Analysts associate Shoigu’s words about strengthening Sharia with criticism of republics’ leaders in NCFD

The statements voiced by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergey Shoigu about radicals’ attempts to displace secular laws in Northern Caucasus with Sharia norms are a signal to the leaders and officials of the regions, analysts note. They believe that the popularity of Sharia in Northern Caucasus is connected with problems in the economy and the justice system.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on August 27, Sergey Shoigu claimed that in the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), radicals were trying to displace secular laws, replacing them with Sharia norms, and also to replace traditional Islam with its radical movements. The Secretary of the Russian Security Council has suggested that some leaders of official religious organizations are encouraging the above attempts for the sake of their personal ambitions.

In recent years, the need for Sharia norms has been growing among residents of Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia, believes Alexander Kvakhadze, a doctoral student at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Such situation alienates the population of Northern Caucasus from the rest of Russia.

According to the Alexander Kvakhadze’s version, the officials’ rhetoric is also influenced by the fact that for a large number of residents of Northern Caucasus, the situation in the Islamic world, for example, the conflict in Palestine, is a higher priority than the problems of the “Russian world.” “They also see that participation in the conflict in Ukraine is not perceived with much enthusiasm in Northern Caucasus, unlike in other regions,” the analyst emphasized.

Alexander Kvakhadze has noted that anti-migrant rhetoric and opposition to Europe and Western values are also important elements of the Russian propaganda. “One of the elements in the rhetoric of the Russian authorities is the opposition to ‘decaying’ Europe and America, claiming there are Sharia ghettos and migrants there ... Anti-migrant rhetoric is added to the above, especially after the terror act at the Crocus City Hall,” the expert concluded.

There are only few cases when local customs and religious practices conflict with the federal laws of Russia, states a Russian historian and political analyst, a teacher at a Moscow university. According to his version, there were cases in Chechnya when local application of moral and religious codes received priority over the federal laws. Among the examples, the expert mentioned the initiative to allow polygamy voiced by Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya.