CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

In the name of Kadyrov

By Umalt Chadayev

CHECHNYA - That Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov was the “first President of the Chechen Republic" and his son Ramzan the “worthy continuer of the work of his great father” are things that only the very lazy in Chechnya do not know. Posters, banners, enormous panels and murals with pictures of Kadyrov father and son, the former and the current leaders of the republic, are encountered in the republic at almost every step.

Both men are constantly mentioned in the media. Songs are composed about them, stories are written, documentary films and television and radio programmes made. The republic’s highest decoration – the Order of Akhmat Kadyrov – has been founded in honour of the former Chechen President. Many Chechens consider that it all amounts to nothing less than a new cult of personality. The personality cult of Kadyrov senior might only be overshadowed by that of his son.

No one in Grozny pays attention to the portraits and posters of Kadyrov senior any more, or the renaming of streets and squares after him. People are simply accustomed to it all, including the assiduously propagated cult of father and son.

In some instances, however, the mention of Akhmat Kadyrov’s name helps to solve serious problems. It was by this means, in particular, that residents of the village of Samashki were able to resolve their conflict with the republic’s ministry of culture.

"We had a mosque in our village, but it was built before the "first war" in a rather inconvenient location. Not only did it stand on the edge of the village, but it was also situated in the grounds of the old Christian cemetery. Because of that, some local people preferred not to worship there, and stayed at home to do so. Then the war began, and the mosque was destroyed by the soldiers," Anzor, a local resident, told Prague Watchdog’s correspondent.

"Then it was decided to establish the mosque in the building of a former club located in the centre of the village. The good thing is that it was a convenient site, and no extra costs or capital investments were required. The mosque began to function, more or less,” he says.

"However, recently serious problems started to emerge. Some representatives of the culture ministry appeared out of the blue and demanded that the building should be returned to them. They also laid particular emphasis on the notion that the republic is rising from the ruins, being reborn, that we must urgently start to develop our culture, and so on.“

"Of course, no one is going to make another building available for use as a mosque, and people simply don’t have the money to build a new one. Things were looking pretty black, but then one parishioner had an idea for a way out. At his insistence, the former club was declared a mosque in the name of Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov, and a large portrait of the ex-president was hung up on the premises. Now the people from the culture ministry don’t bother us any more. Who would dare to demand the return of a building called the Akhmat Kadyrov Mosque? No one, of course," says Anzor. “So we were able to keep our mosque."

However, actions of this kind have not been endorsed by all local residents. "I am categorically opposed to naming the mosque after anyone, let alone displaying portraits there. For one thing, a mosque is the house of God. People come here to offer their prayers to the Creator, to talk with God, away from worldly concerns and fears," says Sayd-Khasan, a student at the Islamic Institute. "How can the house of God be named in honour of a human being?“

"Besides, our religion prohibits making images of people and animals," he continues. "Yet here a portrait is being hung up in a mosque. I can understand that people have done it solely in order not to lose their building and be able to go on holding communal prayers. But this is not a solution. We must be honest not only before God, but also before one another. The foundations of Islam can’t be transgressed like this. It’s fundamentally wrong," he is convinced.

(D/T)