08:31, 21 August 2021

Conflict in Agvali shows villagers' distrust in Muftiate

The Friday namaz (prayer) in Agvali was held not in the mosque, but in the gym. Screenshot: http://www.instagram.com/p/CSywLL4giWi/c/18179670229192621/

Muslims of the Tsumada District have opposed themselves to Muftiate supporters throughout Dagestan and lost the opportunity to pray in the mosque; while Instagram users have criticized the supporters of the new Agvali Imam.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 20, on the day of Friday namaz (prayer), in the outskirt of the Daghestani village of Agvali, many people gathered and announced the appointment of an Imam from another village. The prayer itself was held not in the mosque, but in the gym; and it was conducted not by the Imam, but by the Muezzin, who acted on behalf of Magomedsaigid Kadimagomedov, who had been elected as Imam by villagers.

On August 16, after Ramazan Isaev, the imam of the local mosque, fought with one of the local residents in the village of Agvali in the Tsumadinsky District, armed law enforcers arrived in the village. The police took control over the entrances to the village to prevent a mass fight. The villagers independently, without the participation of representatives of the Muftiate of Dagestan, proclaimed Magomedsaigid Kadimagomedov to be their new imam.

A video of the Friday prayer in the village of Agvali was posted in the Instagram public tsumada_rayon. Hundreds of worshipers in the gym are seen in the footage.

Holding a namaz in the gym suggests that the mosque is closed, and supporters of the new Mufti may be completely deprived of the opportunity to attend it, the readers of the public have pointed out. "They will close the mosque; and they will have to perform the Juma (the Friday namaz, – note of the "Caucasian Knot") and the like wherever they go," the user ahmed_bilalovich has written.

Commentators have argued about who should elect the Imam – the villagers or the Mufti. "Let the children elect the principal in schools, too," the user akhmed909 has suggested. His opponent faruk.garib77 said that today's prayer has shown the Muslims' solidarity. "This must go further, in every village, in every city! The Muftiate consists of Kremlin's pawns; this is already clear even to ordinary people!" he wrote.

Earlier, Zainulabid Magomedov, the chairman of the Council of Imams of the Tsumada District, made an appeal, in which he stated that "the Muftiate is trying to replace state structures" and "is trying to do it by force", sending its supporters to the Tsumada District.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 20, 2021 at 07:43 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: The Caucasian Knot