ABSTRACT
The appeal to science as a method of legitimizing an ideological position was commonplace in post-Soviet Russia; to a large extent characteristic for secular ideological debates, this scientific appeal also affected the environment of jihadists. It is clearly visible, of course, in the writings of Iasin Rasulov. The intellectual character of the texts produced by Iasin Rasulov, Said Buriatskii, Anzor Astemirov, and Abuzagir Mantaev so far remained unnoticed in the existing historiography of the issue of jihad. But in the North Caucasus they were known as intellectuals, and their recourse methods and data of secular science, and their following of a rational logic, contributed much to their popularity and appeal. As the radicalization of the Soviet and Russian intelligentsia during the post-Soviet era was a widespread phenomenon, it is no wonder that it also affected jihadist ideology-production, thereby turning the discourse on jihad into another interesting example of post-Soviet radicalism.
