User:Revolution Saga/sandbox/Ghazi Muhammad

 (غازي محمد ابن إسماعيل الڮمراوي الداغستاني; ГъазимухIамад; c. 1790 – 17 October 1832), called Kazi-Mulla (Кази-Мулла) or Kazi-Magoma (Кази-Магома) in Russian sources, was a North Caucasian religious and political leader who served as the first imam of Dagestan and Chechnya from 1828 to 1832. He led armed resistance against Russian expansion into the Caucasus until his death in battle in 1832. The imamate founded by Ghazi Muhammad continued fighting against the Russians and their local allies under his successors Gamzat-bek and Shamil until its final defeat in 1859.

After studying under several notable teachers, Ghazi Muhammad joined the Naqshbandi Sufi order and became a reputed Islamic scholar. He promoted adherence to sharia over customary law (adat), attracting many followers but often clashing with local secular and religious leaders. He initially advocated for passive resistance to Russian expansion, but further Russian encroachment in 1829 caused him to change his position. He was proclaimed imam in late 1829 and declared the beginning of a holy war (called ghazavat) against the Russians in 1830. At the peak of his power in 1831, he ruled over most of Chechnya and Dagestan. After a number of military setbacks in late 1831 and 1832, Ghazi Muhammad lost most of his supporters and was killed in a last stand against a Russian force in his native village of Gimry in October 1832. He was immediately succeeded by one of his followers, Gamzat-bek.

Early life and education
Ghazi Muhammad was born sometime in the early 1790s in the village of Gimry (Gimra) in the Koysubu confederation (nahiya) of Avar villages in Dagestan. According to the Avar-language chronicle of Hasanilaw al-Gimrawi, the names of his parents were Muhammad, son of Ismail, and Bagistan, and he had two sisters named Aminat (Amina) and Patimat (Fatima). His father (died 1823) was a learned man (alim) and a skilled craftsman from the neighboring nahiya of Gidatl. His mother was a native of Gimry. Ghazi means 'warrior of the faith' in Arabic; some sources treat this as a title he received after the start of the holy war (ghazavat) against the Russians, but according to Hasanilaw al-Gimrawi, this was part of his given name, and he was called "Ghozo" or "Ghazi" for short, like others in his village with this name. Modern scholars believe that Ghazi Muhammad came from an influential family of uzdens (free peasants) from the Gidatl confederation whose ancestors lived in the village of Urada in the mid-18th century. Having moved to Gimry, however, they were considered "rootless." The 19th-century chronicler Muhammad Tahir al-Qarakhi describes Ghazi Muhammad as a Gimry native "who did not have a large family on which to rely." The historian M. G. Nurmagomedov believed Ghazi Muhammad to be descended from the famous Dagestani Islamic scholar Ibrahim Hajji al-Uradi.

At the age of ten he was sent to the village of Karanay to study Arabic and the Quran. After completing his initial training, he visited other Dagestani centers of learning and studied under various respected ulama, such as Sayyid al-Harakani, the chief qadi (village judge) of Harakan. In 1825, he went to Gazi-Kumukh to visit the famous sheikhs of the Naqshbandi Sufi order. Although he is said to have initially been suspicious of the order, he soon became a dedicated member and studied under the Naqshbandi sheikh Jamal al-Din al-Ghazi-Ghumuqi. He also brought his close friend and distant relative by marriage Shamil, the future imam of Dagestan, to meet his teacher. After Ghazi Muhammad completed his initial training, Jamal al-Din took him to his own murshid (teacher), Muhammad al-Yaraghi, under whom Ghazi Muhammad completed his training. Al-Yaraghi gave Ghazi Muhammad his daughter in marriage and, according to some sources, granted him the title of sheikh and permission (ijaza) to initiate new members into the order. However, modern historians disagree on whether Ghazi Muhammad was considered a Sufi sheikh in his lifetime or just a disciple of Jamal al-Din al-Ghazi-Ghumuqi and Muhammad al-Yaraghi.

Popularity, reception, and rise
Ghazi Muhammad then began his career as mullah, teacher, and qadi in his home village of Gimry. He soon became famous in Koysubu and beyond for his piety and learning. He amassed a growing following, probably drawing most of his followers from the students and young warriors of the local communities. Sometime in the mid-1820s, he began calling on Muslims to adopt sharia (Islamic law) as the sole legal system and abandon the use of customary law (adat or urf). In particular, Ghazi Muhammad was in favor of the legal norms of the Shafi'i school. In 1826/7, he succeeded in getting the inhabitants of Gimry to accept sharia. Sometime later, he also introduced sharia in the other Avar villages of Koysubu and the adjacent nahiye of Salatau. Historian Michael Kemper writes that this probably entailed enforcing the application of corporal punishment for adultery and alcohol consumption, forbidding dancing, musical instruments, and usury, and enforcing an Islamic dress and moral code for women. He also had murderers punished or forced to pay blood money instead of being exiled. He demanded that Muslims show a basic level of Islamic knowledge, namely the meaning of the shahada (profession of faith) and the "467 great sins." Ghazi Muhammad and his followers punished those who would not accept his demands.

Qazi Mullah became one of the most prominent preachers of Islam in the Caucasus. His memorization of over four hundred ahadith allowed him to win many debates against rival preachers in the area. As his reputation grew, he was invited by many khanates and kingdoms loyal, indifferent, and hostile to the Czar. As a sign of humility and austerity, he refused to ride, but would walk.

During the early to mid-19th century, Russian political strategy in Dagestan included supporting local, indigenous law, known as adat. This was a careful and strategic investment against the growing religiosity and resistance founded on sharia law, which was championed by Ghazi Muhammad. The popularity and rise of Ghazi Muhammad has been attributed both to his charismatic personality and to an indigenous Dagestani population that had grown tired of Russian intrusion and reorganization of local land and resources. Due to conflicting local political, legal, and religious interests, the war led by Ghazi Muhammad has been characterized as a war in the name of Muslim resistance just as much as a war against Russian Imperial encroachment into the North Caucasus. While Ghazi Muhammad gained popular support for his religious policies and military tactics, he did not find widespread support among the region's other political leaders and indeed launched assaults both against local leaders who preferred to ascribe to ‘adat and against the encroaching Russians. As such, support for Ghazi Muhammad was not ubiquitous in Dagestan and his rise to power resulted in unrest among local political stakeholders.

Holy war
In 1829, he was proclaimed imam in Ghimry, where he formally made the call for a holy war. He also decreed that all wine should be destroyed publicly. In 1830, Qazi Mullah and Shamil unsuccessfully tried to capture the Avar capital of Khunzakh from the khanum Pakkou-Bekkhe. Following the setback, Shamil prevailed upon him to bide his time for a while, until all the tribes became united in following sharia law. In 1831, after a few months of quiet, he attacked Northern Dagestan, and met with success there. His guerilla tactics caught the Russians unprepared. By 1832 he was able to menace Vladikavkaz, however, the Russians repulsed the Mullah's assault, and when they took Ghimry, according to legend, they found Qazi Mullah dead but seated, legs folded on his prayer carpet, one hand on his beard, and the other pointing toward the sky The Russians took his body to Tarku, the capital of the Kumyk state, and gave it to the Kumyk khan, who had been loyal to them. The body was displayed in the marketplace for a few days, before being buried in the hills.

Writings
Ghazi Muhammad wrote a number of treatises of Islamic law, the most famous of which is Bahir al-burhan li-irtidad 'urafa' Daghistan (The clear evidence of the heresy of the elders who administer customary law in Dagestan). The Arabic prose version of this text has survived in manuscript form. There was also a rhymed version of the work, excerpts of which are quoted in two other Arabic-language Dagestani works: the chronicle of Muhammad Tahir al-Qarakhi, and Nadhir al-Durgili's biographical dictionary of Dagestani scholars. According to Michael Kemper, this work was probably produced in about 1826 or 1827, possibly even earlier. In it, Ghazi Muhammad asserts that those who follow adat instead of sharia are unbelievers and alludes to his debates with other villagers on this issue, probably in his native Gimry. He makes no mention of jihad against the Russians, nor does he explicitly call for violence against the supporters of adat. Ghazi Muhammad also wrote a prose text in the Avar language with the Arabic title Risala fi al-kaba'ir bi-lisan Awar (Treatise on the great sins, in the Avar language). Some later letters and epistles of Ghazi Muhammad are preserved, which generally dealt with issues of Islamic law.

Marriages and offspring
According to Hasanilaw al-Gimrawi, Ghazi Muhammad married for the first time when he was fifteen years old, to a girl from Gimry named Shabay, but the marriage soon ended in divorce. He married another girl from his village in 1816, but the marriage did not last for more than a year, as he was constantly away from home for his studies. His third marriage was to a thirteen-year-old girl from Gimry named Patimat. He had one daughter with her named Salihat (his only child) in 1821–22; she died at the age of fifteen. His fourth and final marriage occurred in 1831, to Hapizat, the daughter of his murshid Muhammad al-Yaraghi.