Chechen female zikr...
Chechen women performing a zikr (dhikr), a Sufi mystical ceremony. By chanting certain formulas and controlling the respiration, collective trance can be achieved. These women are part of the Kunta Haji tariqa (a Sufi brotherhood/sisterhood), which in its turn is simply the local, Chechen version of the Qadiriya brotherhood, known all over the Muslim world.
Men are not allowed to watch or take part (don’t ask me how I pulled this off). As can be seen, they wait outside, in the courtyard.
The final sequence, ending on the blinding white of a soldier’s light reflector shows the atmosphere of Grozny by night on the eve of the first Russian invasion.
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29 сен 2024