ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a Chechen academic perspective on the Islamic dynamic in post-Soviet Chechniia and Ingushetiia. While most existing works on the subject tend to emphasise the political and social role of radical Islam in both republics this chapter places it in the context of the Chechen and Ingush national and religious revival, a central element of which has been Sufi Islam. It examines specifi c features of local Sufi sm and its relations with Sufi sm in neighbouring Dagestan, on the one side, and with fundamentalist Islam – Wahhabism2 – on the other side. The chapter outlines the factors of cultural, political and ideological incompatibility of local Sufi Islam and Wahhabism3 and questions the widely spread assumptions about Chechens’ intrinsic tendency towards violence and radicalism, including that of a religious nature. The chapter proceeds to analyse the role of the Russian-Chechen confl ict in the proliferation of radical Islam in the region. It pays special attention to Wahhabi doctrine, political programme, activities and global links. The chapter concludes by assessing perspectives for radical Islam in both republics.
