History of Islam in Chechnya

History of Islam in Chechnya

• Chechnya is a Russian republic in the heart of the Tatar region. Majority of the non-Russian population is Muslim.
• First Contact with Islam.   The Principality of Simsir, a medieval Chechen state, made Islam the state religion to reinforce its alliance with the Golden Horde, to defend against Tamerlane's empire.
• The Caucasian Imamate was the state established by the imams in Dagestan and Chechnya during the early-to-mid 19th century in the Northern Caucasus, to fight against the Russian Empire during the Caucasian War.
• Chechen and other Caucasian tribes mounted a prolonged resistance to Russian conquest beginning in the early nineteenth century under Imam Shamil.

• Imam Shamil was the political, military, and spiritual leader of Caucasian resistance to Imperial Russia in the 1800s, as well as the third Imam of the Caucasian Imamate. Imam Shamil due to his leadership role in uniting Muslims to fight against Russia has become a major national folk hero to the Chechens.
• In the twentieth century, the Soviets launched an assault on organized religious faith that undermined the influence of Islam.
• Nevertheless, Islam remained an important component of Chechen identity, especially as an element in the resistance movement of the 1990s.
• The republic converted to Islam between 16th and the 19th centuries. As Chechens adopted Islam over the centuries, its cultural practices permeated Chechen life. Women covered their hair, mosques became the centers of communities. 
• Since adopting Islam, all meat has been traditionally slaughtered according to halal requirements. Chechens are famous for their incredible hospitality towards guests, and this tradition also magnified due to Islamic influence.
• Chechnya is predominantly Muslim. Most Chechens belong to the Shafi'i school of thought of Sunni Islam. Some adhere to the mystical Sufi tradition of muridism, while about half of Chechens belong to Sufi brotherhoods or tariqah. The two Sufi tariqas that spread in the North Caucasus were the Naqshbandiya and the Qadiriya (the Naqshbandiya is particularly strong in Dagestan and eastern Chechnya, whereas the Qadiriya has most of its adherents in the rest of Chechnya and Ingushetia).
• In 1997 Chechnya officially embraced Islam as the state religion. Islam is now the predominant religion in Chechnya, practiced by 95% Chechens