Критика лжешейхства в работах дагестанских реформаторов-просветителей первой трети ХХ в. (по материалам арабоязычного журнала «Байан ал-хакаик» (1925–1928))

Abstract

The paper deals with an issue of “false sheikhs”, which was relevant in the early 20th century in Dagestan. The subject is discussed from the perspective of Muslim reformers who gained popular-ity in the region at that time. The ideas of the Salafism that penetrated Dagestan via the Muslim education reformers were met with a strong opposition from Dagestani theologists, mainly the Sufi sheikhs, who wrote a number of works in Arabic to disprove the Salafi teachings. Regarding the is-sue of “false sheikhs”, however, their opinions coincided with the ones held by education reformers, which is evidenced by the articles from th e Arabic-language journal Bayan al-haqa’iq. Dagestani education reformers, being generally positive about classical Sufism, strongly criticized some mani-festations of Sufism of the first third of the 20th century on the part of incompetent “false sheikhs”, who for their personal gain introduced some questionable innovations, conflicting with the very es-sence of Sharia, and thus discrediting Sufism as a legitimate branch of Islam.