
North Caucasus
A ‘peculiar PR stunt’: how a fatwa on polygamy caused controversy and confusion in Russia
Multiple marriages have existed in the North Caucasus for centuries, raising the question, why was a fatwa needed in the first place?
Multiple marriages have existed in the North Caucasus for centuries, raising the question, why was a fatwa needed in the first place?
On 19 April, Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov told Russian state news channel Russia Today that civil registration of marriages ‘destroyed families’ and was evidence of mistrust between spouses. At the same time, Kadyrov denied that polygamy is legal and widespread in Chechnya, as is widely speculated in Russia. According to him, polygamists don’t violate Russian law, because they don’t register multiple marriages, and no-one’s passport says that they have two or three wives. He expressed s