Analysts explained the reasons for the popularity of healers and fortune-tellers in Chechnya

The popularity of healers and fortune-tellers in Chechnya is due to the residents' distrust of official medicine and the need for psychological support in the context of the harsh policies of the authorities, analysts interviewed by "Caucasian Knot" believe. In their opinion, the public persecution of occultists in the republic does not eliminate the demand for their services, but only contributes to the growing interest in them.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on July 13, a video report from the state television channel "Grozny" about the suppression of a witch's activities spread on social media. The head of the Islamic Medicine Center, Adam Elzhurkaev, reprimanded a resident of Grozny who was allegedly engaged in occultism. The authorities' report on the suppression of the witch's activities provoked irony among the residents of Chechnya.

The popularity of fortune-tellers and healers in Chechnya is influenced by the local residents' distrust of official medicine, noted the administrator of one of the opposition internet resources to the Chechen authorities.

"The healthcare system in Chechnya is unable to provide people with quality assistance, which forces them to turn to folk remedies and mysticism out of despair," he said anonymously to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

Due to the harsh policies of the authorities, the residents of the republic need human compassion and psychological relief, which they cannot obtain in state institutions, he continued. "Visiting a healer or fortune-teller becomes the only accessible and relatively confidential way for many to express themselves, find understanding, and receive at least some illusion of support," the analyst explained.

Public condemnations and humiliating apologies on camera have the opposite effect, as they turn the persecuted healers into a kind of victims of the regime in the eyes of the residents of Chechnya, he believes.

"When state propaganda continuously airs stories about 'powerful sorcerers' who ruin lives, the average person involuntarily begins to believe in their real supernatural power," noted the administrator of the internet resource.

Persecution by the authorities not only drives the market for occult services underground but also increases interest from residents in it. The fact that the authorities persecute not only the occultists themselves but also their clients is an indicator of the ineffectiveness of the fight against the supply of occult services, which has led to a shift towards suppressing demand, he emphasized.

"The shift to harassment and public humiliation of ordinary clients is a clear acknowledgment of the regime's impotence and inability to eradicate what is dictated by human nature and the harsh life in the republic. Instead of addressing real social problems, [the authorities] expand the scale of persecution, trying to intimidate society to such an extent that people are afraid even to think about seeking alternative solutions to their troubles," the analyst emphasized.

The activities of the Islamic Medicine Center in Grozny and the persecution of private healers are a classic example of the struggle for monopoly in the market of sacred services under the auspices of the authorities, believes religious scholar Leonid Syukiyainen.

"From the perspective of orthodox Islam, the line between permissible treatment through prayers and what the authorities call 'sorcery' is often quite blurred and depends solely on interpretation. The state center effectively legitimizes the same transcendental practices: exorcising jinn, removing the evil eye, but does so in a strictly approved, 'licensed' format. Anyone who tries to provide similar services outside these walls is automatically declared a charlatan and a violator of religious canon," he told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

The situation has developed in such a way because in Chechnya, any spheres of public and spiritual life are under the control of the power vertical, the analyst continued.

"Private fortune-tellers and healers pose a danger not because they practice occultism, but because they do so autonomously, building informal connections with residents and accumulating shadow financial flows. The campaign against them allows the state not only to demonstrate protection of 'traditional values' but also to completely close this profitable and emotionally sensitive niche to the official clergy," he explained.

From a religious perspective, the line between permissible spiritual healing and superstitions often turns out to be extremely thin for the average believer, noted orientalist Dmitry Mikulsky.

"By legalizing the activities of the Center, the official clergy seeks to establish strict theological boundaries and monopolize the right to perform exorcisms, cutting off any folk superstitions that contradict dogmas. Thus, this is not just a conflict of two practices, but an attempt by the institutional Islamic structure to cleanse the religious consciousness of the ummah from the remnants of pre-Islamic beliefs and non-canonical mystical rituals," he told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".