75-year-old man shot dead in Makhachkala on January 9 was folk healer

On January 9, in the Kirov District of the capital of Dagestan, two unidentified persons penetrated into the house of a local resident, born in 1937, and fired several shots from an unidentified firearm. The man was brought to the Trauma Centre of Makhachkala, where he died from his wounds.

A source from the local MIA told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the killed Magomed Kuramagomedov was engaged in non-traditional (folk) healing; and a version is considered that this was the reason of the murder.

As reported by Ruslan Gereev, an employee of the Centre for Islamic Studies of Northern Caucasus, killings of traditional healers in Dagestan happened in the past.

"Wahhabis who believe that healers' actions are contrary to prescriptions of pure Islam are always suspected of committing these crimes. But this does not mean that investigators should not consider other versions," said the source.

"The republic's clergy condemn any violent actions against healers. A murder is the gravest sin," said Magomed-Rasul Omarov, the press secretary of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Dagestan.

Abbas Kebedov, the leader of the public organization "Dagestan – Territory of Peace and Development", believes that healing and quackery should be allowed in Islam within Sharia norms.

"If it's pure witchcraft, then, in an Islamic state, provided the person has been warned, provided that he was tried, this activity is punishable by death. But if at least one proof raises a slightest doubt, the person shall escape punishment. Besides, at hearing, the suspect shall have the right to defence," said Kebedov and stressed that nobody shall apply these rules in a non-Islamic state, where Sharia rules do not apply.