Chechnya sets up religious committee to address issues of Islamic law

On July 19, the Muftiyat of Chechnya established the religious committee "Fetva", which would address issues related to Islamic law. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent at the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of the republic. Sultan-khadji Mirzaev, Mufti of the Republic, became the Chairman of the committee.

"In recent years, we pay a lot of attention to the issues of religion, and a certain part of the population prefers to resolve conflicts on the basis of Sharia law. However, rather often, it turns out that parties are not satisfied with the decisions pronounced by kadis. I believe the decision to establish the committee 'Fetva' is related to those contradictions. Time will tell if it will be effective," said Islam, a mullah of a mosque in the republic.

However, in Chechnya, there are persons who consider creation of various religious and other committees and departments to be inefficient business. "We have the Muftiyat, the Council of Alims, kadis (Islamic judges) that address the issues related to religion and Sharia law. It is unclear why we should create one more separate committee. It turns out that almost all areas, we have double bodies. People were not interested in all that," said Lukman, a staff member of a local NGO.