In the article the authors analyze the causes, course and results of the rebellion of the highland plains of Chechnya and Dagestan in 1825. The special attention is given to the Muslim religion, which acted as an ideological factor in the formation of military-political confrontation of mountain peoples of the Caucasus and the Russian Empire. Analyzing the role of the leaders of the movement, such as Bay-Bulat Taimiev, the authors come to the conclusion that at this stage of confrontation with Russia, the mountaineers were able to rally not only the strong hand of military leader, but also islam. The relatively recent adoption of islam Vainakh tapes, and therefore low religiosity has led to the fact that the Muslim clergy were in a subordinate position in relation to the military-political leadership. The authors also share the concept of «Jihad» and «Gazavat» and conclude that for the highlanders Chechnya this movement had the character for «Gazavat» or struggle under religious banners in defense of its own territory, while Jihad must be understood as a struggle for the spread of Islam. The important issue is the formation of the foundations of statehood of the Chechens in the military-political events, the organization of institutions of local administrative authorities. These measures have helped Bay-Bulat to consolidate disparate and often warring highland society a common goal, and islam helped to overcome the intergeneric and intertribal tensions and marked the beginning of the folding of the Chechen nation. All this the authors parse based on the extensive material, including unpublished archival sources.