At a general meeting, representatives of the republic's spiritual leaders, imams and leaders of police departments officially declared the fight against Wahhabism jihad, Chechen Mufti Sultan Mirzayev said Thursday.
First Vice Premier Ramzan Kadyrov and Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov attended the meeting.
"This decision will be passed on to all residents within the republic...we have based this decision on Sharia law and the Koran," he said.
Koran scholars, having studied the issue, concluded that Wahhabism is evil and harmful to both Islam and humanity, he said.
"If up until now anyone had been in doubt over the actions of those battling against Wahhabist militants, we have now justified their battle using the Koran," Mirzayev said.
Regional Imams have been told to explain the decision at city mosques.
Kadyrov said he supports the spiritual leadership's decision to declare holy war against Wahhabism in the republic.
"They [Wahhabists] are enemies not only of Islam, but of humanity, since they shed innocent blood and I see no other way of countering them, other than through physical annihilation," he said.
He called on the muftis and spiritual leaders to "speak to young people, spread the ideology of traditional Islam and teach the Koran, so as not to allow Wahhabism to infect the minds of adolescents."
