Hajji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...

Habiburrahman Shakir - also known by his

nisba The Arabic word nisba (; also transcribed as ''nisbah'' or ''nisbat'') may refer to: * Nisba, a suffix used to form adjectives in Arabic grammar, or the adjective resulting from this formation **comparatively, in Afro-Asiatic: see Afroasiatic_lang ...

, al-Bulgari ( Literary Tatar: Хәбибрахман Шакир, ''Xäbibraxman Şakir''; December 10, 1903 - April 18, 1975) was a

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

, theologian and publisher. He was born in Russia, presumably

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

, and became a part of the Finnish Tatar community when he arrived in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

during late 1940s. Shakir was known as a respected theologian in the Islamic world. Invited by the

king of Saudi Arabia The king of Saudi Arabia is the monarchial head of state and ruler of Saudi Arabia who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi Arabian royal family, the House of Saud. The king is called the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" (), a ...

, Shakir made a pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

with his wife in 1972. Before his time in Finland, Shakir worked as a teacher in India, where one of his students was the later-president of Pakistan,

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

. Shakir was in correspondence with Kurdish theologian Said Nursi. He has been described as being among the "first European followers of Nursi". Shakir was also in contact with Algerian nationalist

Ahmed Tewfik El Madani Ahmed Tewfik El Madani (also spelled Ahmad Toufik al-Medani etc.) (1899–1983) was an Algerian nationalist leader during the Algerian War of Independence (1954–61), and a minister of the GPRA, a provisional exile government of the Front de li ...

Biography

Habiburrahman Shakir (Xäbibraxman Şakir) was born in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in 1903. Unlike other members of the Finnish Tatar community, Shakir was not from the

Nizhny Novgorod region Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (russian: link=no, Нижегородская область, ''Nizhegorodskaya oblast''), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,310,5 ...

but most likely from

. His exact birthplace is suspected to be the city of

Bolgar Bolgar may refer to: People *Bolgars, a people of Central Asian origin *Bolgar language, the extinct language of the Bulgars * Bolgar languages *Bolgar Bagryanov, Bulgarian film director *Boyan Bolgar, Bulgarian writer *Hedda Bolgar (1909–2 ...

due to a name he used as an imam, "al-Bulgari". Another viewpoint reminds that such a name (

) is not always a reference to ones birthplace and could rather signify ethnic roots; in this case,

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wi ...

.Baibulat 2004, p. 52-54 During his younger years, Shakir studied theology for ten years at

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

, among other places. During the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, Shakir escaped to

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, where he met his future wife, Bibirehana Veliulla. (Bibiräyxanä Wäliulla). In 1947, as recommended by

Musa Bigiev Musa Bigiev (sometimes known as Luther of Islam) (1870Azade-Ayşe Rorlich: ''The Volga Tatars'', Stanford 1986; pp. 59–61./75Charles Kurzman: ''Modernist Islam, 1840–1940. A Sourcebook'', New York 2002, p. 254. in Novocherkassk,Elmira Akhmet ...

, Shakir moved to

, Finland, where he became the local Tatar community's imam. Before this, he operated as imam in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

. In 1942, Shakir had worked as a teacher in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, where one of his students was the future president of Pakistan,

. In Finland, Shakir also worked as a reporter and publisher. In 1949, Shakir started to publish a monthly magazine named ''Finlandiye Islam Mücellesi'' (later called ''Islam Mecellesı).'' It was read locally and also abroad. Some of his other publications are for example a work with

Semiulla Wafin Semiulla Wafin (also Vafa; ; February 2, 1909 – December 18, 1983) was a Tatar shopkeeper, leader, publisher and a teacher in Tampere, where for decades he operated a successful fabric shop his father had established in early 1900s. He moved fro ...

named ''Din derésleré ve Islam tarihçesé,'' and a booklet in honor of Gabdulla Tuqay with his close friend, artist

Aisa Hakimcan Aisja Hakimsan (né Hakimsanoff, Russian: Айся Хакимджанов: ''Aisya Khakimdzhanov,'' Literary Tatar: Ğəysə Xəkimcanov, Mishar Dialect: Aysə; 13 March 1896 - 5 November 1972), better known as Aisa Hakimcan, was a Tatar artist ...

. Shakir is known to have wrote poetry and some fiction as well. One of his plays was called "''Niyaz beynin mirasi".'' Central themes of the play were

fatalism Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are thou ...

and

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

. As an Islamic theologian, Shakir was well respected already before arriving in Finland. He was regularly visited by people who had questions about religion. The wide library of his was utilized as well, whenever needed. In addition to

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

, Shakir also spoke

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. In 1966, Shakir traveled to

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

and met Ziyauddinkhan ibn Ishan Babakhan. They were old friends. Bibirehana Shakir was also a devoted Muslim. She helped especially the women of the Tatar community with religious matters. Bibirehana was the daughter of a known imam, Shamsulla Veliulla (Şämsulla Wäliulla), who during his life published 30 or so religious works in Kazan. Grave of Habiburrahman Shakir and his wife

Grave of Habiburrahman Shakir and his wife

Habiburrahman made a

pilgrimage to Mecca The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...

with his wife in 1972. During the trip, they met the

, who had originally invited them. Shakir died in Tampere and he is buried with his wife at the Helsinki Islamic Cemetery. Finnish Tatar language teacher Hamide Çaydam is the daughter of Shakir.

Some publications

* ''Finlandiyä İslām Mäğälläse'' (1949-; Shakir / Fatih Arat) Bedretdin 2011, s. 346, 378, 379 * ''Törek ïruģlarï'' (1950; Shakir / Zuhur Tahir) * ''Islam mecellesı'' (1950-1951; Shakir / Ymär Sali) * ''Din derésleré ve Islam tarihçesé'' (1962; Shakir /

) * ''Abdulla Tukay'' (1966; Shakir /

) * ''Šarä'it al-īmān'' (1966; Shakir / Hadice Arifulla)

Sources

* Baibulat, Muazzez: ''Tampereen Islamilainen Seurakunta: juuret ja historia''. Gummerus Kirjapaino Oy, 2004. . * Bedretdin, Kadriye: ''Tugan Tel: Kirjoituksia Suomen Tataareista. Suomen Itämainen Seura'', 2011. .

References

External links

Татарский имам Хабибурахман Шакир: как учитель будущего президента Пакистана оказался в Стране тысячи озер

Хабибурахман Шакир: тернистый путь в страну тысячи озер

Хабибуррахман Шакир: тернистый путь в страну тысячи озер. Часть 2

What connected the Tatar imam with the Muslims of North Africa? (in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakir, Habiburrahman Finnish Tatars Imams Islamic theology 1903 births 1975 deaths