. Footage of the incident

Hazrataliy Dzaseshev, the head of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims in Kabardino-Balkaria, chastising a boy for mocking the Quran. Screengrab via Telegram.

Islam

Teenager ‘beaten’ and publicly chastised in Kabardino-Balkaria after mocking Quran

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•1 min read

A teenager in Kabardino-Balkaria was reportedly beaten and was forced to publicly apologise for appearing in a video in which he mocked the Quran. In the video, the teenager is seen holding a tissue and saying, ‘look, I’m wiping my ass with the Quran’, while two others record him and laugh. In a separate video, reportedly filmed at a school in Nartkala, several teenagers are seen gathered around a boy, presumably the one seen mocking the Quran. The teenagers are seen pushing the boy around.

adam kadyrov

Kadyrov posts video of son beating man accused of burning Quran

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov has posted a video showing his son beating Nikita Zhuravel, who is suspected of burning a Quran in Volgograd. Zhuravel had his case transferred to Chechnya in May. Zhuravel was charged in May for ‘insulting the religious feelings of believers’ after being accused of burning the Quran near a mosque in Volgograd on video. Russia’s Investigative Committee stated that Zhuravel had burnt the Quran ‘at the direction of the special services of Ukraine for a reward of ₽

A police officer in the Islamic Centre in Kotelniki, Moscow. Screengrab via social media.

Adam Delimkhanov

Heads of Chechnya and Daghestan criticise police for disrupting Friday prayer in Moscow

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and the head of Daghestan, Sergei Melikov, have criticised a Russian National Guard raid on an Islamic centre in the Moscow Oblast on 14 July. Footage of the incident shows members of the OMON, a special police force within the Russian National Guard, disrupting the Friday prayer in an Islamic centre in Kotelniki. In the videos, the police are seen demanding identification papers from worshippers, while other videos from the mosque show troops stormin

Mehriban and Ilham Aliyev at the mosque in Baku.

Azerbaijan

Opinion | First they came for the Muslims, and we did not speak out…

by Samad Shikhi

•7 min read

The mass arrest of religious Muslims in Azerbaijan is part of a blatant state campaign to control religion and demonise Iran. As such, the deafening silence among Azerbaijani activists and the international community is nothing short of a disgrace. On 7 April, I attended the trial of Nijat Aliyev, a member of the Muslim Union Movement. Except for a handful of social activists, I could see no one else in the courtroom except for Nijat’s relatives — the sight of whom hurt my heart. While we