Nine Days in Russia (Part 3)
Taken from the travelogue ‘Safar dar Safar’ by Hadhrat Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani (dāmat barakātuhum). English translation by Kaiser Nizamani. Edited by Al Balagh editorial team.
(Shawwal 1427 AH / November 2006 CE)
Praise and glory be for that Being who bestowed existence to the universe
and
peace and blessings be upon His Final Messenger H who elevated the Truth in the world.
A Night on Mount Qaf
We left after lunch with quite a long journey before us. About one hundred kilometers from here is a village known as Bugdel, where a large gathering of scholars from far and wide had been planned, and we also had to spend the night there. We performed maghrib prayer in a mosque on our way and thereafter resumed our journey. The entire region of Daghestan is surrounded by Qaf mountain range to the west. This mountain range is known as Mount Caucasus[1] and is also shortened to Mount Qaf. At the very peak of a mountain in this mountain range is a village named Bugdel. With respect to Mount Qaf, various talismanic tales are famous in the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Especially children imagine it to be a supernatural region inhabited by Jinns and fairies, and God knows why the fable-makers chose Mount Qaf for their imaginary tales. Nonetheless, it is true that the entire chain of Mount Qaf is extraordinary in terms of both natural landscapes as well as the beauty of its people.
When we arrived at the foot of the mountain on whose peak the village of Bugdel is located, the moon of the thirteenth was shining in all its glory and splendour, with the mountain and village aglow under a sheet of silver moonlight. Our car scaled the mountain and came to a stop next to a mosque at the very peak, where people were preparing for isha prayer.
I was completely drained and worn out after the entire day’s journey and did not find any energy to address a gathering. In consideration of this, my hosts had planned a gathering for the morning instead of night. However, a very large crowd sat waiting in the mosque after the prayer, and our hosts requested to have a common conversation with them without any formal speech. When I arrived in the midst of the gathering, I found a large number of scholars sitting around the pulpit with great love and devotion, with a very big crowd of common Muslims sitting around them. The noble scholars welcomed this lowly one with great warmth and affection. Some of the scholars brought books which their forefathers had preserved during the Communist era by laying their lives on the stake, which included some handwritten manuscripts. They informed that the village of Bugdel has always been a centre of scholars, and teaching and learning of religious knowledge did not cease here even during the Communist era, though it was done secretly in those days. The majority of Muslims in Daghestan follow the Shafi, school of fiqh. Thus, the fiqh-related books that are taught here are those of the Shafi, school of fiqh. They were speaking in Arabic language quite fluently, and after a short conversation with them, this lowly one appreciated that their scholarly ability and breadth of study is quite strong. And within one meeting, it felt as if we had known each other for years. Amidst these conversations, the most influential scholar of this village Shaykh Muhyi al-Din said to me: “A large crowd of common Muslims is also waiting for you. It would be good if a talk, be it brief, could be delivered”.
It was a blessing of the love, sincerity and religious spirit of those individuals that by this time, the fatigue and exhaustion had entirely melted away, and when I began speaking, the talk continued for about one hour. One regrettable information I had received is that from all parts of Russia, the youngsters who had gone to Saudi Arabia for studies, whether completing their studies or not, returned as fanatic and zealous “Salafis”. A majority of scholars in Daghestan follow the Shafi school of fiqh and they adhere to chains of Tasawwuf from a long time, and the Shafiʿi school of fiqh also accommodates a slightly wider scope with respect to bidʿat. Thus, those youngsters adopted a very aggressive stance here. They began opposing Taqlid of Imam Shafi and Tasawwuf, and some of them even began calling the old scholars of this region as mushrik (polytheists). As a result of this, disputes and disunity are increasing among the Muslims here.
