06.09.2006 - Source: Freedom House

Most Chechens are Muslims who practice Sufism, Wahhabi sect is banned by Russian government ("The Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Societies 2006") [ID 17258]

"Most Chechens are Muslims who practice Sufism, a mystical form of Islam. The Wahhabi sect, with roots in Saudi Arabia and characterized by a strict observance of Islam, has been banned by the Russian government, although adherents to its radical fundamentalist Islamic teachings form an important core of those engaged in terrorism against civilians."

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22.08.2005 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Chechnya: 3 Islamic groups (pro-Moscow muftiate, traditional Sufi tariqats and radical Islamist djamaats) compete for influence over Muslims ("Russia: A Three-Way Struggle For Chechen Islam") [#35702],  [ID 15900]

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14.09.2003 - Source: Prague Watchdog

Chechnya: Number of blood feuds increased during the past two decades ("Blood feud – hallmark of the Caucasus") [#16078],  [ID 15901]

"Blood feuds have always been a restraining factor in disputes between local clans in the Caucasus because many people involved in quarrels wisely avoid going to such extremes. Nevertheless, this custom is a hallmark of the Caucasus people and revenge is still sought for the death of a relative, a dishonour, or an insult. This custom harks back to ancient times when Chechens lived according to an unwritten code of law known as "adat." And blood feuds were part of that. In earlier times the entire republic knew practically all cases of blood feuds; and it was the most highly respected clan elders who helped reconcile the feuding parties. Sometimes the procedure took many long years, and from time to time even a whole generation. But things are different nowadays. During the past two decades the number of blood feuds has sharply increased in Chechnya. In times of war it is very easy to find the offender and exact revenge. In earlier times, forgiving one's adversary was no less honourable than exacting revenge. Nowadays very few people are ready to forgive. The etiquette of a blood feud ritual is intriguing. When a person is killed in a dispute and the offender is known and the facts of the quarrel are against the killer, members of a neutral teip (clan) go to his family and announce that a blood feud has been declared against them."

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06.2003 - Source: Defence Academy of the United Kingdom - Advanced Research and Assessment Group

Basic Structure Of Chechen Society: teipy (clans), tukkhumy (societies) ("Chechnya: Normalisation (by C. W. Blandy)") [#20017],  [ID 15902]

"To understand contemporary Chechen society it is helpful to become acquainted with the tukkhumy (societies) and teipy (clans); however, the structure of society in Chechnya is rather more complicated. A number of studies have been “far from complete”. Understandably, even among Chechen writers, differences exist in detail, emphasis and nuance. Mayrbek Vachagayev however explodes some of the myths: the seeming homogenous nature of Chechen society, the influence of tukkhumy on the communal process, the illusion that teip power decides everything and the misconception of dividing Chechens into mountain dwellers and plainsmen. Basic Structure Of Chechen Society: During the 16th and 17th Centuries nine tukkhumy, composed of separate teipy were formed in Chechnya, the “Akkiy, Myalkiy, Nokhchmakhkakhoy, Orstkhoy (Ershtkhoy), Terloy, Chantiy, Cheberloy (Chebarloy), Sharoy and Shotoy”. Whilst Vachagayev and Aydayev are in agreement over the names and number of tukkhumy which came into being, they differ over the question of blood ties. Vachagayev states that the Chechen nation was formed from a political-military union of nine blood-related tukkhumy in each of which blood-related teipy (clans) were developed. On the other hand, Aydayev maintains that “A Chechen tukkhum was a military economic union of a defined group of teipy, which had no blood-relation ties, but were combined into a much higher association for joint decision-making or the solution of general tasks concerning defence from enemy attacks, trade and economic bartering”. According to Aydayev whilst seven out the nine tukkhumy mentioned above were formed on a territorial basis, the Terloy and Chantiy unions were formed through ties of blood-kinship. From the time that Chechen teipy started to grow in size, members of a particular teip formed their own separate, tightly-knit kvartal or kup (quarter or community) within a village society. As they developed into large blood-related families a new structure came to be formed within the teip, namely the gar. Vachagayev illustrates this by the example of the Benoy teip which is divided into nine gary, namely the Ati, Gurzhmakhkakhoy, Doyvshi, Zhobi, Asti, Ochi, Yonzhb, Chupal and Edi."

