Muslims of Ingush village resent at appointment of Imam without their knowledge

At the Friday namaz (prayer) in the village of Verkhnie Achaluki, officials of the Muftiate announced to the mosque visitors that the Imam would leave his post, and another Imam was appointed instead. Dissatisfied believers demanded to cancel the decision, and agreed at the rally on March 12 with the SAM (Muftiate) officials that the new candidature would be agreed with them.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2016 a conflict of the head of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov and the republic’s Mufti Isa Khamkhoev ended with the Evkurov’s statement about the procedure of liquidating the Muftiate. Now, Ingushetia, along with the Muftiate, has the Council of Imams, which unites 18 religious communities, which do not obey to the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM, or Muftiate) of the republic.

On March 10, the Friday namaz in Verkhnie Achaluki ended with the announcement of Muftiate officials that the local Imam Girikhan Djankhotov would leave his post. The name of his successor was announced immediately – Isa Gagiev. This information appeared in social networks.

"In the evening of the same day, a large number of parishioners gathered in the mosque; they were dissatisfied with the appointment of the new Imam by the Muftiate without the agreement and approval of the majority of the villagers," members of the Muslim community wrote.

Following the meeting, believers sent an appeal to the head of the republic, asking him to clear out the situation.

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