Okay, Steven, Ill try to answer your questions -- as briefly as possible. <g>
1) Why doesn't kavkaz.org publish its material in English?
Well, first of all, because none of the people involved know English, and because Udugov, from his previous experience, assumed that most of the materials would get translated into English anyway (and he was right). Secondly, because the site was originally set up to propagandize the objective of uniting Chechnya & Dagestan, and to boost the "opposition" to Maskhadov (i.e., field commanders like Basayev). And when the operation in Dagestan(which Maskhadov opposed) began, kavkaz.org was its propaganda center. In short, the site was not created in order to respond to the Russian response to that operation -- i.e., the invasion of Chechnya itself.
Finally, I doubt very much that Udugov was seeking "international support" from anyone but friendly Islamists. But who really knows? Movladi is a slippery one.
2) Sufis & Wahhabis.
Sufism in the North Caucasus (as well as in Central Asia) is unique. It is concentrated in Dagestan (the Imam Shamil's homeland) and in Chechnya (where the bulk of Shamil's warriors were from). There are two major orders: Naqshibandi and Qaddyria. Those orders, in turn, are broken down into what in Russian are called "vyrdy" -- vyrds. Each vyrd follows the teachings of a particular "sheikh", or saint. They are not antagonistic; one is expected to revere all sheikhs, but one's own in particular. Every Chechen is a member of one vyrd or another. In fact, what vyrd a Chechen belongs to is far more important than what clan he belongs to. (The importance of clans is, in general, vastly overestimated, IMO.) In my observation, the tomb of the local sheikh is much more central to village life than the mosque (if there even is a mosque).
I don't know how "mystical" vyrd practices actually are. (Chechens, as a rule, don't really know much about Islam per se, and not even the Imam Shamil was able to force sharia on them. They still prefer "adat" - customary law, which happens to be much more humane, IMO.) The differences between the vyrds seem to boil down to how they practice zikr (prayer): "silent" zikr (Naqshibandi), or "loud" zikr (Qaddyria), which can be simply dancing in a circle to the accompaniment of drums; or, to the accompaniment of other musical instruments; or, jumping up and down, or etc.
Historically, Wahhabis have always and everywhere opposed Sufism, which they regard as apostasy and idolatry. Why idolatry? Because Sufis "worship" their saints. According to a strict Wahhabi, it is idolatry even to exalt Mohammed, let alone a slew of Sufi "saints." And worshipping at the tomb of Sufi saints, which Chechens do, is a total abomination, in their eyes.
When the Wahhabis first showed up in Chechnya, about ten years ago, they sent off alarm bells. At first, it was incredible to me that folks like Udugov and Yandarbiyev (Dudayev's Vice President) should try to import an ideology into Chechnya that 99% of the Chechens found intolerable. Later, I think I understood why. Sufism Chechen-style is pluralistic. Wahhabism is ideally suited for totalitarian-style regimes.
2) No, I don't think that if the Russians were to depart tomorrow, there would be "peace" in Chechnya. My general position on "war" is that it almost always makes things worse, and that certainly has been true so far in Chechnya.
Enough? <g>
Joan |
