The most significant, widespread and problematic movement from  the political point of view in the North Caucasus during the 90-s was the Islamic “Wahhabist” movement. The lecture offers to go back to  the “theological” approach in treatment of this phenomenon and to assume that radical movements usually have the social nature.

The author divides Islamic activism into two categories. The first one is the traditional Islamic clergy that  usually and logically support the certain project of the social status of the religion institute in the social structure.

The second one as a rule is presented by people with secular and professional  education, who are integrated in the modern mentality and the way of life. They demand the total affirmation of Islamic ideology and Islamic moral and judicial order in the Muslim society. They believe  Islam to be the project of the social world order and the programme of  reconstruction.

As far as the problem of the “Wahhabist” movement in the Caucasus, Enver Kisriev proposes to consider and grasp in the context of the creation and development of the second type of the Islamic activism. When Islam as spirituality, as an organization and socio-political movement got the absolute freedom for realization, the conflict between these two types of activism inevitably emerged. On the one, hand the majority of the population considered that Islam should stay in the distinct, liturgical and ritualized sphere of life. On the other hand, the ideological concept of “Wahhabists” in the sense of Islamic religion coincided with the mentality of the majority of people in a greater degree, especially the most educated and modern part of society.

As the “utopian” project of “Wahhabists” contradicted the political and ideological “status quo” it attracted attention of young radicals and started to become an aggressive and fanatical doctrine of overthrowing everything. Alternatively traditional Islamic priests logically become the allies of the authorities.

The reporter believes that one of the most outstanding phenomena of  Islamic activism in the North Caucasus is the movement of “young Muslims”. It is widespread in the Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygeya and so on.

As for the capability of this “ideology” to unite numerous but isolated and small groups of young Islamic radicals – it is not apparent.

All the mentioned conflicts in its development constitute two main tendencies:
1.      The tendency of clericalization or in other words the rapprochement or even integration of the political authorities and  hieratic project of Islamic religion.
2.      The tendency of extrusion from the legal social space “Protestants” projects of Islamic religion and their conversion into extremist religious “sects”.

Answering the question of Alexander Ignatenko about the possibility of external influence on the processes happening in Dagestan, Enver Kisriev confirmed that it undoubtedly took place but it was not the catalyst for forming the movement. The term “Wahhabism” that first appeared in the KGB reports concerned the religious activity of the Soviet  intellectuals who read the Koran.

Igor Yakovenko (Institute of Sociology RAS) expressed the opinion that  “Wahhabism” and movements of radical youth are the results of modernization in this region. Shamil Beno added that the reason why young people return to Islam is not only the social topics but the political processes also. And the alternative to  Islamic fundamentalism he called  Islamic liberalism.

The question raised by Sergey Gradirovsky about the role and depth of involvement of the federal authorities in the region had brought to the hot debates. Maksim Shevchenko told that the current situation testifies about the crisis of governance in the Russian Federation. Enver Kisriev pointed out that the great mistake is the clericalization of the state and the tendency to explain the unemployment, demoralization and vacuum of ideology by religious fanaticism.

Summary prepared by Yulia Ustinova, Program Coordinator with the Religion, society and security at the Carnegie Moscow Center.