Ismail Berdiyev

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Aliyevich and the family name is Berdiyev.

Ismail Aliyevich Berdiyev (Karachay-Balkar: Бердилени Алиини джашы Исмаил-хаджи, romanized: Berdileni Aliini jashy Ismail-khaji; Russian: Исмаил Алиевич Бердиев; 27 February 1954 – 5 August 2024) was a Russian Sunni mufti from Karachay-Cherkessia. He gained worldwide attention when he proclaimed that "all women" should be subjected to the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Ismail Berdiyev
Бердилени Исмаил-хаджи
Berdiyev in 2016
Title	Mufti
Personal
Born	(1954-02-27)27 February 1954 Belye Body, Kazakh SSR, USSR (now Aqsukent, Kazakhstan)
Died	5 August 2024(2024-08-05) (aged 70)
Religion	Islam
Era	Modern
Denomination	Sunni
Alma mater	Mir-i Arab mаdrаsasi, Bukhara; Imam Ismail al-Bukhari Islamic Institute, Tashkent.

Biography

Ismail Berdiyev was born on 27 February 1954 in the village of Belye Body in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (now Aqsukent in Kazakhstan), where his parents were expelled from North Caucasus with other Karachay people, when they were accused of collaboration with the Nazis in 1943 by Soviet regime. He returned to Karachay-Cherkessia with his family in 1957.

Berdiyev died on 5 August 2024, at the age of 70.

Controversies

Female genital mutilation

Berdiyev, the mufti of Russia's North Caucasus region of Karachayevo-Cherkessia, stated that FGM 'does not contradict the dogmas of Islam', and that this was a way to 'eliminate sexual depravity'. He also claimed this was a way to reduce 'lechery' and 'sexuality', stating that "All women should be cut, so that there is no depravity on Earth..." The mufti made his comments following publication of a report by the Russian Justice Initiative (RJI), stating that FGM is widespread in some parts of Dagestan. He was supported by Vsevolod Chaplin, a former spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church.