The article examines the religious practices of Ingush women who are adherents of the Kunta-Khadji Kishiev, a Chechen sheikh of the Kadiri tariqat. The focus of attention is the Kadiri ritual of loud rejoicing (zikr jahr) practiced by Ingush women since the late 19th century. This zikr is practiced by the female adherents of the sheikh in Chechnya, Dagestan and Georgia. The article deals with Ingush practices only: a comparative analysis would require more field research due to the lack of published works on this topic. The description of zikr practices represents the forms of spiritual life of Ingush women. The historical circumstances of when and why women were given the chance to participate in the loud zikr are shown, as well as the motives driving women, their age and social composition. The paper also examines how the practices were changing across times and how political processes influenced women's religious activity. The article addresses a wider meaning of the loud zikr in the society as a whole. The author concludes that the recent re-Islamization affected the age and composition of female participants in Sufi practices and makes a sort of disappointing prediction: if the current negative attitude towards female religious practices does not change, it is possible that they will cease to exist in the coming years.
