While most gulf states did not officially support or recognize the Chechen separatist government, the presence of radicalized foreigners from the Arabian peninsula joining the Chechen separatist movement contributed significantly to the rise of Wahhabism in Chechnya, which had previously been predominantly Sufi. Many Chechen intellectuals have expressed concern about the rise of Arabization in their homeland and condemned the adoption of sharia courts and other customs from the Arab world.