The goal of this article is to provide a general overview of current research concerning the use of religious norms as an instrument of social regulation in the North Caucasus. The use of Islamic legal norms is an example of legal pluralism, i.e., parallel coexistence of different legal systems or their separate legal norms. The author gives a detailed analysis of two aspects of the use of religious norms to resolve conflicts in the eastern part of the North Caucasus. He considers alternatives to the use of these norms and also social factors that motivate residents to resort to these norms. The choice of the eastern part of the North Caucasus (Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia) as a research area is determined by the fact that legal pluralism is much more widespread there than in the west of the North Caucasus.