In this backdrop, the topic of my talk was: “After getting freedom from the oppression and tyranny of Communism, what should be the mode of action for Russian Muslims”? With regards to this, I presented: “If there is any sign of Islam and Islamic symbols still existing in Russia, it is due to those very scholars, who put their lives on the line during the gloomy night of Communism and kindled the candle of knowledge of Deen, and sacrificed their financial interests and bodily comforts in order to preserve the imān (faith) of coming generations. Thus, the young Muslims here should appreciate their elders, and should also not forget that differences of opinion in secondary issues of Deen have always existed, but to issue Fatwas of Shirk (polytheism) and Kufr (disbelief) on the basis of those differences does not benefit anyone except the enemies of Islam. The state of Islam in Russia today is that as a result of the seventy-five-year efforts to eradicate Islam and Islamic symbols, the common Muslims have become unaware of even the basic teachings of Islam. The need of the time is to convey the basic teachings of Deen to them. In these circumstances, if seeds of dispute are sown here by igniting such issues as istiwa ʿala al-ʿarsh and the permissibility of Taqlid, then there would be no bigger tribulation to harm the Deen than this. Therefore, the only way of safety for common Muslims is to remain connected to their senior scholars, and if they have any doubts or reservations, then they should be resolved with mutual understanding and dialogue, and not debates and infighting”.
Alhamdulillah! These requests were listened to with attention. Later, people informed that the youngsters were also affected by this talk and the noble scholars also expressed satisfaction that Alhamdulillah the topic was very appropriate and beneficial.
The next morning, some influential scholars of Bugdel and neighbouring areas visited this lowly one’s accommodation, and Shaykh Muhammad Ramadan Sanmakhi as well, whom I had met in Khasavyurt. He undertook a long journey to arrive here. Besides Shaykh Yahya, I was not much introduced with any of the other scholars. At the same time, in view of the unbalanced ideologies rampant in the region, it is only natural to be apprehensive that any newcomer may spread misguidance among the ranks of the local Muslims. In order to be sure about this, they asked numerous ideological and ʿaqidah-related questions in a very dignified and courteous manner, such that it would seem as if they were asking in order to learn about these. However, I perceived that the real reason for these questions was to assess my way of thought, and when they received satisfying replies to their questions, they were delighted and affectionate beyond words.
At this point, I found it necessary to rectify a very harmful misunderstanding. Especially in countries which have gone through such a past as Russia, in my opinion the most beneficial work is the work of the Tablighi Jamat. However, certain misunderstandings had arisen among the local scholars with respect to the Tablighi Jamat, due to which severe obstacles hindered this work here, rather it is completely suspended in some areas. As I have mentioned before, a majority of Muslims here adhere to the Shafi school of fiqh, and the scholars as well as common Muslims are also acquainted with the Naqshbandi Silsila for centuries. Some passionate Salafi youngsters adopted a very aggressive stance against Taqlid, Tasawwuf and numerous local customs, and issued Fatwas of misguidance, rather even Shirk, on local scholars. Some of those youngsters began working under the name of the Tablighi Jamat, as a result of which the local scholars began opposing the Tablighi Jamat as well, assuming that this Jamat also advocated extreme views.
In this gathering, I expounded on the basic principles of the Tablighi Jamat and its mode of action, and said: “If a few individuals adopted extreme positions, then it is their personal action, and those actions cannot be attributed to the Jamat in any way. The most fundamental principle of the Jamat is to spread the teachings of Islam and to make the unanimously agreed-upon teachings of Islam as one’s focus of propagation. Such extremist activities are completely against the fundamental principles of the Jamat”. Alhamdulillah! Their misunderstandings were cleared up after elucidating upon these points and they expressed their intentions to cooperate with the Jamat in the future.
During my trip, I observed certain matters about which I wanted to give some recommendations to the local scholars. For example, it is a custom in the entire region that when the congregational prayer is about to start, the Imam would loudly say “Qul Aʿudhu Bi Rabb al-Nas”, and after the prayer as well, various kinds of adhkar are recited loudly, and someone from the congregation would recite the Noble Quran. Thereafter there is congregational dua. All this while, the entire congregation remains sitting. All mosques unfailingly follow all these actions. The local scholars informed that some of these actions are considered mustaḥab (desirable) in the Shafiʿi school of fiqh. I said to those respected scholars: “All these adhkar that you diligently recite are full of blessings in their own right, but unfailingly reciting them aloud before and after every prayer gives one an impression that they are a necessary part of prayer, and if even a desirable action is performed with such a level of unfailing regularity that it gives an impression of it being necessary or compulsory, then this is not permissible according to Shariah. Thus, you should ponder over leaving this level of unfailing regularity”. All scholars who were present took these words of mine with courteous acceptance and said: “This is indeed worth considering. At least this much should certainly be done that these adhkar should be left out sometimes, and it should be made clear to people that these are not a necessary part of prayer”.
