Islam in the Post-Soviet Caucasus
On Sunnis, Shiites, Sufis, and Salafis
Sofie Bedford, Emil Souleimanov
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In the Caucasus, Islam is represented in various forms. The Northern Caucasus is marked by Sunni Sufi-brotherhoods. Elites and laymen there see religion as the source of political legitimacy. The Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence is present in the Northwest Caucasus. In Azerbaijan, the Twelver Shia Islam spread by the Iranian Safavid dynasty predominates, and, as in the Northwest Caucasus, Islam is largely limited to the realm of spirituality. But there, too, Salafis are calling into question the authority of official Islam.
(Osteuropa 7-10/2015, pp. 71–92)