The location of the Eastern coast of the Black Sea, where the Abkhazians originally lived, contributed to the fact that their ancestors were involved not only in the ethno-cultural and political processes that took place in ancient times in the Caucasus, Anatolia, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, but also in the religious life of these regions. Therefore, the main components of the religion of the Abkhazians are paganism, Christianity and Islam.

Paganism

The earliest pagan beliefs of the Abkhazians date back to the period of the existence of the Hatt civilization (III-II millennium BC). One of the main gods of the Abkhazian pagan pantheon was the god of thunder and lightning Afa. The oldest religious buildings of Abkhazia - dolmens - are also associated with this deity. According to the pagan belief of the Abkhazians, the killing of a person by lightning was considered a visit to the god Afa. The body of the dead was wrapped in an ox skin and hung on a tree. In the event of the death of noble people, after the “air burial”, a “secondary burial” was performed - the remaining bones were placed in dolmens.

The veneration of special sanctuaries in Abkhazia probably also goes back to the cult of the god Afa, in which, according to the belief of the Abkhazians, the god of thunder and lightning sometimes appeared in the form of swirling fire (ball lightning). One of the most revered places is the sanctuary on Mount Dydrypsh.

In ancient times, the Abkhaz also revered the goddess Dzydzlan, the mistress of rivers and lakes. She acts in the form of an insidious and vengeful, but at the same time full of charm, a mermaid. A special rite of begging for rain, which was performed in some regions of Abkhazia in the 20th century, is also associated with this goddess.

Starting from the time of the “Great Greek colonization”, the religious influence of ancient Hellas also went through the colony cities founded by the Greeks on the territory of modern Abkhazia. The Abkhaz have preserved legends about the hero Abrskil, whose prototype in ancient mythology was Prometheus. There is a belief among the people that Abrskil is still located in a cave inaccessible in depth in the village of Chlou.

Christianity

Even before Christianity, under the influence of the religious tradition of the Chaldean civilization, the Abkhazians already had some ideas about the one God Antsva (Chaldean Anu, "father of all gods"). At the same time, the Abkhaz got acquainted with the main events of the biblical history of mankind. In the Abkhazian folklore, fragments of the story of the lost paradise, the Flood and the Babylonian pandemonium have been preserved.

In the religious beliefs of the Abkhazians there are traces of the Old Testament religion, the influence of which came through the Jewish diaspora that appeared in the Caucasus from ancient times.

Christianity began to penetrate into Abkhazia from the middle of the 1st century. Three of the twelve disciples of Christ preached here: Andrew the First-Called, Simon the Zealot and Matthias. At the beginning of the 4th century, the first church institution in Abkhazia, the Pitiund bishopric, was established in Pitsunda, and in 325 the Bishop of Pitsunda Stratofil took part in the First Ecumenical Council. In the 6th century, Emperor Justinian the Great completed the process of Christianization of the ancient Abkhazian tribes and created the autocephalous Abaza Diocese headed by the Archbishop of Sebastopol (Sukhum).

In the middle of the 8th century, an independent Abkhazian Orthodox Church arose, which lasted until the end of the 18th century. In 1851, the Abkhaz diocese was created on the territory of Abkhazia, which was part of the Russian Empire. In 1885 it was renamed the Sukhum diocese. The Sukhum diocese stretched from Ingur to Anapa and by 1917 had 125 church communities.

In 1918, after the occupation of the territory of Abkhazia by the Georgian Mensheviks, the Sukhum-Abkhaz diocese of the then unrecognized Georgian Church was created. In 1943, the Russian Church recognized the Sukhumi-Abkhaz diocese as part of the Georgian Church. Since 1993, the Sukhumi-Abkhaz diocese has been de facto independent.

Today, there are 15 Orthodox churches (out of more than 150) and two monasteries on the territory of Abkhazia. In the capital of Abkhazia there is a Catholic church, a Lutheran church and a church of "evangelical Christians".

The majority of Abkhazians living in the territory of Abkhazia and in the CIS countries profess Orthodoxy. The main national Christian holidays in Abkhazia: Easter, Assumption, New Year (according to the old style).

Islam

The penetration of Islam into the territory of Abkhazia began from the time of the fall of Constantinople and the appearance of the Seljuk Turks on the shores of the Black Sea. In 1454, the Turkish fleet takes the city of Sebastopolis by storm, which is renamed Sukhum, and Christianity begins to weaken.

In the second half of the 18th century, three brothers of the princes Chachba, Zurab, Suleiman and Shirvan, were sent to Istanbul to resolve the issue of succession to the throne. They converted to Islam and refused to return to their homeland, since only a Christian could rule the Abkhazian people at that time. The Abkhazians stole one of the brothers - Zurab Chachba, baptized him in the Ilori temple and declared him the ruler of Abkhazia.

In the 19th century during the Caucasian War, when there was a confrontation between Turkey, Persia and Russia for possession of the Caucasus, a radical change occurred in the Islamization of the Caucasian peoples, including the Abkhazians. Ottoman Turkey put forward the adoption of Islam by the latter as one of the main conditions for its assistance to the Abkhazians and Adygs. In the first half of the XIX century. there was a mass conversion of Abkhazians to Islam (Sunni persuasion). Up to a dozen wooden mosques were built on the territory of Abkhazia during this period.

Today there are two mosques in Abkhazia. The number of Muslims in Abkhazia, according to official figures, is 1,000 people. Numerous Abkhaz diaspora living in Turkey and other eastern countries also profess Islam.

The main Muslim holiday in Abkhazia is Bairam-Kurban.

Hieromonk Dorotheos (Dbar), candidate of theological sciences, doctoral student at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki (Greece)

Islam, having arisen in Arabia in the 7th century, has appeared in the Caucasus since the 8th century. in connection with the Arab conquests. It begins to penetrate directly into Abkhazia, from the 16th century. from the beginning of the domination of Sultan Turkey here. In addition to political and economic reasons (dependence on Turkey, which was intensively introducing Mohammedanism), the spread of Islam was facilitated by the fact that the official Christian religion did not have sufficiently deep roots among the mass of the Abkhaz people and therefore was basically supplanted by Islam for almost three centuries.

So it was, however, among the North Caucasian peoples, who, however, were subjected to a much deeper Islamization under the influence of both Turkey itself and its vassal, the Crimean Khanate.

As Acad. F. .I. Uspensky, "Islamism had a tremendous influence on the fate of the Orthodox Christian world itself, as it spread to those areas that were originally Christian." The first of the Abkhazians to accept Mohammedanism were representatives of the upper class - princes and nobles. Many of them, especially members of the ruling house, were economically and politically closely connected with Turkey. The children of some Abkhazian feudal lords, including the heirs of sovereign princes, were brought up in the capital of the Ottoman Porte, where they learned the Turkish language and customs, as well as the tenets of the Muslim faith. So gradually the upper class became the pillar of Islam in Abkhazia. In the masses, however, Islam could not gain a foothold for a long time.

Thornau's words that "in the Medoway only all the Marshans and some minor noble families profess the Mohammedan faith; the common people tend to paganism" can be applied to other parts of the country without much change. Turkey used various methods - violent and peaceful - to assert its dominance. First of all, Islam was planted by all means, Christianity was suppressed, its monuments were destroyed.

At the same time, the "policy of supply" with essential goods (salt, iron, fabrics, etc.) was widely used in exchange for timber and agricultural products, as well as bribery, awards, gifts, granting various privileges to persons who converted to Islam, etc. e. An employee of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, de Scassi, wrote in 1820 that the Turkish government “with gifts, distinctions and caresses convinced the princes and the top of society in general to convert to Islam; at different times ... princes and young people gather for horse races in Anapa and other places; there rewards are awarded to the most courageous and dexterous. This custom, which is very popular with these (Caucasian) peoples, corresponds to their customs, serves to a high degree the policy of the Porte ... ".

The Abkhazian feudal lords were guided not by an internal religious conviction, but by personal gain, adopting a new faith. With other economic ties and political orientation, they just as easily became Christians again, as they had become Muslims in their time, especially since not everything Christian had time to be completely eradicated among themselves. The same author pointed out that the Abkhazian "princes, Mohammedans preside over the religious meetings of Christians and do not adhere to a single order of the Koran in their homes, which I witnessed several times" (at the same time, the statement that the Abkhazian princes did not adhere to " not a single command of the Qur'an" is a clear exaggeration).

Turkish expansion, and with it the spread of Mohammedan teachings, has been intensifying in Abkhazia since the beginning of the 17th century. Frequent Turkish invasions of Abkhazia and its gradual Muslimization caused the fact that in the second half of the 17th century. The residence of the Patriarch of Abkhazia, which had previously been in Pitsunda, was transferred to Gelati, near Kutaisi. At the same time, two mosques are being built in Sukhum. Up until the 19th century. in Abkhazia preachers of the Koran were scattered everywhere.

The Abkhazian people waged a courageous struggle against the aggressive policy of the Turkish invaders. So, for example, in his letter to Duke Philip of Burgundy, Tsar George VIII reported on the coalition organized by him in 1459 for a joint struggle against the Turks, "especially with those who are in Constantinople, because they are strongly at enmity with Christians." In this association of Christian rulers, "Prince Rabia of Abkhazia promised to come out with his brothers, vassals and with all his troops." In 1733, Turkish troops invaded Megrelia and Abkhazia. Destroying everything in their path, they broke into Ilori, burned the church, tore off the roof, and destroyed the painting. The Abkhazians and their ruler met the invaders with hostility, but were forced to accept Mohammedanism and promise to be loyal to Turkey. However, in the same year they rebelled, destroyed the army of the Turks and put them to flight ..., took a lot of booty, left Mohammedanism and regained their faith.

Abkhazia paid Turkey "kharaj" - a poll tax, which was levied on non-Muslims. According to Chardin, the Turks and "Abkhazians imposed tribute, but they did not pay it for long, and at present they do not pay at all." For all that, Mohammedanism in Abkhazia as a whole has become more widespread than in Western Georgia, although compared with the North Caucasus, excluding, perhaps, the Ossetians, it has taken weaker roots in the mass of the people. As for the peasants, they almost did not observe a single rite of this faith. Undoubtedly, during its almost three hundred years of domination, Turkey managed to a certain extent to impose its faith on the Abkhaz people and at the same time to minimize the influence of Christianity that flourished here for a whole millennium, for the restoration of which, with the advent of the Russians, it was necessary, as you know, to take extraordinary measures. . This is evidenced by both historical sources and the modern religious state of the Abkhazians.

The negative influence of the Muslim religion was also reflected in the fact that it not only did not counteract, but, on the contrary, actually even encouraged human trafficking. As is known, throughout the entire period of Turkish domination in Abkhazia, a barbarous trade in captives took place on a large scale, and the latter were forced to forget everything native, instilling in them devotion to Islam and Turkish customs. As soon as the Turks buy Christian slaves, Ark reports. Lambert - they "dress them in Turkish costumes and, as a sign of acceptance of a false faith, make them raise their index finger, and then force them to abandon the Christian religion and teach the rules and rites of the Turkish religion."

The main conductors of Islam in Abkhazia were the Turkish mullahs, who launched their preaching activities here. In particular, during the Russian-Turkish wars of the XIX century. The mullahs and other Turkish agents, conducting intensive agitation against Russia, spread, with the assistance of their government, all kinds of rumors in order to arouse hatred for Christians and force them to move to the "paradise" country - Turkey. They went around the Abkhazian villages and seduced the population into the Muslim faith, armed them against Christianity, calling for a holy war against the "giaurs" - infidels, who, according to S. Smolensky, who was in Abkhazia in 1859, allegedly want to make all Abkhazians slaves, to take in the soldiers, and to cut the hair on the head.

The influence of mullahs and Islam in general was not the same everywhere. In some Abkhazian villages, usually in those adjacent to large Christian churches, such as Bediyoky, Ilorsky, Mokvinsky, Drandsky, Pitsundsky, Lykhnensky and others, the influence of Christianity was more noticeable, while in others, mainly in the foothills and In mountain villages and communities (Chlou, Dzhgerda, Dal, Tsebelda, Pskhu, Aatsy, Abgarhyku, Achandara, Duripsh, Kulanurkhva, etc.), Islam prevailed. In some of them (for example, Abgarhyku, Aatsy, Kulanurkhva, Chlou, Dzhgerda, Dal, Amzara, etc.), small wooden mosques (atsyama) were built, in which public prayers took place on Fridays.

Some feudal lords, zealous in Islam, had separate mosques, such as Maan Katz, who, according to the old inhabitants, built himself a prayer house in Gudauta. In these villages, Islam has left its mark on some wedding and funeral rites, as well as other aspects of folk life. For example, in some places, at the conclusion of a marriage, an agreement (mekakh) was drawn up, which determined the material relationship of the spouses. There were also facts of bigamy and even tripartism. In cases of death of a person, a minister of a Muslim religious cult was invited - a mullah or a hoja (ahuatsia), who read a prayer (ahaphakhyara) over the deceased on the day of death, as well as before committing him to the earth and at a commemoration (Abkhazian Muslims buried their dead in a chestnut coffin, without a lid called "ataubyt").

In the cemeteries of feudal families, Muslim tombstones were often found, sometimes with epitaphs. So, in the Abkhazian State Museum, found by M. M. Ivashchenko in 1927, near the mouth of the river. Kelasur is a monolithic marble Muslim tombstone on the grave of Prince Hasanbey Shervashidze (son of the ruler of Keleshbey) with a broken off spherical turban at the top (works of an Istanbul master), on the entire face of which an inscription of religious content is carved in Arabic script. There was a similar tombstone in Laty on the grave of the Dalian prince Batalbey Marshan. Muslim epigraphic monuments are also found in other places in Abkhazia, mainly in the central and northwestern parts of the country, although in general neither Arabic nor Turkish writing was widely used here.

The spread of Islam was not hindered by the complexity of its prescriptions: confession of faith ("There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger"), ablutions, daily prayer, fasting in the month of Ramadan, prohibition of pork and wine, circumcision, giving alms and pilgrimage to Mecca ( hajj), since not all of these "pillars of Islam" were performed by the Abkhazians. So, for example, they did not know any ritual circumcision (except for individuals who nevertheless performed it in the past), they never refused wine, they did not particularly bother with five daily prayers (prayer), there was no great zeal to mark the "sacred" Mecca manifested (some in Abkhazia itself "found a particle" of Mecca - separate rocks of the river, springs, stones, shells, etc., which believers worshiped).

The basic tenet of Islam, expressed in the above formula, also did not acquire special significance for the Muslims of Abkhazia. The Abkhaz Muslim was quite zealous only in relation to fasting and the ban on pork. Many people fasted (“aurychra”, in contrast to the Christian “achgar”). The rules prohibiting pork were even more strictly observed. If at present only a few, mainly people of the older generation, still adhere to this ban, then in the past many Abkhazians, not only Muslims, but also some of those who were baptized and considered Christians, did not ate the meat of an "unclean animal". They even avoided eating in restaurants, so that out of ignorance "not to defile themselves with pork." Keeping pigs on the farm was considered incompatible with faith in Allah.

Even the proceeds from the sale of domestic and sometimes wild pigs were considered "impure". As a result of all this, by the middle of the 19th century, pig breeding in Abkhazia fell into complete decline, although not so long ago it flourished here. So, 145-year-old Mazhagv Adleiba said in 1930: “I remember when in Chlou, now in a Muslim village, there were more pigs than chickens now. "Pasha. Pasha was an Abkhazian, his last name was Gogua, he was stolen in childhood and sold to the Turks, where he received a military education." One of the indicators of the influence of Islam is the assimilation by Abkhazians, especially Abkhazian princes and nobles, of Muslim male and female names with or without the feudal title "bey" (Osman, Khusin, Ebyrham, Mahmed, Omar, Mahmud, Mystafa, Esif, Mamed, Tarif, Ahmed, Suleiman and many others).

The influence of Mohammedanism in family and social life did not mean breaking the old orders, habitual customs and ideas. It was a combination of Islam with former beliefs. Although formally the Abkhazians were divided into Christians and Mohammedans, there was not even a semblance of religious antagonism between them. Sometimes members of the same family belonged to different religions, for example, the husband was a Muslim and the wife was a Christian. The same could be with siblings, which, however, did not in the least interfere with their life together in the same house. Religious holidays - Christian, Mohammedan or pagan - were celebrated all together.

The weakening of Christianity in one of the first Christian countries in the Caucasus, which undoubtedly is Abkhazia, was due to a number of internal socio-economic and foreign policy reasons: the fall of the Byzantine Empire - the stronghold of the Orthodox Christian world, while the aggression of Sultan Turkey increased, feudal fragmentation and civil strife, some "revival" of communal-tribal orders and related pagan beliefs and cults, etc. All this created favorable conditions for the gradual falling away of the Abkhazians from the Christian faith, which, in turn, facilitated the introduction of the teachings of Mohammed among them.

Basically, the mullahs were Turks, they sought to use every opportunity to achieve certain political goals and assert their faith: they settled among the Abkhazians, sometimes married Abkhazians, learned the local language and customs, etc. However, the Turkish feudal lords and merchants with their assimilation policy and Islam failed to suppress the desire of the Abkhaz people for an independent national existence, to deprive them of their language and culture, to eradicate paganism, local folk beliefs and customs that were connected with the life of the people by numerous thinnest threads.

Here is what E. Veidenbaum wrote in 1908 about the indifference of the Abkhaz in relation to both official religions imposed on them: "Most of the Abkhaz consider themselves Muslims, although there is not a single mosque in the district and there is no clergy, except for some Turkish vagrants as mullahs Also indifferent to the issues of religion in the majority are those Abkhazians who recognize themselves as Christians."
Thus, the penetration and spread of Islam had some specific features in Abkhazia. Although Turkish Muslim missionaries were actively preaching here, the new religion found adherents, primarily among the ruling class, but among the masses of the people it could not finally establish itself.

Opinions like that "the Abkhaz have adopted Islam and are fanatically devoted to this religion," as K. F. Gan wrote in v. beginning of the twentieth century, are an excessive exaggeration of the actual state of affairs. However, one cannot deny that the Abkhaz have nevertheless undergone significant Muslimization. This is explained not only by the weakening of Christianity, but also by the fact that Islam does not change the class structure and cultural and everyday characteristics of the Abkhaz society, adapted to local social relations and the cultural level of the population.

S. Smolensky's words that "the Turks interfered little and only accidentally in the internal affairs of Abkhazia", ​​if not completely, then to a large extent corresponded to reality. The adoption of Islam by the Abkhaz, as a rule, was purely external. The local population very weakly adhered to the ritual and ceremonial institutions of Islam. Almost all Abkhazians, even after the adoption of Islam, continued to adhere to their old pagan beliefs, through the prism of which the Muslim teaching itself was perceived.

(The text uses materials from the works of Prof. G. A. Dzidzaria and Prof. Sh.D. Inal-ipa) The article is taken from the site: http://dpashka.narod.ru

"Abkhazian religion"

According to studies conducted in 1994-1998, in essence, the majority of Abkhazians practice their traditional religion (Abkhazian monotheism), even if they formally consider themselves Christians or Muslims. A significant part of the surveyed residents of Abkhazia, who consider themselves Christians, do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God, do not attend churches, do not take communion and do not observe fasts. Abkhazians who identify as Muslims eat pork, drink wine, do not circumcise, and do not visit Mecca. Judging by the polls, practically no one reads the Gospel or the Quran. All religious holidays - Christian, Muslim and pagan - are celebrated jointly by representatives of different religions and are reduced to a common feast.

Abkhazians claim that they believe in the One God - the Creator of all things (Antsva), invisible and omnipresent. Some religious scholars agree with this opinion. There is even a hypothesis that the Abkhazian religion is a unique example of primordial monotheism, the oldest religion of mankind - a relic that has survived to this day. But in fact the religion of the Abkhazians is pantheistic, since the tradition claims that Antsva has an infinite number of manifestations on earth (that is, he is Nature himself), he is not only good or only evil - he is the focus of both concepts.

A survey of the population of the Gagra and Gudauta regions conducted by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the fall of 1997 indicates a strong influence of the traditional pre-Christian religion on modern Abkhazians. Thus, during the survey, 199 people or 47.4% of the 420 Abkhazians who called themselves Christians admitted that they themselves or their relatives have traditional sanctuaries, or turned to such sanctuaries for help. For the rest, this figure is as follows: 163 or 66.5% of 245 Muslims, 34 or 47.2% of 72 who found it difficult to determine their religious affiliation, 27 or 37.5% of 72 non-believers, 12 or 70.6% of 17 pagans, 6 or 60% of 10 adherents of the “Abkhazian faith”, and 7 or 43.8% of 16 atheists.

Abkhazia, according to the Abkhazians themselves, is a land chosen by God for its beauty, and the people of Abkhazia are its trusted guardian. The positions of the traditional Abkhazian religion are definitely being strengthened. Abkhazia is guarded by seven sanctuaries-anykhs, the totality of which is called "byzhnykha" ("seven sanctuaries"). To date, the activities of five of them have been resumed, these are Dydrypsh-nykha, Lashkendar, Ldzaa-nykha, Lykh-nykha and Ylyr-nykha. The sixth sanctuary of Inal-Kuba is located in the mountain valley of Pskhu, now inhabited by Russians. Regarding the name and location of the seventh sanctuary, our Abkhaz interlocutors did not have a unanimous opinion, some of the respondents called Bytkha, the ancient sanctuary of the Ubykhs, as such. Less commonly, Lapyr-nykha, Napra-nykha, Gech-nykha and Kapba-nykha were called as the seventh sanctuary.

Priests - "anykha payu" (translated as "sons of the sanctuary") of the seven main Abkhazian sanctuaries can only be representatives of certain Abkhazian priestly families: Gochua (Ldzaa-nykha), Kharchlaa (Lashkendar) Chichba (Dydrypsh-nykha), Shakryl (Lykh-nykha) ) and Shinkuba (Elyr-nykha), Inal-ҟәyba (Avidzba).

Islam

Mosque in Sukhum

According to a sociological survey in 2003, 16% of the inhabitants of Abkhazia consider themselves Muslims. About 250 people are active Muslims, 130 of whom live in the Gagra and Gudauta regions.

Judaism

Orthodox Church

According to ancient church tradition, Christianity in Abkhazia was first preached by the Holy Apostles from the Twelve, Andrew the First-Called and Simon Zealot (Zealot), who was martyred in Nicopsia (present-day New Athos). By the 4th century, Christianity had firmly established itself on the territory of Abkhazia, as evidenced by the presence of an episcopal see in Pitiunta (Pitsunda). In 325 Bishop Stratophilus of Pitiunta took part in the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea. Pages of the biography of one of the most prominent Christian figures, Patriarch of Constantinople St. John Chrysostom, who, being in exile, died in the Abkhaz Komans. As a state religion, Christianity was established on the territory of Abkhazia under the Byzantine emperor Justinian the Great in the 6th century. In the medieval period, dozens of churches were built on the territory of Abkhazia, both large cathedrals and small parish churches. Many of the medieval temples of Abkhazia are outstanding architectural monuments. The most famous cathedrals are in Pitsnda and with. Mokva. By the XIV century. The Abkhazian Church already functions as an autocephalous Catholicosate, which de jure existed until 1795, when the last Catholicos Maxim died in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. However, with the fall of Constantinople and the beginning of the establishment of Ottoman rule in the Caucasus, there is a sharp decline in Christianity. By the beginning of the XIX century. on the territory of Abkhazia there are only local centers of church life. And only with the advent of the Russian Empire in the region begins a stormy, supported at the state level, the process of the revival of Christianity in Abkhazia. A significant part of the local ruling elite, headed by the sovereign prince of Abkhazia Seferbey (George), leaves Islam and accepts Christianity. In 1851, an episcopal department was established in Abkhazia. In 1875, the Athos monks founded the New Athos Monastery on the territory of Abkhazia. The Orthodox Russian Church begins to carry out active missionary and educational activities among the Abkhazian population. During this period, the first Abkhazian writing was created, the Holy Scripture was translated into the Abkhazian language. Before the February Revolution, the Orthodox Church, in essence, was the dominant religion in the territory of Abkhazia. During the period of Soviet power, the Abkhaz diocese was included in the restored Georgian Catholicosate. As in the entire territory of the USSR, the activities of religious organizations during this period were subjected to serious restrictions. As a result, several functioning temples remained in Abkhazia and the number of believers significantly decreased. Since the end of the 80s, as well as throughout the USSR, in Abkhazia there has been an increase in interest in religion, the first Abkhaz priests since the establishment of Soviet power appear. As a result of the Georgian-Abkhaz war of 1992-93. The Abkhazian church found itself in an extraordinary situation. In view of the fact that most of the Georgian clergy, headed by Patriarch Ilia II, openly supported the Georgian military invasion of Abkhazia, the local Orthodox diocese, after the defeat and retreat of the Georgian troops, de facto found itself outside the control of the GOC. Church life in Abkhazia began to be restored by a small group of parish priests who remained after the war on the territory of Abkhazia. They formed a diocesan council and elected Priest Vissarion Aplia as the temporary administrator of the Sukhumi-Abkhaz diocese. With his leading role, services were resumed in many churches, including those in the Abkhaz language. Thanks to the support of the Russian Orthodox Church, several Abkhazians received a spiritual education and were ordained to the priesthood. At present, the canonical position of the Abkhazian Church remains unsettled. On the one hand, all Orthodox churches recognize Abkhazia as part of the canonical territory of the GOC, on the other hand, church life in Abkhazia is supported by priests, who are mostly clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church. There are two unrecognized church jurisdictions on the territory of Abkhazia - the Abkhazian Orthodox Church and the Holy Metropolis of Abkhazia, the creation of which in May 2010 was initiated by several clerics who had left the subordination of Priest Vissarion Aplia. Despite the canonical difficulties, church life in Abkhazia is developing, new churches and monasteries are opening, during the service in churches the name of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is commemorated. Abkhazia is a fairly large center of Orthodox pilgrimage. The most visited holy places are New Athos, where the grotto of St. Apostle Simon Kananit, the temple of the tenth century, built on the resting place of the Apostle, and the New Athos Monastery itself, as well as with. Komany, in which the stone coffin of St. John Chrysostom is located, the source of St. Basilisk and the place of the third acquisition of the Head of St. John the Baptist.

Catholic Church

Literature

• Abkhazians. Digest of articles. M.: Nauka, 2007. - 547 p. See abstract. Two articles of the collection are devoted to the religions of Abkhazia:
  • Aqaba L. H. Traditional religious beliefs of the Abkhazians.
  • Krylov A. B. Modern religious situation in Abkhazia.

Notes

Links

Abkhazia is a republic with a long history. Being a strategically important region connecting the North and South Caucasus and having access to the Black Sea, Abkhazia throughout its history has attracted interest from various countries that at one time or another played a significant role on the world stage.

Until recently, Abkhazia was perceived by the world community as a self-proclaimed, unrecognized state entity, the territory of which is an integral part of the Republic of Georgia. However, on August 26, 2008, after the end of the so-called "five-day war" in South Ossetia and the operation to force Georgia to peace, President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev made an official statement recognizing the independence of the Republic of Abkhazia. This was the long-awaited legal recognition of the republic's political status. In fact, Abkhazia has been a sovereign state since 1993. After the victory in the Patriotic War of 1992-1993. Abkhazia declared independence and set a course for building a sovereign democratic state.

The recognition of the independence of Abkhazia by the Russian Federation was a turning point in the recent history of the republic. Today, everyone is interested to know whether the new subject of international law will turn out to be a viable state, because tiny Abkhazia is a unique fusion of various ethnic groups, nationalities, religions and confessions that have been coexisting relatively peacefully in this territory for a long time. However, the question quite legitimately arises: is it possible to preserve and strengthen the national and state identity in the conditions of such a mosaic and diversity of the society inhabiting this territory? After all, various ethnic groups arriving in Abkhazia, whether they are Georgian refugees, labor force from the CIS countries or repatriates from Turkey and the countries of the Middle East, can potentially become, among other things, the support of various external political forces that have their own interests in the region. It is well known that a serious integration role in processes of this kind is played by religion.

Religion in Abkhazia has always occupied a special place. In the conditions of a young state, it is the integration role of religion that is extremely important. It can act as a tool for uniting the people, building statehood, a source of moral and ideological values, a counterbalance to hostile sects that destroy the spiritual values ​​of the nation.

In addition, I note that in history the religious factor quite often acted as an instrument of the political game. Religion has repeatedly been an important auxiliary factor in choosing political priorities. In this case, the history of Abkhazia is the best illustration of the fact that, succumbing to a certain religious influence from a large state, a small country willy-nilly falls under its political power.

This article will attempt to comprehend the historical role that the religious factor played in the political life of Abkhazia. Perhaps this historical experience will allow us to reassess the current situation in the republic and avoid possible mistakes. The author will also try to consider the religious image of modern Abkhazia and highlight the existing problems of the religious self-consciousness of the Abkhazians.

Orthodoxy and Islam in Abkhazia. Historical outline

The role of religion in the history of Abkhazia is extremely great. So, Abkhazia survived the period of Orthodox Byzantine influence, the period of Ottoman protectorate and gradual Islamization, and after 1810, when Abkhazia became part of the Russian Empire, the resuscitation of Orthodoxy began here.

So, the penetration of Christianity into Abkhazia dates back no later than the 4th-6th centuries. AD In the historical work "The Life of the Kartli Kings" by the author of the XI century. Leonty Mroveli talks about the apostolic sermon in Abkhazia. “At the same time of the reign of Aderka, Andrey and Simon Kananit, two of the twelve holy apostles, came to Abkhazia and Egrisi. Saint Simon the Zealot reposed in the same place, in the city of Nicopsia, within the boundaries of the possessions of the Greeks. Andrey converted the Mingrelians and withdrew along the Klardzhet road,” reports L. Mroveli (1).

The Christian religion for a long time maintained its strong position on the territory of Abkhazia, which was greatly facilitated by Byzantium, which had a certain influence in the region. However, after Abkhazia fell under the influence of the Turks, i.e. since the end of the 16th century, the first preachers of the teachings of the prophet Muhammad appeared here. The Ottoman Empire tried to gain a foothold in the region and used the religious factor as one of the tools to increase its influence in this territory. “One of the methods used by Sultan Turkey to assert its dominance was also the planting of Islam and related monuments,” wrote G.A. Dzidzaria (2).

Religion in Abkhazia is in a certain sense an amorphous, very complex and multifaceted concept. Abkhazians were reluctant to accept new teachings that remained incomprehensible to them, and many who converted to Orthodoxy or Islam continued to perform the rites of the traditional religion (3). This is confirmed by an extract from the newspaper "Kavkaz" for 1868: "The Mohammedan religion in the region did not have significant success, the Christian one also did not finally take root, so the dominant religion in Abkhazia still remained pagan, to which, unfortunately, belongs now the main part of the population. Christians and Mohammedans, out of ignorance of the dogmas of religion, with the exception of a very few, are also imbued with pagan superstition, mixed their rites with pagan ones, and generally have the most shaky and distorted concept of God ”(4).

However, it should be noted that, nevertheless, gradually the efforts of Islamic preachers began to bear fruit, which was facilitated by a number of social and political factors:

Firstly, the Abkhazians already had rather extensive family relations with neighboring Turkey, which were established even before the establishment of the political domination of the Ottoman Empire in Abkhazia.

Secondly, in Abkhazia for a long time there was a custom to give children upbringing (atalychestvo). “A father, no matter what class he belongs to, considers it reprehensible to keep his children with him ... he always tries to give his sons, as well as his daughters, to be raised in the wrong hands and mainly Mohammedans. The children whom the atalyks return to their parents as adults, of course, not baptized, profess the Mohammedan faith and bring all the customs of Islam into their father's house ”(5).

Thirdly, an important factor in the spread of Islam was the fact that the Turkish mullahs were doctors, judges, and advisers. In a word, as K.D. Machavariani, “studied the spirit of the people and acted accordingly” (6).

And, finally, the fact that Islam took a political direction, i.e. with the confession of Islam, the concept of countering the influence of the Orthodox Russian Empire in the Caucasus was combined. Over time, adherence to the teachings of Muhammad became a kind of protest against the Russian authorities.

As is known, the representatives of the upper class - princes and nobles - were the first among the Abkhaz to accept Islam. Many of them were economically and politically connected with Turkey. Children of the privileged strata of the Abkhazian society often “were brought up in the capital of the Ottoman Porte, where they learned the Turkish language and customs, as well as the tenets of the Muslim faith and Sharia law” (7). In addition, with the strengthening of the positions of the Russian Empire in this territory, the local princes gradually lost their influence here, which also contributed to the transformation of the Abkhazian upper class into the support of Islam, and with it Sultan Turkey.

Over time, as a result of almost a century and a half of struggle, the Turks, using violent methods, coupled with political and social influence, achieved the spread of Islam in Abkhazia and thus strengthened their positions here, establishing their power over the region. “Abkhazians lagged behind Christianity, in all of Abkhazia there is only one church (functioning) and one priest in the village of Souksu under the ruler” (8), “Christianity was replaced by Islam” (9). The extent of the spread of Christianity and Islam in the territory of Abkhazia can be partly estimated according to the data of 1865 (10) (Tables No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4).

Number of persons by religion:

In the Sukhumi district

Table #1(11)

In the Bzybsky district

Table number 2(12)

In the Abzhui district

Table #3(13)

In Samurzakan

Table No. 4(14)

Judging by the above tables, in 1865 in the population of Abkhazia the proportion of those who professed Islam significantly exceeded the number of followers of the Orthodox religion. As noted in an article published in the newspaper "Caucasus": "... the preachers of the teachings of Mohammed, not afraid of failures and obstacles, went to their goal with strength and perseverance and sparing neither money nor labor ... The Christian religion is spreading here weakly. The Abkhaz clergy, almost without exception, do not speak the Abkhaz language, and the people are more willing to listen to a sermon that they understand about the teachings of Mohammed.” As can be seen, the Turkish preachers achieved significant success in promoting their religion in Abkhazia, thereby strengthening the political positions of the Porte in this territory, because the struggle for dominance over the Eastern Black Sea region occupied a significant place in the politics of Sultan Turkey.

However, it is worth emphasizing once again that the Caucasus and, in particular, the territory of Abkhazia, due to a number of circumstances, were of interest not only to Turkey. The Russian Empire also defended its strategic interests in the region, Orthodox preachers from Russia conducted active missionary activity here.

Under these conditions, the Abkhaz rulers had to maintain a precarious balance in relations with their neighbors. Given the current situation in the region, an unambiguous choice of its external priorities has become a necessity. On August 12, 1808, the sovereign prince of Abkhazia Georgy Shervashidze turned to Alexander I with a request to accept him as a hereditary subject of the Russian Empire. G. Shervashidze's "petition clauses" were approved by Alexander I on February 17, 1810. It is not surprising that the resuscitation of the Christian faith on the territory of Abkhazia begins from this moment. “From the moment Abkhazia was annexed to Russia, the government began to involve the church in the service of colonial policy” (15). “The last ruler of Abkhazia, Mikhail Shervashidze, a Christian, patronized the Turkish propaganda of Islam, because. had significant income from trade in Abkhazia. Thus, Mikhail Shervashidze patronized the trading Turks” (16).

At the same time, the actions of the Russian administration to strengthen Christianity in Abkhazia were becoming more and more active. On June 9, 1860, Emperor Alexander II approved the founding of the Society for the Restoration of Orthodox Christianity in the Caucasus. The functions of the society included missionary activity, the construction of churches, the organization of Orthodox monasteries, “the establishment of special classes at seminaries, the translation of holy scripture and liturgical books into native languages” (17), etc.

It should be noted that the educational activities of the Society were directed primarily to the outskirts of Transcaucasia, especially to those areas where Islam threatened the influence of Christianity.

It is impossible to ignore the role of the Orthodox New Athos Monastery in the spread and strengthening of the Christian faith among the Abkhazians. In the history of the founding and development of the Russian Orthodox New Athos Monastery, a significant role was played by the policy of tsarist Russia, which encouraged the resettlement of Russian monks from Mount Athos (Greece) to Abkhazia to establish the Christian religion (18). It is obvious that the Russian Empire patronized the monks, with the aim of consolidating their own political positions in the region by restoring and spreading Orthodoxy here. The policy and goals of tsarism in the Caucasus are perfectly illustrated by the words from the article by A.V. Vereshchagin “The Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and its colonization”: “On the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, as on the outskirts of the state ... should dominate: the Russian church, the Russian language, the Russian letter” (19). Thus, it is obvious that in addition to its spiritual and educational mission, Orthodoxy was used as one of the tools for spreading the power of tsarism in Abkhazia.

What is the role of religion in modern Abkhazia? We will try to understand the motley religious and confessional state of the republic.

According to polls, the ratio of adherents of various faiths in 2003 was as follows (20):

60% are Christians

16% are Muslims

3% are adherents of the Abkhaz religion

5% are pagans

8% are atheists and non-believers

2% - other confessions

6% w bothered to answer

In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Abkhazia, adopted at the session of the Supreme Council of the RA of the XII state convocation on November 26, 1994, the equality of all citizens, regardless of their “relation to religion” (Article 12), freedom of conscience and religion (Article 14) are guaranteed. At the same time, Article 18 prohibits “the creation and activities of public associations, parties and movements, the goals and action of which are the forcible change of the constitutional order, undermining the security of the state, the creation of armed formations, inciting social, racial, national and religious hatred” (21). So, by a special Decree of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia V.G. Ardzinba was banned from the activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect. At the same time, the government of the republic pays appropriate attention to religious issues. Under the President of the Republic of Armenia, a structural subdivision has been formed - "Assistant to the President for Religious Affairs", which is represented by the candidate of historical sciences R.V. Cacia (22).

According to the above survey, the majority of the population of Abkhazia professes the Christian religion. And, indeed, many researchers - Abkhazians note that the spiritual values ​​of the traditional beliefs of the Abkhaz are not in conflict with Orthodoxy, they rather complement each other. Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Abkhazia A.E. Kuprava, exploring this issue, writes: “The Abkhaz language itself testifies to the predominantly Christian moral and spiritual content - its vocabulary and speech culture is rich in biblical idioms, both Old Testament and New Testament” (23).

However, despite the apparent unambiguity of the religious position of Abkhazia, the current religious and confessional situation in the republic is not so simple. Yes, most Abkhazians recognize themselves as Christians, but at the same time, modern “Christian-Abkhazians” rarely attend churches, do not perform the sacrament, practically do not observe any fasts, are not interested in the basics of dogma, do not read the Bible (24). The same can be said about the adherents of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. The vast majority of Muslim Abkhazians are also very superficially familiar with the basics of Islamic doctrine. Therefore, the almost complete absence in Abkhazia of ideological differences and everyday differences between people who formally identify themselves as Christians and Muslims is quite natural.

The close interweaving of religious and ethno-political factors is a characteristic feature of the entire post-Soviet development of Abkhazia. As it turned out, the affiliation declared by the Abkhaz to Christianity or Islam is mostly formal, since it most often acts as a tribute to tradition, and testifies to what religion their ancestors once professed. Abkhazians are not at all characterized by religious fanaticism, which also contributes to the penetration of new religious movements here, their development and spread in the territory of Abkhazia.

(To be continued)

Elana ESHBA- postgraduate student of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow-Sukhum

Notes

(1) Abkhazia and Abkhazians of medieval Georgian narrative sources. The texts were collected, translated into Russian, G.A. supplied the preface and comments. Amichba. Tbilisi. 1986, p. 38.

Muslims of Abkhazia. From outcast status to full citizenship Muslim information April 18th, 2012

Muslims of Abkhazia. From Outcasts to Full Citizenship

The facts of terror against the practicing Muslims of Abkhazia cannot leave us indifferent. What, unfortunately, has become an everyday reality in the North Caucasus as a whole (I mean countless facts of extrajudicial killings and kidnappings of Muslim youth in the republics of the region - see the Memorial website) is “quietly” and imperceptibly introduced into Abkhazia as well. What is the matter, who is to blame and what to do? As a citizen of Russia and Abkhazia, I will allow myself some comments.

I remember how, during the time of President Vladislav Ardzinba, they were going to build a mosque in Sukhumi. But for various, objective and subjective reasons, construction was delayed. Ardzinba was an outstanding statesman and considered himself a Muslim. He spoke about this to the author back in 1991 (at that time, V. Ardzinba was the chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic), when we - the delegation of the Assembly of the Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus (AGNK) - visited Abkhazia. It was a difficult time for the republic, when it was necessary to clearly define the position of the AGNK in a situation of conflict with Tbilisi.

V. Ardzinba equally patronized all religions, both Orthodoxy and Islam, and on a par with them - the traditional Abkhaz faith, which for some reason, many classify, out of ignorance, as paganism. In fact, the faith of the Abkhazians and the corresponding rituals, which have rather survived to our times, are an ancient form of monotheism, faith in one God. What we call paganism is the result of later transformations of this ancient form of monotheism, and archaeological and ethnological evidence throughout the world testifies to this. Many peoples have gone through this stage of transformation (faith in the One God), while the Abkhaz have all this left in its original form. I am familiar with the relevant scientific literature on this topic; had a long conversation with one of the 6 or 7 priests in Lykhny, near the sacred stone and the ruins of the royal residence. Abkhazia is one of the few countries where the ancient monotheistic belief is still preserved. And this, by the way, was perfectly understood by the late Ardzinba, a sage, politician and historian all rolled into one. Therefore, he led a wise policy in regard to religion and confession.

Unfortunately, after the death of Ardzinba, there was a tendency in the republic to patronize only one confession (Orthodoxy), especially after the events of August 2008 and Russia's recognition of the independence of the republic. Over time, this trend began to intensify and the state authorities unambiguously demonstrated: which confession in the republic is in the first roles and whom they patronize. The myth of one of the first apostles of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him), who allegedly preached Christianity in Abkhazia as early as the 1st century AD, began to be introduced into public opinion. Any historian will tell you that this is a lie. In Abkhazia, it gradually became unfashionable, uncomfortable to demonstrate one's Islamic identity. The issue of building a mosque in Sukhumi was "safely" closed; the prayer room functioning there will accommodate up to 100-150 people. There are also prayer rooms in the cities of Gudauta and Gagra, but their space is not enough for all the worshipers. Nevertheless, the number of Muslims in Abkhazia was growing, and not only due to Turkish repatriates. It is possible that the new authorities of the republic, bound by the help of "Orthodox" Russia, adopted just such a one-sided attitude. To propagate the “correct faith” among students and pupils, exclusively Orthodox clergy were invited: at the Abkhaz University, even the notorious Islamophobe and Caucasian phobe, “professor” and priest in one person, “Father” Kuraev, was noted. Once, on the talk show “Right to vote” (3rd channel of TV), I had to “fight” with him when he insulted him about the North Caucasus. And these people are invited to Abkhaz universities for "Orthodox enlightenment." They do more harm than good. When the North Caucasian volunteers came to the aid of Abkhazia, no one thought about religious identity; they helped brothers in blood and culture, and not "Orthodox" or "Muslim" Abkhazia. They helped, among other things, because truth and justice were on the side of the Abkhazians. For some reason, the Orthodox hierarchs of Abkhazia do not want to remember this, and even some in the corridors of power. Of course, all this causes dissatisfaction, and even indignation among the Abkhaz Muslims, with whom the author had more than one or two conversations.

But what is even more terrible is the fact that in recent years a new phenomenon has emerged in the republic: the shooting of practicing Muslims and real terror against them. I'm not exaggerating. The last tragic case from this category was the murder of a veteran of the Patriotic War in Abkhazia in 1992-93. Kabardian volunteer Arsen Bzhikshiev in September 2011 in Sukhum. Before that, there was a very loud execution right next to the Gudauta "mosque", Pilia Rasul and the wounding of the Gitsba brothers, Rustam and Raul (October 2010). Over the past 2-3 years, there have been about 6 such facts, and maybe more. All these facts are known. None of the crimes has been solved, the authorities make some helpless statements, and the Orthodox hierarchs are silent. Obviously they are fine with it.

What is the reason for such a "reversal" in the religious policy of the republic? I think that the Russian security forces, which became very numerous in the republic after the war with Georgia, also played their negative role in this. I suppose that fearing the development of events according to the scenario of the North Caucasus, the Abkhaz (practicing) Muslims, the most active of them, began to be liquidated, just in case, for the purpose of prevention. Soon after all, the Olympics in Sochi. That is, terror against supposedly potential extremists and terrorists. Sounds crazy, but it's true. The "legs" of this policy "grow" from Israel. It is the local secret services that have been using this racist and inhuman practice against the Palestinians for more than 60 years (see the author's article in Mr. Zavtra in 2009 entitled "The Caucasus is not Palestine"). They, through the Zionist lobby, which is very strong in Russia, tried to introduce this theory and the method of counter-terrorist operations in Russia as well. I know this firsthand, the results are horrendous in Dagestan, Ingushetia and the KBR; except for Chechnya, where Ramzan Kadyrov put the federal security forces under his control, and he did the right thing. Israeli consultants and “experts” also fell for the Russian security forces, people who don’t particularly bother with geopolitical calculations and reasoning: who benefits from all this, and what are the strategic consequences for Russia? But Abkhazia is not Russia, and not the North Caucasus, although their ethnic and genetic brothers live there. It is this brotherhood that the new “friends” of Abkhazia, who do not know the Caucasus and do not want to know, want to bury; they "like" only her land, as a minimum, and as a maximum - let Orthodox and Muslims, Abkhazians and Georgians, Georgians and Ossetians, etc. kill each other. etc. Politics is ancient as the world: "divide and rule" is called. Today, another term is in use - "controlled chaos" on a scientific, allegedly basis.

This is the only way to explain all these events. There were no terrorist attacks, calls for the violent overthrow of power in Abkhazia, and I hope there will not be. Muslims have only clearly defined their religious identity. There were attempts to label them as “Wahhabis”, but in the MAM of Abkhazia they unequivocally indicated to the authorities, as far as I remember: show which Muslim you have questions for, who do you consider an extremist and on what basis? There is no clear answer, and it is unlikely to be.

I believe that today, in Abkhazia, in the context of the situation of Muslims, two problems are acute: the first is normal Islamic education and the organization of sermons at a high level; the second is to protect the lives and ensure the safety of practicing Muslims. I think that the Council of Muftis of Russia could help with this. Sympathy for Russia is very strong in Abkhazia, including among Abkhaz Muslims, including Turkish repatriates. But these sympathies among one part of the Abkhazian population can easily "evaporate" if the facts of terror against Muslims continue. In the public opinion of Abkhazia, since 2007 (after the murder of the Turkish Muslim Abkhaz, Rocky Gitsba and the hero of the Patriotic War of 1992-93), these facts are usually associated with the Russian security forces. It is necessary, I believe, to educate the Abkhazian authorities themselves in regard to Islam. After all, ignorance breeds distrust, and from here one step to cover up lawlessness. It is necessary to put under the control of local authorities and Russian security forces, acting uncontrollably on the territory of a neighboring state. This is the main problem, without solving which in Abkhazia we fully predict the growth of alienation towards Russia, towards our North Caucasian brothers, with all the ensuing consequences for both Russia and Abkhazia.

Khalidov Denga - Co-Chairman of the Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus, Vice-President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems