Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
A bit of Moslem inside baseball
[KavkazUzel] Plurality of opinions is typical for Islam, but the abolition of the fatwa department in the Dagestan muftiate was evidence of the mufti's intolerance of dissent and division over the niqab issue, religious scholars and journalists believe. They suggested that the muftiate would create a body with similar functions from employees loyal to the mufti.
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As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", on July 1, the Mufti of Dagestan Akhmad-Afandi Abdullaev announced a fatwa banning the niqab. On July 2, the head of the Fatwa Department of the Muftiate of Dagestan stated that there were no grounds for a general ban on the niqab, but a temporary ban could be introduced for security reasons. On July 3, the Muftiate of Dagestan announced a temporary ban on niqabs until a new theological opinion. On July 8, the Mufti of Dagestan announced the abolition of the Fatwa and Reconciliation Department of the Muftiate of Dagestan. The Mufti justified his decision by saying that the department "does not respond in a timely manner to the challenges of the time."
Statements by representatives of the Islamic clergy on the issue of the fatwa on the niqab have sparked a debate about the presence of "radical" mosques in Dagestan and, on the contrary, those loyal to the muftiate. Disputes have also arisen about whether the ban is mandatory or advisory in nature. The "Caucasian Knot" reference " Fatwa on the ban on the niqab - a law or a recommendation " contains expert opinions on whether the ban of the Dagestan muftiate will be implemented.
Plurality of opinions in Islam has always been the norm, but not in the Dagestan Muslim Spiritual Directorate, says Leonid Syukiyainen, a professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics and a specialist in comparative law and Islamic law.
"On most issues concerning fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence, - note of the "Caucasian Knot"), there have always been different positions in Islamic thought. This has always been the case, and pluralism of opinions has always been a distinctive feature of Islam. Given this, it should not be surprising that the Dagestani Muslim Spiritual Directorate has different opinions on the same issue. This is a split over the ban on the niqab. But it is obvious that the Mufti of Dagestan did not tolerate a different point of view and abolished the fatwa department," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
According to him, the issue of issuing fatwas after the abolition of the department responsible for this remains open. "Personally, I have a question: who will now issue fatwas in the Dagestan Muslim Spiritual Directorate? The mufti himself? Or the council under the mufti? I can assume that the mufti himself will temporarily issue the necessary fatwas, and then another similar department will be created that will no longer contradict the mufti's position. In fact, this is a precedent, and I do not remember anything like this in history," he said.
The wording "does not respond in a timely manner to the challenges of the time" means that the fatwa department should have supported the mufti's opinion on the ban on the niqab and not expressed a different position.
Vladimir Bobrovnikov, candidate of historical sciences and head of the Center for the Study of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Ural-Volga Region at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, agrees with this opinion.
"A different body will be created that will be engaged in issuing fatwas. I don't think that the DUM can function for long without a fatwa department. Each decision of the mufti is discussed in a similar department, checked to see if it contradicts Sharia, and only then a decision is made. Therefore, I think that some similar body with loyal specialists will be created," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
The abolition of the fatwa department showed that not everyone in the Dagestan DUM is of the same opinion. "The ban on the niqab in Dagestan has become such a complex issue that it has split the DUM. The abolition of this department indicates an internal conflict over this issue. This is obvious. The wording "does not respond in a timely manner to the challenges of the time" means that the fatwa department should have supported the mufti's opinion on the ban on the niqab and not expressed a different position," he noted.
The decision of the Dagestan Muslim Spiritual Directorate to ban the niqab is not mandatory ; it will be followed only by those for whom the muftiate is an authority, and this is far from all residents of the republic, religious scholars interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" indicated.
The former imam of the Dagestani mosque Nadiriyya, Akhmad Anchikhsky, also believes that the abolition of the fatwa department indicates a major split in the Dagestani Muslim Spiritual Directorate.