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06.2003 - Source: Defence Academy of the United Kingdom - Advanced Research and Assessment Group

Description of Adat (common law), which is active in Chechen society and coexists with the adopted Islamic norms of the Shariah ("Chechnya: Normalisation (by C. W. Blandy)") [#20017],  [ID 15903]

"Adat is: “Customs or rules of behaviour, accepted by one or other group of Muslims or active in a defined area covered by Islam on account of generally observed customs. In a strict sense Adat is a custom by which the fikkh (normative basis of the Shariat) has a special place in the regulation of the conduct of Muslims … At the present time in the regions covered by Islam in Russia a series of Adat norms are preserved, which set out the form of inter-operative customs with the Shariat instructions. Certain of the norms (for example, blood feuds, or polygamy)153 actively contradict Russian legislation. In a series of regions of the North Caucasus (for example in Ingushetia and Chechnya) the possibility of a legal reinforcement of separate positions of the Adat and adopting practical steps in this direction is being discussed.” Adat was the juridicial norm of the teip structure. It has a particular importance in the mountainous south of Chechnya. In no way does Adat replace religious observance and the Shariah, as Khalmukhamedov explains: “Chechen society is patriarchal and traditional; the norms of the common law (Adat) coexist with the adopted Islamic norms of the Shariah. Together they form the backbone of society.”"

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06.2003 - Source: Defence Academy of the United Kingdom - Advanced Research and Assessment Group

Adat Principle No 8 - Blood Feuds ("Chechnya: Normalisation (by C. W. Blandy)") [#20017],  [ID 15904]

"A declaration is made by a whole teip to another teip of a blood feud for the murder and public discreditation of a member of a teip. The murder of a member of a teip would result in the immediate meeting of the teip council of elders in which the close relatives of the deceased would also participate. After establishing the details of the situation and the reasons for the murder the teip council of elders took a decision about vengeance for the dead person. The lawbreaker’s teip would convene its own council of elders which would explore urgent compensation with the teip of the deceased. In such circumstances the opposing sides very often did not yield. Representatives of neutral teipy became involved and then a council of tribes (tukkhum) was convened when the conditions for reconciliation were worked out. Conditions were diverse. For example, for the murder of a member of a large, respected teip it was necessary to pay 63 head of cattle. Assaulting and wounding with a firearm would cost 20 head of cattle. For attempted murder with a firearm and a misfire 60 head of cattle would be demanded. A member of a weak teip would ‘pay’ 21 head of cattle. The infliction of a wound with a firearm would cost 6. If the conditions for reconciliation were adopted then the matter was closed. In the event of a refusal the offending teip would choose whom they wanted killed; usually they chose the murderer… The murderer had no right of appeal."

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25.05.2003 - Source: Prague Watchdog

Chechnya: report on the origin of the Chechen people, society, democracy and Adat (customary) law ("Chechen society and mentality") [#14361],  [ID 15905]

"The Chechens are one of the oldest indigenous ethnic groups of the Caucasus. They belong to the Caucasian-Balkan type of the Europeoid race. Their language is Chechen, which together with the related language of the neighbouring Ingush people forms the so-called Vaynakh branch of the Ibero-Caucasian language group. Chechens refer to themselves as "Nokhcho"; besides Chechnya they live also in the Khasavyurt district in the western part of Dagestan, in Ingushetia, and in the Akhmet district of northern Georgia. The earliest preserved references to the ancestors of today’s Chechens come from the 7th century A.D. Armenian Geography. Georgian chronicles from the 13th - 14th centuries A.D. also refer to Dzurdzuks, which was the common name for all Vaynakh tribes in medieval Georgia. (...)"

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