Georgia’s Muslim Kists – a special Sufi ceremony

I had read about the Kists who live in the Pankisi valley under the shadow of the Greater Caucasus. They came originally from Chechnya and settled here from the 17th to 19th century. They were accused by the Russians of kidnapping and terrorism during the second Chechen War but today this is a peaceful valley where most of the people are Sufi (although we understand that the Wahabis – with help from Saudi Arabia – are establishing a presence).

We wanted to attend a special Sufi ceremony, held on a Friday, in which the women pray at the Old Mosque which was constructed in 1902 and was the first mosque in the valley:

The women perform Zikr, an ancient spiritual rite rooted in Sufi mysticism and a way to achieve unity with Allah. The participants move around in a circle at an ever-increasing pace while chanting, singing and clapping their hands. The Sufi hymns are performed in Chechen language and Kist dialect.

Pankisi is the only place in the South Caucasus where women are permitted to perform Zikr in the mosque. Sadly, as you see from their ages, the practice will die out before too long, and the women are keen for tourists to come and enjoy the ceremony in order to keep it alive as long as possible.

So – we drove along the valley until we found the mosque and, to our relief, a taxi with three women – singers from San Francisco – arrived at the same time. We all donned our scarves and jackets and took our shoes off before entering a small room lined with cushions.

The local women arrived in drips and drabs, along with a few other very respectful tourists. And shortly before 12.00, when the ceremony was about to begin, an energetic woman arrived and told us that she had lived in the community for nine years, but hadn’t been back for five. She was greeted with enormous pleasure and before long, we were all in tears for her (the woman on the left is the returnee):

The women sat chatting, praying, teasing each other for a while.

Soon, the carpet was rolled up and the ceremony began. We had clarified that it was okay to take pictures quietly before it started. Unfortunately, two really unpleasant tourists with great intrusive cameras arrived after it had started – the young woman with her head and arms uncovered – and so the other tourists had to remonstrate with them to stop being so rude and disrespectful.

The ceremony itself was immensely moving – intense, spiritual, joyous and sad at the same time:

Once the ceremony was over, we all sat and did our best to chat – to say where we came from and to say how much we loved the prayer. Then everyone started having their photos taken so it was okay to bring out the big camera and point lenses:

Here are the women who sang and moved with such fervour:

The returnee who had been welcomed so enthusiastically was overcome with emotion at the end, as we all were:

And as we were leaving, the men started to arrive as the call for prayer sounded out: