08:25, 4 January 2020

Events on Kunta-Khadji Kishiev's memory day split residents of Chechnya

Kunta-Khadji Kishiev's Commemoration Day. Screenshot of Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/B62tj0npJf7/

On January 3, Chechnya held religious events in honour of the holy Kunta-Khadji Kishiev revered in the republic. Some residents of Chechnya and Instagram users believe that Kishiev's person has been largely mythologized.

Kunta-Khadji Kishiev is a Chechen Islamic mystic and preacher of the epoch of the Caucasian War. He is often referred to as the "Chechen Gandhi", since he advocated non-resistance to evil with violence and passive resistance.

The residents of Chechnya, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, divided in their assessments of Kunta-Khadji Kishiev's activities, as well as in the opinion about the need to make a pilgrimage in his memory.

“My grandparents were very religious and constantly told us about Kunta-Khadji Kishiev. If possible, they visited his mother's ziyarat (commemoration) in the village of Ertan. They said that our nation had survived only thanks to the mercy of Allah and the call of Kunta-Khadji; otherwise, we all had been completely eradicated like some other nations of the Caucasus. I also think so and strictly follow their instructions – I commemorate the Sheikh in my prayers, and several times a year I make ziyarats to the grave of his mother," said Sakhib, a local resident.

Ibragim, a Grozny resident, treats Kishiev as a rather controversial person. "Calling people to abandon jihad at the height of the war is very serious; for doing so, he was persecuted by Imam Shamil. But he deserves respect at least for bringing our brothers Ingushes to Islam," Ibragim believes. However, in his opinion, Kishiev's person is largely mythologized.

Movsar, another local resident, disagrees with allegations that Kishiev is still alive and is spreading Islam. "These are a pure heresy, fairy tales and fables, in which many, especially young people, no longer believe. The Koran clearly states that only the Almighty Allah is eternal, and all the leaving creatures are mortal. If the prophets died, how can one of the hundreds of thousands of saints be alive?" Movsar has asked.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 3, 2020 at 03:23 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent