Russia’s chief rabbi calls on Islamic leaders to condemn antisemitic remarks by Chechnya’s mufti
Russia’s chief rabbi, Berel Lazar, has called on representatives of the country’s Islamic community to publicly distance themselves from antisemitic remarks made by Chechnya’s mufti, Salakh Mezhiev.
According to Lazar, Mezhiev’s words — in which he referred to Jews as ‘enemies of Allah’ and accused them of spreading atheism — were ‘offensive to the entire Jewish people and the faith of Judaism’. The rabbi noted that such statements contradict the position of Russia’s Muslim community, whose leaders, in his words, ‘consistently stand for interfaith peace and mutual respect among followers of traditional religions’.
Lazar recalled that throughout Chechnya’s history, relations between Muslims and Jews had traditionally been peaceful. He emphasised that ‘Jews even came out to defend the homes of Chechens when, during the Stalinist repressions [during WWII], the authorities were deporting them’. In his statement, the rabbi expressed hope that Islamic leaders in Russia would ‘formally distance themselves from Mezhiev’s antisemitic remarks’ and reaffirm the Muslim community’s commitment to ‘peace and solidarity among believers’.
Lazar’s comments came on Thursday via his official Telegram channel following an appearance by Mezhiev earlier in October on the Chechen state television channel Grozny. During the broadcast, Mezhiev also claimed that ‘the source of Jewish ideas is Satanism’.
The state news agency Grozny-Inform first published a report quoting these statements on 25 October. After Lazar’s response, as Russian media outlets began citing Mezhiev’s words with reference to the Chechen agency’s website, the article on Grozny-Inform was edited, with the passages referring to Jews and Satanism removed. However, the original version of the report has been preserved in an archived copy and on the news aggregator BezFormata.
Mezhiev has served as Chechnya’s mufti since 2014, replacing Sultan Mirzaev. Before that, he held the post of deputy mufti. In December 2019, Mezhiev was re-elected for another term.
In September 2024, Mezhiev also became head of the Coordinating Centre of Muslims of the North Caucasus. In September 2025, Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov was awarded the order of this organisation — Order of the ‘Defender of the Sunnah’ (community of believers).
Elizaveta Chukharova
