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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Pro-Russian Chechens declare jihad on Wahhabism |
| 2005-08-04 |
| Chechnya's pro-Moscow Muslim clerics declared a jihad against extreme "Wahhabite" Islam on Thursday in the strifetorn region's second outspoken religious ruling in a week. "Today we unanimously adopted a resolution. (The religious leaders) announced that (Wahhabites) will bring nothing but harm to the people and to Islam," said Ramzan Kadyrov, a politician who attended the meeting of clerics. "They are Wahhabites, and we must destroy them. If you ask me, we have a place where we can bury them -- three metres down," said Kadyrov in televised comments. Russian authorities habitually call their opponents in the Chechen conflict "Wahhabites", a term describing the strict Wahhabi branch of Islam but which in Russia has become near-synonymous with "terrorist" during the Chechen conflict. Chechens traditionally follow a Sufi form of Islam, but the presence of Arab volunteers in the fighting has given Wahhabi Islam a foothold. Kadyrov is filling in as prime minister while the regional premier Sergei Abramov is away on a tour to improve Chechnya's image in Russia, and has wasted little time in imposing his stamp on the region. Earlier this week, he ruled gambling was against Islam and ordered all gaming halls closed. During a brief 1996-9 period of de facto independence from Russia, Chechnya's rebel leadership imposed elements of Islamic law. Since Russian troops returned to the region nearly six years ago it has followed secular Russian law and it is not clear whether Kadyrov's latest rulings are legal. Experts say they doubted a declaration of jihad would help Russia win the war and was more likely a ploy for Kadyrov, who commands an army of former rebels, to increase his clout. "You can accuse anyone of being a so-called Wahhabite. If a man has a grudge against his neighbour, it is easy to say he is a Wahhabite. And how can you prove he isn't?" asked Ismagil Shangareyev, director of Russia's Islamic Human Rights Centre. "It's like 1937, when people were accused of being Trotskyites who had no kind of idea who Trotsky even was," he told Ekho Moskvy radio. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #10 90 sec. for most stories, plus a 45 sec quote from an expert .... |
| Posted by: curious .... 2005-08-04 19:41 |
| #9 The correct term would be Salafist, of which Wahabi is only one variety (Saudi). Another historical name would be Kharjite - the folks who started the Sunni Shite rift. Exactly. Now explain that on TeeVee in 3 minutes with proper visuals. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-04 19:13 |
| #8 The correct term would be Salafist, of which Wahabi is only one variety (Saudi). Another historical name would be Kharjite - the folks who started the Sunni Shite rift. |
| Posted by: BlackCat 2005-08-04 17:24 |
| #7 I understand why we don't label the Bad Guys by what they call themselves publicly, but it would sure make data classification a lot easier. Khomeinism would be the government of Iran, Hezbollah, Sadr, Hezb-e-Ansar, et al. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-08-04 16:47 |
| #6 Cmon Dan, I think Anonymoose has it right about why we use the word Wahabi - whether its grand strategy, or just oil, we dont want to upset the Saudis. Maybe we're stuck with that, but it adds costs in terms of narrowing the problem. Khomeinists? Not everybody supported by the Mullahs IS a Khomeinist - Hamas and IJ in particular. Khomienist would mainly apply to Hezbollah and Sadrists - and would be relatively obscure. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-08-04 16:38 |
| #5 I dunno why it's so hard to use terms like "Wahhabi" and "Khomeinist" when referring to our enemies whether they're flavored Shi'ite or Sunni, LH. "Islamist" is far, far too vague for my tastes ... |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-08-04 16:24 |
| #4 and, ironically, our reluctance to call a spade a spade, has led some to focus on Islam IN GENERAL instead. I much prefer the Russian approach. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-08-04 16:20 |
| #3 The Russian use of the word "Wahabbi", and the US and European avoidance of using that word are interesting. It *is* Wahabbism that is most to blame for Islamist terrorism today; however, it is also the sect which controls Saudi. This is the primary reason why we do not call a spade a spade. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-08-04 16:04 |
| #2 Los Pepes, here we come.... |
| Posted by: Mark E. 2005-08-04 15:53 |
| #1 Kewl! Can a non-Muslim athiest join the jihad against wahhabism? |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-08-04 15:16 |