 Ultimately, this led to the politicization of religion generally and Islam specifically as it created a class of Circassian nobles and clergy that were beholden to Turkish interests, while it also splintered the unity of Circassians; in the 1840s, the fact that many Circassians still remained Christian and pagan, especially among the Natuhay and Shapsug tribes, incurred the wrath of Imam Shamil's third naib, Mohammad Amin.Still today, Circassians are divided between a Muslim majority, pockets of Catholic and Orthodox Christians mainly among the Kabardins, and those who have revived the old pre-Islamic and pre-Christian religious philosophy.In Circassia, the Russians faced disorganized but continuous resistance.