Mezhiev's remarks about Jews outraged Russia's chief rabbi.

Russia's Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar called on leading Muslim figures to distance themselves from the anti-Semitic statements made by Chechen Mufti Salah Mezhiyev, who called Jews "enemies of Allah." Following the rabbi's statement, the Chechen News Agency removed this portion of Mezhiyev's speech from its publication.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," at the congress of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Chechnya on September 21, Salah Mezhiyev was once again re-elected as Mufti of Chechnya. On the same day, the North Caucasus Muslim Coordination Center, headed by Mezhiyev since September 2024, awarded Ramzan Kadyrov the "Defender of the Sunnah" Order.

On the evening of October 30, Russia's Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar responded to a statement made by Chechen Mufti Salah-Hadji Mezhiyev about Jews. Mezhiyev's words are offensive to the entire Jewish people and the Jewish faith; they are directed "against everything that all of Russia has been building for many years," the rabbi stated.

“The recent speech by the Chechen Mufti, Mr. Salah-Khadzhi Mezhiyev, in which he declares my people ‘enemies of Allah’ and accuses them of spreading atheism, left an extremely unpleasant impression (...) Mr. Mezhiyev’s words clearly contradict the officially stated position of the Muslim community, whose leaders consistently advocate interfaith peace and mutual respect among representatives of traditional religions,” Berl Lazar wrote on his official Telegram channel.

The rabbi lamented that such a statement about Jews came from Chechnya. According to him, the region has traditionally had peace between the indigenous Muslim population and the Jews, who have traditionally been peaceful. “Jews even came out to defend the homes of Chechens when the authorities evicted them during the years of Stalin’s repressions,” he emphasized.

Lazar expressed hope that leading Russian Islamic figures will "officially disassociate themselves from Mezhiyev's anti-Semitic statements" and "confirm the Russian Muslim community's commitment to peace and solidarity among believers."

While participating in the recording of the latest episode of the talk show "Chechen History. War and Peace" on the Chechen state television channel Grozny at the end of October, Mezhiyev called Jews "enemies of Allah" and linked them to such movements as atheism and Satanism (the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the "International Movement of Satanism" as extremist and banned its activities).

The mufti's words on this subject were quoted in a publication on October 25 by the Chechen state news agency Grozny-Inform. Within hours of Berl Lazar's publication, when many Russian media outlets quoted Mezhiyev's words with a link to the Chechen news agency's website, Grozny-Inform edited the report. The article removed the very statements Mezhiyev had cited: "The enemies of Allah have long existed—the Jews and the movements they spawned, such as atheism," as well as the assertion that "Satanism is the source of Jewish ideas."

As of 1:45 a.m. Moscow time today, the original version of the October 25 publication, containing all these words, remained on the BezFormata news aggregator website and as a saved copy of the Grozny-Inform page in the web archive.