Russian Supreme Court Bans Ingush Sufi Order Batal Hajji as Extremist
Russia's Supreme Court on 14 October designated the closed Sufi Muslim order Batal Hajji, which originates from Ingushetia, as extremist and banned it. Prosecutors link the group to attacks on security forces and to arms supplies to attackers.
Russia's Supreme Court on Wednesday, 14 October, banned the Batal Hajji brotherhood, a closed Sufi Muslim order originating from Ingushetia, a republic in the North Caucasus. The court granted a request from state prosecutors and designated the organisation "extremist", citing material support for armed militants in the North Caucasus. The ruling means membership of the order is now prohibited in Russia.
Prosecutors' allegations
Russia's Prosecutor General's Office says members of the order were linked to numerous attacks on police and military personnel in the North Caucasus. According to prosecutors, they also organised the 2009 bombing of the Nevsky Express train, which Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for.
Prosecutors also state that affiliates of the order helped carry out the March 2024 attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, as well as the assassination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov the same year, by selling weapons and ammunition to the perpetrators.
"More than 100 members of the order have been convicted of the illicit trafficking of means for committing acts of terror. Leaders and members of the community organized illegal channels to supply foreign-made firearms from abroad," the prosecutor's office said in a statement published on Wednesday.
Russian authorities designated the order's so-called "military wing" a terrorist organisation in 2023.
History of the order
The brotherhood was founded in the 19th century by the Ingush sheikh Batal Hajji Belkhoroev, a pupil of the Chechen Muslim mystic Kunta-Hajji (Kunta Kishiev). Membership of the closed order, which has around 20,000 members, is passed down strictly by birthright.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, members held several key government posts and had a near monopoly on Ingushetia's construction industry, until a clash with the republic's new Kremlin-appointed leadership led to their loss of power.
According to the exiled news website Meduza, around 100 members allegedly joined the Russian army in 2022 as part of the Batal Hajji Rapid Response Unit, which belongs to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's Akhmat unit within the Russian military.
