Chechnya’s Kadyrov Takes Up Cause of Ingush Sufi Tariqat Now Being Targeted by Moscow

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Nov. 5 – Ramzan Kadyrov has never been shy about speaking out in defense of Muslims, even if that puts him at odds with Moscow. But now he has taken a step that raises serious questions about what kind of a price he may have to pay for doing so – or whether what he has just done is part of a larger political game.

            After Russian officials accused the Batal Haji Sufi order in Ingushetia of being involved in the murder of a senior intelligence operative in Moscow and arrested several of the most senior adepts of that order (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/11/russian-officials-accuse-influential.html), Kadyrov has come to the defense of that Muslim group.

            The Chechen leader says that the charges against the Batal Haji group and its most prominent leaders are “absurd” and that for him, “they will always be brothers” in the faith (fortanga.org/2022/11/dlya-menya-oni-vsegda-budut-bratyami-kadyrov-vstupilsya-za-chlenov-tarikata-batal-hadzhi/).

            There are at least three possible explanations for what Kadyrov has done. First, he certainly recognizes that in his republic and in its neighbors like Ingushetia, the Sufi orders are very strong; and he has no wish to offend them lest they use their strength to organize a movement against him and his regime.

            Second, and this may be the most likely, Kadyrov may simply be continuing his  effort to present himself as simultaneously loyal to Moscow but supportive of Islam, a bridge between the Kremlin and the increasingly numerous and influential Muslim communities. Coming to the defense of Muslims when attacked almost comes naturally.

            And third, Kadyrov may be playing a longer-term game against Ingushetia. He has already absorbed ten percent of Ingush territory in a deal that remains extremely unpopular among the Ingush and worries others, including Daghestanis, that they may be next. By attacking Moscow for attacking the Batal Haji, he may hope to weaken the Ingush regime further.

            Should that happen, Kadyrov might move quickly to absorb even more of Ingushetia given that he has made little secret of the fact that he would like to  restore what he defines as a Greater Chechnya combining the two republics as they were before 1991.