In the post-Soviet period, due to the weakening of Russian state institutions, under strong external influence, there was a steady process of politicization and radicalization of Islam and Islamic groups, as well as the emergence and institutionalization of non-traditional Islamist movements in the country. This process was aggravated by the weakness and disunity of traditional and official Islam in Russia, and the implementation of separatist projects in some regions of the country, primarily in the North Caucasus. Due to a number of reasons, objective and subjective factors, stable groups of radical Salafis emerged and gained foothold on the territory of Russia; they were initially institutionalized in some North Caucasian republics. Subsequently, the “spread of jihad” occurred practically throughout the entire North Caucasus, and then the ground for the formation of radical Salafist groups was prepared in the Volga region, the Urals and Western Siberia; there were also preconditions created for their emergence in the “Muslim enclaves” of Russian megacities.
Muslim Spiritual Directorates; Islam; Islamism; Salafism; North Caucasus; Sufism; tariqas; traditional Islam.