The majority of Kists are Sunni Muslim; however, there are still remaining small pockets of Christian Kists in Pankisi, Tusheti and Kakheti.
When the Kists first arrived in the valley in the early 19th century from Chechnya and Ingushetia, their religious practices included both Islam and their original Nakh religion, with some overlap with the indigenous beliefs of their highland Georgian neighbors.