The History and Specifics of Contemporary Islamic Revival in the Chechen Republic

Islamic revival is reviewed for the war-scarred Chechen Republic, including its historical and post-Soviet contexts. Chechnya's Muslim community is shown to be various, with followers of a customary Islam based on Sunni practice (Shafi'i doctrine) and Sufism vying with followers of more recent, fundamentals-oriented “Wahhabism” or Salafi Islam imported from abroad. Some consider themselves to be believers but do not strictly observe religious rituals, and some ignore them. Data is based on survey research from 2003, augmented by the author's discussion of Chechen wirds, brotherhoods sometimes associated with Muridism, and teips, loosely defined kin-groups broader than a clan, as well as Chechen pilgrimage practices.