"I am convinced that the Dagestan DUM is basically a decorative body, there is no power behind any decisions of this organization. They can only recommend. As for the abolition of the department, this is nothing new. They often remove dissenters. Remember Saaduyev, Atayev. I think this is from the same series," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
The head of the reconciliation department at the Dagestan Muftiate was fired due to unauthorized and loud statements on the Palestinian issue, the Muftiate announced on November 1, 2023. Another employee of the Dagestan Muftiate, Zainulla Atayev, was also fired for the same reason.
In his opinion, the Mufti of Dagestan took this step to strengthen his authority. "The day before the official decision was announced, the Fatwa Department issued a fatwa, and I believe it was a real fatwa. It clearly stated that the department saw no reason to ban the niqab. Then, a short time later, the department was dissolved. I think that for anyone who understands these matters, everything will become more than obvious if they put together the chain of events. Event-wise, it looked like this. The Mufti, speaking at a briefing, without asking the opinion of theologians, announced that they would adopt a fatwa banning the niqab, and when the department did not support it, someone behind the scenes suggested to him that this would undermine his already shaky authority among Muslims and that the decision should be pushed through," he explained.
The muftiate usually recalled the fatwa department in difficult situations, notes Dagestani journalist Milrad Fatullaev.
"This is a structural subdivision of the republic's muftiate, it reports directly to the mufti. We remember when the imam of the Makhachkala mosque allowed himself to show a little more support for Palestine as a result of Friday prayers and was soon dismissed. There is only one authority in the Spiritual Administration - the mufti himself, that is, the head of this structure. There are specialists in various issues, but one person makes decisions there. There are also individual imams who enjoy authority in the religious community. That's all. The muftiate remembers the fatwa department when it is necessary to express decisions that are not entirely convenient and desirable for the mufti. In such situations, the department has to find reasons to legitimize the mufti's position. This time, this did not happen," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
In his opinion, this is not the first scandal associated with the fatwa department.
"In 2022, the head of this department was already changed because the position differed from the official position of the muftiate. This time, it was decided to abolish this department altogether. This shows the seriousness of the disagreements on the niqab issue. The explanation - "does not respond to the challenges of the time in a timely manner" - seems illogical to me. This is also a question for the head of the muftiate, to whom this department reports. The mufti is also responsible for this, since his subordinates did not respond in a timely manner. This is an internal split. We saw this in the example of the mufti's statements about the need to ban the niqab and the statement of the fatwa department about the lack of need for such a decision. The mufti, in the presence of the head of Dagestan, says that the Muslim Spiritual Directorate will ban niqabs, and then the fatwa department makes a different decision. Of course, this is a big split," he said.
In August 2022, during a meeting, the head of the Dagestan muftiate announced a decision to change the leadership of the fatwa department. Thus, Akhmad Isaev (Godoberinsky) was appointed to replace Muhammadramazan Rajabov, the Islamic educational portal Islamdag reported on August 6, 2022.
In the "Documents of Organizations" section of the "Caucasian Knot" an " Explanation from the Fatwa Department of the Muftiate of Dagestan regarding the ban on niqabs" was published.
Let us recall that on July 3, the Coordination Center of Muslims of the North Caucasus stated that wearing the niqab and burqa in modern conditions causes practical harm to Muslims and threatens discord in interreligious and interethnic relations. On July 4, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Karachay-Cherkessia introduced a temporary ban on wearing niqabs in the republic. On July 7, the Muftiate of Kabardino-Balkaria stated, citing the opinions of Islamic scholars, that wearing the niqab is a custom, and not an obligation for Muslim women. On July 8, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of North Ossetia recommended abandoning the wearing of niqabs, while the deputy mufti of the republic emphasized that a complete ban on niqabs would contradict Russian laws.
Mufti of Dagestan Akhmad-Afandi Abdullayev announced a fatwa banning the niqab after the head of the region, Sergei Melikov, spoke out against wearing niqabs following attacks by militants in Derbent and Makhachkala. The Dagestan Muslim Spiritual Directorate, as a religious organization, can issue a fatwa banning the niqab, but this is only a recommendation, and violators of it face a maximum of censure, Islamic scholars have pointed out.
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