Lak

The Lak were among the first peoples of Dagestan to convert to Islam, as early as the eighth century, when the first mosque was built in Kumukh. The city became such a respected center of Islamic scholarship that, by the fifteenth century, it had established itself as the region's main political and religious hub.

Organized for centuries into tukhums, patriarchal clans with a common ancestor and collective property, the Lak developed one of the first feudal systems in Dagestan, with social layers ranging from khans to serfs. Modernization and migration in recent decades have weakened this clan system, but the sense of shared origin in Kumukh remains alive.

Rural life revolves around farming and sheep raising, often in a semi nomadic pattern, along with growing wheat, corn, grapes and vegetables on the land around the villages. Historically, each Lak village was known for its own trade: Kumukh for its goldsmiths and coppersmiths, Untsukul for its saddlers, Kumukh’s neighboring Kuma for its confectioners, and Tsovkra for its acrobats. Many of these artisans, especially the jewelers of Kumukh, emigrated in the past to other trading centers of the Caucasus in search of a market for their work.

Social life still bears the marks of the tukhum, the extended clan that decided marriages, resolved conflicts and answered collectively for the actions of its members according to the adat, the traditional Caucasian custom that predates Islam. Arranged marriages within the same clan and respect for elders remain valued, even as these structures gradually weaken in the face of urban life.

The Lak are Sunni Muslims of the Shafi’i school, with a strong historical presence of Sufism in the region’s religious life. Kumukh was for centuries a center of Islamic training in the Caucasus, and this legacy of religious scholarship still lends the people prestige and identity.

In daily life, faith is expressed through the five prayers directed toward Mecca, the Ramadan fast, and the weekly gathering at the mosque for Friday prayer, along with the two great festivals of the Muslim calendar, which mark the end of the fast and the remembrance of Abraham’s sacrifice. Islamic faith is intertwined with belonging to the clan and homeland: to be Lak is, in practice, to be Muslim, and this fusion of religion and ethnic identity shapes how the community receives any different religious message.

The Gospels of Mark and Luke have already been translated into the Lak language, but the Bible translation work stalled for a time due to the lack of a team leading the project. Since then the effort has resumed, with the publication of further portions of the New Testament, including Matthew, Acts and Revelation. Even so, the complete Bible does not exist in Lak, and most of the people have no access to these texts in their own language.

In Dagestan, being Lak means carrying an Islamic identity built up over more than twelve centuries, which makes conversion to another faith seen as a betrayal of the clan and of Kumukh’s memory. The region is also known for its strong resistance to any advance of the gospel, which isolates the few who draw near to the Christian faith and makes even a first contact with a believer difficult.

The Lak people need, above all, access to the complete Bible in their own language, since the translation work remains unfinished and depends on people willing to carry it forward, spreading the text across the roughly sixty villages where the Lak still live in Dagestan. The few who already believe in Jesus face isolation within their own families and clans, and need encouragement, protection and fellowship so they do not lose heart under the pressure to return to their family’s faith.

Beginning in the 1990s, some Lak in the cities began to know Jesus, and today there is a small number of believers among the people. The work of translating the Bible into the Lak language, resumed after a period at a standstill, also continues to move forward with the publication of new portions of the New Testament.