Residents of Chechnya and Dagestan refuse to celebrate Valentine's Day

Celebration of holidays like Saint Valentine's Day contradicts the canons of Islam and the cultural traditions of Dagestan and Chechnya, the "Caucasian Knot" was told by local residents.

"From the point of view of Islam, it is not allowed for people to congratulate with this holiday. It is initially a religious Christian holiday, and it was established in honour of a saint. Thus, Muslims are forbidden to express each other best wishes on the occasion of this day. And even if one is not deeply religious, he will probably understand that to celebrate Christian holidays is not befitting for Islam," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Idris, a resident of Dagestan.

"Maybe, somewhere, students or pupils have a practice to celebrate this holiday. However, among young people in Dagestan, it, to say the least, is considered improper. In my circle of relatives and friends, if someone mentions the need to send best wishes to any person on the occasion of this holiday, he will be, at best, laughed down," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Timur, a resident of Makhachkala.

In the social network "VKontakte", the group "Overheard/Chechnya/Chechens" tells the audience that "the holiday symbolizes paganism" and that "Muslim theologians unanimously say that in Islam, there is no place for the celebration of Valentine's Day."

The major part of commentators treats the holiday as pagan and contradicting the culture and traditions of the Chechen people.

In the Caucasus, traditions of communication between men and women do not allow openness and transparency, and this fact can explain the aversion to the celebration of Valentine's Day in Northern Caucasus. This opinion was expressed by Naima Neflyasheva, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Civilization and Regional Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), an author of a blog on the "Caucasian Knot".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.