Akushali SHAFI JALAL, Rajab SHAKHABASOV
Akushali Shafi Jalal, Member of the Expert Council at the Caucasian Civilization Regional Public Organization (Makhachkala, Republic of Daghestan, the Russian Federation).
Rajab Shakhabasov, Chairman of the Caucasian Civilization Regional Public Organization (Makhachkala, Republic of Daghestan, the Russian Federation).
ISLAM AND THE SOCIOPOLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH CAUCASIAN SOCIETY
(A DAGHESTAN CASE STUDY)
ABSTRACT
The authors analyze how the religious factor affects the ethnodifferentiating and ethnointegrating processes in Daghestan; they are convinced that the sociopolitical development of the North Caucasian region (and Daghestan as its part) is largely determined by the specifics of religion and its development as a social institution.
Keywords: the Northern Caucasus, development of Islam, maddhabs, the region’s sociopolitical development.
Introduction
Islam as a concept occupies an important place in the minds of most Russian citizens (particularly in the Northern Caucasus) and is believed to constitute a threat to the individual and to society as a whole. This delusion is caused mainly by the media that describe radical extremist groups, terrorism, armed conflicts, etc. as a fundamental part of Islamic philosophy.
Many specialists assert that Daghestan is Russia’s most Islamized region. Statistics show that the region is……….