The ex-deputy mufti of Tatarstan is wanted in Tatarstan
About Hazrat Suleyman Zaripov’s role in the ‘friendship’ of the Spiritual Directorate of the republic of the beginning of the noughties with sponsors from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE
On 8 February, a large-scale sweeping of the Muslim priestess were to start. As Realnoe Vremya found out, a 57-year-old Suleyman Zaripov, the ex-deputy mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan, the imam of Petrovsky Mosque, the second imam of Nurulla Mosque, were coming back from Mordovia to Kazan with his familiar – a citizen of Saudi Arabia. They made a stopover in Stary Studenets settlement in Buinsk District. He has been seen there for the last time. Zaripov did not reach Kazan. On Moday evening, his car was found in Buinsk. The relatives of Suleyman Zaripov don't exclude that he could be detained by the Federal Security Service and workers of the Investigative Committee launched a murder case. Journalists of Realnoe Vremya followed the route of the lost imam of Kazan and his companion from the UAE and met with the last person who saw them.
What Hazrat Suleyman did in Mordovia
As Realnoe Vremya found out a 57-year-old imam Suleyman Zaripov lost on the frontier of Tatarstan and Ulyanovsk Oblast on his way back from Mordovia to Kazan. He came to Mordovia with his Arab companion Khouja Adbe Najim Eldin from the UAE. They met with the administration of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Mordovia, spent the night in a hotel and departed towards Kazan at about 10 a.m.
'It was just a fraternal visit, Hazrat Suleyman had visited him, and this time, I noticed nothing suspicious neither in his words nor behaviour, nor mood. We hope that everything will be fine,' told the mufti of Mordovia Ilduz Iskhakov. 'I have talked to his son-in-law Gumar. He said that Suleyman's car was neatly parked and the alarm was turned on.'
Having talked to Muslims of Mordovia, the journalist of Realnoe Vremya clarified that the visit paid by the guests of Kazan coincided with the ceremonial departure of charity freight to Donbass from Muslim Belozerie settlement: a KAMAZ loaded with 12 tonnes of food (sugar, flour, condensed milk, butter, cereals) went to Ukraine on Sunday morning. The local council of Belozerie told that Muslim priestesses were present but could not say whether Hazrat Suleyman or his foreign companion were among them. The mufti Mordovia rejected this possibility stating that the guests from Kazan did not visit Belogorie.
'I'm the last person who has seen them'
By 2 p.m. Zaripov's Toyota reached Stary Studenets settlement of Buinsk District. The imam of the rural mosque Linur Sabirzyanov remembered that Suleyman Hazrat did not tell anything about his trip and companion and refused to have a cup of tea. What is more, the guests were in a hurry, so, they did not take part in the communal pray. They prayed quickly as travellers and left. 'I'm the last person who has seen them… We have no news about him,' tells Linur Hazrat.
A meeting of the imams of the district was organized on 9 February in a madrasah. Instead, the priestesses discussed the search of the lost colleague. In the police, they were told that there was no need of any voluntary help.
Workers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Tatarstan were not engaged in the sweeping. Workers of the Federal Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs headed the case on the disappearance of the famous Islamic scholar. Then representatives of the Investigative Committee chaired the investigation and opened a murder case.
Mysterious companion and FSS
The Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Tatarstan did not tell about the citizen of the UAE Khouja Adbe Najim Eldin who accompanied the imam. Some close to the Directorate sources inform that the lost person has been found in FSS! It is said that he was detained because the Service had issues with his foreign companion.
'It is quite possible. If they are nowhere, they are probably detained by the intelligence service,' says Nuriya, the daughter of the lost imam.
Did you call FSS?
'Yes, we did. We were said they were not there. The Arab came here very often, and representatives of all governmental bodies know him well.'
The journalist of Realnoe Vremya managed to contact Gusman Iskhakov, the ex-mufti of Tatarstan and Zaripov's relative. 'I'm not in Russia. I worry about him a lot too,' Iskhakov informed. He did not answer the questions of the foreign companion and possible issues of FSS.
For Arabian money
Meanwhile, the identity of Suleyman Zaripov who disappeared in unclear circumstances is the key for understanding the processes that happened in Tatarstan before severe terrorist attacks in 2012, when Valiulla Yakupov died and the car of the head of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Tatarstan Ildus Faizov was exploded. Zaripov, who was a familiar of Gusman Iskhakov – the predecessor of Faizov, worked as deputy head of the Directorate of Tatarstan and was supposed to be a supervisor of the religious ruling circle on the cooperation with Saudi Arabia and Arabian countries of Near East.
There are many events, forums, conferences and meetings of Islamic organizations from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and other countries created by Zaripov at Iskhakov's suggestion. It is no secret that Iskhakov's team was blamed for no opposition to the expansion of the ideas of Salafist Islam in Tatarstan through the Russian Islamic University, in particular, that was headed by Hazrat Gusman. But Zaripov was the person who controlled the educational process in person.
After when Ildus Faiziev headed the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Tatarstan, the ruling circle of the establishment changed. And Zaripov lost his post. It could not have been otherwise because Faizov suddenly changed the course of the Directorate and stated that it was a transfer to the traditional Islam. Then Zaripov was given a position in Nurulla Mosque, where his another relative Gabdulla Galiullin, the ex-mufti of Tatarstan, chaired it. Zaripov preached Friday sermons and performed Islamic marriages. In recent times, Zaripov's activity, as well as work of Gusman Iskhakov's team, became private.