24 January, 2026
As war broke out between Chechnya and Russia in 1995, my foundation in Chicago tasked me to visit Chechnya and provide humanitarian assistance. On my way back, I stopped at the castle of Imam Shamil in Daghestan, built around 185 years ago. A legendary Muslim resistance leader, he fought the Russians for decades in the nineteenth century.
A 30-year-old young man from Daghestan in the Caucasian Mountains, Imam Shamil (1797-1871), initiated the Jihad against the Russian invasion in 1827. He, along with his friends, set up an Imamate in 1828 comprising areas of Chechnya and Daghestan.
The objectives of the Imamate of the Caucasus were to bring the Muslims closer to Allah (SWT); implement the Shariah; challenge the non-Islamic traditions in the region and rally the Muslims towards Jihad against the Russians. After the shahadah of the first two imams, Ghazi Mollah and Ghazmet Bek, Imam Shamil became the third Imam in 1834 and fought the Russians for the next 25 years.
Under siege, the Muslims were outnumbered and outgunned. When people would recommend surrender, saying that Shamil was fighting a losing battle, he would respond: ―I know that eventually we shall be defeated. I am only fighting to buy time to produce a generation that would resist the Russians after we are gone!‖ In 1859, after fighting relentlessly for 32 years, Imam Shamil surrendered. He had lost the war but had turned the tide of history: his vision had won! Every generation after him has challenged and resisted the Russians, who eventually were forced to give the Chechens autonomy.
Today, Chechnya is quasi-independent with complete religious freedom, reaping the fruits of Imam Shamil‘s vision 151 years after his surrender. He was put under arrest and, in 1870 (age:73), was allowed to go for Hajj. He died in Madinah (1871) and was buried in Jannat ul Baqi close to Rasulullah ﷺ, the man whose Deen he fought for most of his life and spent the remaining in prison and left behind a legacy for all of us to follow. Under the shade of the throne of Allah (SWT), on the day of judgment, I can visualize the love with which Rasulullah ﷺ will embrace him. May Allah (SWT) accept his struggles and give us a few like him who can take this Ummah out of its plight and disgrace (Ameen).