Women in niqabs reportedly stopped by security forces in Daghestan

Several Daghestani Telegram channels have reported that security forces have begun stopping, and at times detaining women wearing niqabs in Khasavyurt.

On Sunday, blogger Rasul Asad wrote on Telegram that he had received messages that young women in niqabs were being detained and taken to a police station in Khasavyurt, a city 70 kilometres west of the Daghestani capital, Makhachkala.

The niqab is a head covering worn by some Muslim women that leaves only the eyes visible. Several Central Asian countries, including Tajikistan, have banned the niqab. In Russia, restrictions are only in place in Chechnya, while religious officials in two other regions — Daghestan and Karachay–Cherkessia — have issued temporary religious bans.

‘One of the videos we received shows two girls being carefully placed in a police car. One of them has a medical mask on her face. Similar messages and videos about raids in Khasavyurt are also being distributed via WhatsApp, including fake ones’, Asad wrote.

He noted, however, that only those who did not have documents on them were being detained.

The day prior, the Telegram channel serdalo_ingushetii shared two videos, both of which showed a crowd of people gathering around a police car with flashing lights. The attached caption stated that operation ‘NIQAB’ was taking place in Khasavyurt, noting that if someone had missing documents, they would be sent to the police station to establish their identity.

Videos and comments spread on social media throughout Saturday and Sunday, with commenters questioning why the women were being detained.

On Sunday afternoon, Daghestan’s Ministry of National Policy and Religious Affairs confirmed that ‘operational and investigative measures’ were being carried out in Khasavyurt ‘to find persons suspected of committing a crime’, but denied that only women and girls wearing niqabs were being detained.

‘The girls in the videos distributed on social networks were detained by law enforcement agencies in order to establish their identity, since they did not have documents with them. All actions are carried out within the framework of current legislation. The situation is under control, and law enforcement agencies are working to ensure the safety of all citizens’, the ministry wrote on Telegram

They also denied ‘anonymous and provocative’ reports that the Muftiate of Daghestan was involved in the detentions. The Muftiate is the traditional representative body of local Muslims.

‘Such fake news is an attempt to sow mistrust between believers and religious institutions, to distract from real problems and to cause division in our society’, the ministry wrote.

‘Do not allow provocateurs to play on your feelings and destroy trust in law enforcement agencies, whose main task is to ensure law and order and the safety of citizens, as well as the clergy of the republic, who are engaged in the spiritual and moral education of the population’, the statement continued.

On 1 July 2024, the Mufti of Daghestan, Akmad-Afandi Abdullayev, announced a fatwa banning a niqab. His decision followed a series of attacks on churches and synagogues in Makhachkala and Derbent. The fatwa is a spiritual reason and does not carry legal weight.

The following day, the head of the fatwa department of the Daghestani Muftiate stated that there were no grounds for a general ban on the niqab, but that a temporary ban could be introduced for security reasons.

On 3 July, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Daghestan officially announced that a ban on wearing the niqab would remain in effect until a new theological opinion was given, which is how the situation has remained.

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OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova