Current State of the Muslim Ummah of the Chechen Republic

Abstract

Chechens are the largest population in the North Caucasus and the sixth largest in the Russian Federation (right after Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvashs). According to official data, there are currently 1,516,387 people living in the republic, of whom 1,206,551 are Chechens. A large number of Chechens live in European countries. Although there are no exact official figures, various researchers place the figure between 150,000 and 300,000, with most Chechens living in France, Belgium, Norway, Austria, Poland, and Germany. The Middle Eastern and Turkish diasporas of Chechens are not so numerous, but they have a longer period of residence there, as they mostly consist of the descendants of immigrants from the second half of the 19th century. Chechens are Sunni of Shafi‘i Madhab, adhere to the Naqshbandi and Qadiri tariqats, which are divided into fraternities called virds, and according to various estimates, there are up to 34 of them in the republic. The Nogays and Kumyks living in the Chechen Republic belong to the Hanafi madhab, while the Avars (Chamalals) of the mountain village of Kenkhi (population over 1500) belong to the Shafi‘i madhab.