This was a limited gathering in which only those scholars and elders participated who are considered leaders of young scholars. A gathering of all the scholars of the area was yet to take place. However, since we had to return to Moscow the same evening, the organizers of our trip considered it appropriate to conduct this gathering somewhere near the airport. To this end, they convened this gathering in a mosque of a city named Kaspiysk, which is about ten kilometers away from the airport at Makhachkala.
However, before leaving Bugdel, Shaykh Muhyi al-Din took us to a madrasa of his which is named Madrasa al-Imam al-Nawawi. Almost the same curriculum is taught here as in Shaykh Yahya’s Jamia al-Imam Abi al-Hasan al-Ashari in Khasavyurt. The heart was quite pleased to see teachers and students busy in lessons here. While walking through the village of Bugdel, it was manifestly felt that this is a place of practicing Muslims; Islamic symbols were evident in people’s faces and appearances, with ladies practicing hijab to a large extent, and all this is a result of the sacrifices of those scholars who went through perilous hardships and protected the Deen and the knowledge of Deen more than their own lives. رحمهم الله تعالي وأجزل لهم أجراً
From here, we travelled about two hours and entered the city of Kaspiysk. A large gathering of scholars was waiting for us in a magnificent central mosque here. Instead of a formal speech, the organizers had arranged a question-and-answer session. Scholars from the city and surrounding areas had gathered, and they mostly asked regarding fiqh-related issues faced in the country. This session continued for about two hours and ended with zuhr prayer. After zuhr prayer, our hosts took us to a nearby house where lunch had been arranged. Shaykh Muhyi al-Din informed that this house was the residence of a senior Shaykh during Communist era and his clandestine lessons would take place here, and that he himself had attended his lessons here.
Kaspiysk is a beautiful small city located on the bank of the Caspian Sea. After asr prayer, before heading for the airport, our hosts took us to a very pleasant site at the seashore. Before our eyes were the azure waves of the Caspian Sea playing with the seashore. In ancient books of history and geography, this sea is sometimes called Khazar Sea and sometimes Qazvin Sea, while in the present era it is known as the Caspian Sea, and it is not farfetched if Caspian were a mutilated form of Qazvin. It is a sea surrounded by land on all sides such that it is not connected to any big sea. Such seas are known as Inland Seas in geographical terminology. Of such seas, this is the largest in the world, whose length North to South is 1200 kilometers and average width is 320 kilometers, with a total basin area of 371,000 square kilometers. About eighty percent of this sea is located in Russia and at the south-east border of Europe, and the remaining part is spread across Iran. Qazvin is a city in Iran and is located on the bank of this sea, due to which it is also known as Qazvin Sea. The famous Volga River of Russia drains into this sea, and the city of Kaspiysk has been named after the Russian name of this sea.
A leisure park is built on the seashore from where the view of the sea is very beautiful. We were welcomed by icy winds when we reached there, and shortly rain-laden clouds began drizzling. Our convoy thus could not enjoy this scene for much long, and we departed for the airport. A large number of scholars from Bugdel and surrounding areas arrived at the airport to see us off, and until the announcement to board the plane was not made, we continued discussing various issues, and novel expressions for articulating their love were heard from each and every individual. Even though we had met only two or three times, it felt as if we had been on warm terms since years, and we eventually boarded the aircraft with deep impressions of their love engraved upon our hearts.
(…to be continued)
[1] Translator: Mount Qafqāz in Arabic and Urdu