Said Afandi al-Chirkawi ( av, ЧӀикӀаса СагӀид афанди, russian: Шейх Саид Афанди аль-Чиркави; 21 October 1937 – 28 August 2012) was a prominent scholar in

Shafii The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...

mazhab A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence). The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE an ...

and a spiritual master, or

murshid ''Murshid'' ( ar, مرشد) is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher", derived from the root ''r-sh-d'', with the basic meaning of having integrity, being sensible, mature. Particularly in Sufism it refers to a spiritual guide. The term is frequently use ...

. He was killed by a female suicide bomber on 28 August 2012.

Biography

Al-Chirkawi was born in 1937 in the village of Chirkey,

Buynaksky District Buynaksky District (russian: Буйнакский район, kum, Шура якъ) is an administrativeLaw #16 and municipalLaw #6 district (raion), one of the forty-one in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. It is located in the center of the ...

Republic of Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

. He was an

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

, a spiritual leader of Dagestani Muslims, and Sufi Shaykh of Naqshbandi and Shazali

tariqah A tariqa (or ''tariqah''; ar, طريقة ') is a school or order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking '' haqiqa'', which translates as "ultimate truth". ...

s. Tens of thousands of Muslims gather annually at Chirkey for brotherhood majlis — Mawlid celebrations — which were organised by Afandi. On 28 April 2012 more than 300,000 people from all over Russia and abroad were present at the annual gathering. Said Afandi was considered one of the Russia's top spiritual leaders whose tens of thousands of followers include influential officials, clerics and businessmen. His father died when Afandi was just seven years old. After high school he worked as shepherd to financially support his family. He served in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

and worked as a firefighter at

Chirkey Dam The Chirkey Dam (Chirkeisk GES) is an arch dam on the Sulak River in Dagestan, Russia. The main purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production, and it supports a 1,000 MW power station. Construction on the dam began in 1964, the first ...

before beginning his religious education at the age of 32.

Publications

Books and articles of Said Afandi are translated into Russian,

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

and English languages.

Books in Russian language

* Сокровищница благодатных знаний (Махачкала, 2010); * История пророков, том 1 (Махачкала, 2009); * Сборник выступлений шейха Саида Афанди аль-Чиркави (Махачкала, 2009) * Современность глазами шейха Саида-Афанди (Махачкала, 2010); * История пророков, том 2 (Махачкала, 2011); * Побуждение внять призыву Корана, в 4 томах (Махачкала, 2007)

Books in Tatar language

* Сокровищница благодатных знаний, перевод М. Ахматжанова (Казань, 2006)

Books in Avar language

* Назмаби * Къураналъул ахӀуде гӀавамал кантӀизари * Къисасул анбияъ * МажмугӀатуль фаваид

References

External links

* Russia
Биография Шейха Саида афанди аль-Чиркави

Islam in Dagestan

Biography of Shaykh Said Afandi al-Chirkawi
* Russia
Site of Shaykh Said Afandi al-Chirkawi
*
Follow Shaykh Said Afandi on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chirkawi, Shaykh Said Afandi 1937 births 2012 deaths 21st-century Muslim scholars of Islam Russian imams Russian Sufis Russian Sufi religious leaders Avar people 20th-century Islamic religious leaders People from Buynaksky District Assassinated Dagestanian people Naqshbandi order Sunni Sufis