Abdulla Telman Alishayev (; died 2 September 2008) was a Russian

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

i journalist and writer. Alishayev was the television host of a popular mainstream

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

television station in the

Republic of Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

, a multi-ethnic Russian republic within the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

region.

Career

Alishayev hosted a popular Islamic themed television program called ''Peace to Your Home'', which aired on TV Chirkey (TV-Chirkei), a mainstream Muslim television station. He was a prominent opponent of

fundamentalist Islam Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qutb ...

within

and Russia. He had recently hosted and aired a documentary on TV Chirkey criticizing radical forms of Islam. Alishayev was particularly critical of

Wahhabism Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to oth ...

, which had taken root in neighboring

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

, and actively advocated for more moderate forms of Islam.

Death

Alishayev was shot in the head and shoulder by two unknown assailants while driving his car on the evening of 2 September 2008. The attack took place in the Dagestani capital city,

Makhachkala Makhachkala, previously known as Petrovskoye (1844–1857) and Port-Petrovsk (1857–1921), or by the local Kumyk language, Kumyk name of Anji, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Dagestan, Russia. ...

. He was rushed to Makhachkala's Central Hospital, where he was operated on. However, Alishayev died on 3 September 2008. His funeral was attended by over 1,000 people. Alishayev's killing came less than three days after the police shooting of journalist and businessman

Magomed Yevloyev Magomed Yakhyаvich Yevloyev (Магомед Яхьявич Евлоев; 22 November 1971 – 31 August 2008) was a Russian journalist, lawyer, and businessman, and the owner of the news website Ingushetiya.ru, known for being highly critical o ...

, the owner of Ingushetiya.ru, in the nearby

Republic of Ingushetia Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land border ...

Reaction

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

spokesman

Sean McCormack Sean McCormack (born 1964) is the Vice President of Communications at Chevron U.S.A. Inc. McCormack is responsible for corporate and brand communications, in addition to reputation management, employee and executive communications. He is a forme ...

said of the killing of Alishayev that "There needs to be people held to account for what happened. There is in Russia itself, unfortunately, a sad recent history of violence against journalists who are merely seeking to do their job. And the kinds of threats, intimidation, and violence that's used against a free press or those seeking to work in a free press in Russia have been unacceptable."

References

External links

Абдулла - хаджи Алишаев
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alishayev, Abdulla 2008 deaths People from Dagestan Journalists killed in Russia People murdered in Russia Murdered Russian journalists Deaths by firearm in Russia 1969 births