NORTH CAUCASUS MUSLIMS: INDEPENDENT VOICE?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 002327

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR RS
SUBJECT: NORTH CAUCASUS MUSLIMS: INDEPENDENT VOICE?

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Kirk Augustine. Reason 1.4
(b, d)


1. (C) Summary: The election of Magomed-Khadzhi Albogachiyev
as leader of the Coordinating Center of Muslims of the North
Caucasus marks a clear step to distance the Moscow-based
Center -- and by extension the Muslim clerics in the region,
whom it purports to represent -- from the clan-based leaders
of the North Caucasus autonomous republics. Albogachiyev
founded the organization, but resigned as Mufti of Ingushetia
in 2004 after a public row with the Republic's President.
One obstacle he faces in regaining influence is the split of
North Caucasus Muslims into two religious wings based on
geography. If he negotiates that obstacle, he still has to
steer carefully between the Kremlin and the clan-based
leaders of the autonomous republics. End Summary.

Background
--------------


2. (U) The Coordinating Center of Muslims of the North
Caucasus was founded in 1998 to enhance coordination among
the official Muftis leading the Muslim Spiritual Directorates
of each of the seven autonomous republics of the North
Caucasus. Its founder and first chair was Magomed-Khadzhi
(Muhammad-Haji) Albogachiyev, then Mufti of Ingushetia.
Albogachiyev led the Center until 2003; in 2004 he left his
post as Mufti of Ingushetia after public disagreements with
the Republic's new president, ex-KGB officer Murat Zyazikov.
The chair of the Coordinating Center then rotated among the
serving muftis of the North Caucasus, and Albogachiyev became
Deputy Chair. On February 14, 2006, however, the
Coordinating Center amended the rule that demanded its Chair
be a serving mufti, and chose Albogachiyev to lead the Center
once again. Albogachiyev has been visible since he took
office, and attended a well-publicized meeting of Muslim
leaders with FM Sergey Lavrov on February 26. The new
position makes Albogachiyev one of the three top Muslim
leaders of Russia. The other two are Ravil Gaynutdin, leader
of the Russian Council of Muftis (for the European part of
Russia),and Talgat Tadzhuddin of the Central Muslim
Spiritual Directorate based in Ufa.

Back in the Saddle Again
--------------


3. (C) In a March 7 conversation, Albogachiyev made clear to
us his satisfaction with being head of one of the three
"centers" of Muslim life in Russia. He supported in
principle the idea of uniting these three centers under a
Mufti of Russia, but noted that such a hierarchical structure
is rare in Islamic countries. Personal rivalries may be
another obstacle; Albogachiyev noted that "we have some
disagreements with the Tatars" (i.e., with the Russian
Council of Muftis and its well-known leader, Gaynutdin).


4. (C) Albogachiyev stressed the need to improve Muslim
education in the North Caucasus (the day after his selection,
he announced a decision to ask for GOR assistance in setting
up an advanced institute for Muslim clerical training in
Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria). He told us he wanted more
facilities to train clerics in the region, rather than
sending students abroad. He noted that there are 17
institutes of Islamic learning in Dagestan, but far fewer in
the other autonomous republics. Asked about the spread of
radical Islam in the North Caucasus, Albogachiyev admitted
that corruption and social neglect were contributing factors,
but stressed education as the solution. He noted that the
individual jamaats espousing radical Islam were unlikely to
unite or achieve the kind of electoral success that Hamas
recently enjoyed in the Palestinian Authority.

Divided by Mountains: The Ecstatics, the Pious
-------------- --


5. (C) While Albogachiyev's strong and influential voice may
give a single public face to the Coordinating Center, the
religious map of the North Caucasus does not favor unity.
The Muslims are split down the middle geographically. From
Ossetia west, areas that traditionally looked towards the
Ottoman Empire, the predominant madhhab, or school of
jurisprudence, is Hanafi, which prevails in Turkey today. In
contrast, the Muslims of Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan
follow the Shafi'i madhhab. More importantly, 90 percent
(according to Albogachiyev and others we have spoken to) are
at least nominal members of a Sufi order -- either the
Naqshibandis or the Qadiris, both widespread in Central Asia
and Iraq (the Naqshibandis are important in Turkey as well).
(Note: In Chechnya during the wars since 1994, Naqshibandis
tended to support the Federal side, while Qadiris tended to
support the insurgents; Chechen separatist leader Shamil
Basayev comes from a Qadiri family.) Albogachiyev himself

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is a member of the Kunta-Haji "vird" of the Qadiris, founded
and led by the charismatic Chechen missionary Kunta-Haji
Kishiyev until his arrest and exile by the Russians in 1864.
Although the historical Kunta-Haji died two years later, his
followers have told us (and Albogachiyev affirmed that he
believes) that Kunta-Haji lives on in occultation, like the
Sunni Mahdi or the Shi'a Twelfth Imam.


6. (C) In contrast, Albogachiyev's deputy Shafig Auesovich
Pshikhachev told us separately, the Muslims of Kabardia
(where he served as mufti for 14 years) are "pragmatic." They
are also quietist. Pshikhachev said his clan has been a
"bearer" of the Islamic religion since it came to Kabardia in
the seventeenth century. Of the nine recognized Islamic
scholars and other religious officials such as Pshikhachev
himself (and Pshikhachev's first cousin, current Mufti of
Kabardino-Balkaria) that the clan has produced in those four
centuries, all have been on good terms with the authorities
of the day. He seemed proud that when a whole generation of
"muhajirs" fled the North Caucasus for the Ottoman Empire
following the Russian conquest of 1859, only three families
of the Pshikhachev clan left. Albogachiyev will have some
politicking to do to unite the two very different halves of
his new domain -- which perhaps explains why he asked for his
first project in the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) Under Albogachiyev, the Coordinating Center is now in
the peculiar position of being -- at least potentially -- at
odds with the very muftis whose activities it purportedly
exists to coordinate. The Kremlin may, in fact, find this
useful. Moscow, despite avowed support for the "vertical of
power," has been ceding more de facto autonomy to local clans
to govern as they will -- as long as they keep their fiefdoms
quiet and loyal. A separate center of Islamic influence
based in Moscow, independent of the North Caucasus clans, is
in line with the tried and true traditions of Russian
statecraft, but the minefield between the Kremlin and the
clans will not be easy for Albogachiyev to navigate.
BURNS