Online madrasa: now in Russian
At the request of the parishioners, the Tatarstan Muslim Spiritual Board has created a new version of the courses at the mosque — on the Internet
Two years after the online madrasah starte working in Tatar, the Muslim Spiritual Board of Tatarstan and Huzur publishing house presented its Russian version. It differs in the composition of teachers, although in both versions the database of materials is identical — the Internet provides the same information as in the courses at the madrasa, of which there are 700 in Tatarstan. Also in the Russian version, a prayer reading workshop is added — for women and men. Read the details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
63 thousand registered, 475 completed
There are seven main courses in the online madrasa. These are fiqh (fundamentals of Islamic law for beginners), aqidah (fundamentals of Islamic belief), the history of Islam among the Tatars, Sira (Prophetic biography) of the Prophet Muhammad, tajwid (fundamentals of Arabic grammar and correct reading of the Holy Quran), tafsir (fundamentals of correct understanding of the meanings of the Book), akhlak (fundamentals of Islamic ethics). All lessons can be viewed on video, listened to in audio or simply read, except for prayer workshops, which are given only in video options. The madrasa works on a separate website, as well as in the form of applications for iOS and Android.
The Tatar version appeared in January 2021, this is the first Tatar online madrasa in principle. In 2021, about 50,000 people registered in the system, in 2022 — 14,385, now there are 63,577 users on the site. Of these, 43% are people under 44, and 60% are women. Most of the visitors are from Russia, Kazakhstan, USA, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Germany. 475 people were fully trained in all courses, and, for example, the course “Islam in the history of the Tatar people” was attended by 4,300 people.
Its basis is the programme “Religious education”, approved by the Muslim Spiritual Board of the Republic of Tatarstan and tested according to the norms of the Hanafi Madhhab and the Maturidite Aqidah, the most common in the republic.
After studying both options, some differences can be noticed. For example, in Tatar, simpler graphics are used, and in Russian, the symbol of the tulip and the logo of the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by Volga Bulgaria immediately catches the eye. Four khazrats teach in Tatar: Irek Nuriev from Mendeleevsk, Radif Timergaliev from Kukmor, the imam-khatib of the Kazan mosque Ramadan, Sultan Muradimov, and the editor-in-chief of the publishing department of the Khuzur Publishing House, Lenar Khammatov. There are 8 teachers in the Russian version, and this is due to that they were selected according to the level of language proficiency. These are Ayrat Yarullin from the Muhammadiyah madrasa, khafiz (who knows the Koran by heart), and Master of Islamic Sciences Ahmed Ibragimov, teachers of KIU Ilnur Yamaliyev, Rashid Sibgatullin and Roman Ziyakaev, the deputy director of Muhammadiyah, and imam of the mosque Gayle Rustem Khayrullin. The only “bilingual” is Sultan Muradimov. In total — more than 200 lessons for 48 hours. The design of the video is quite stingy — these are talking experts, sometimes quotes appear.
Fight against radicalism
“We still say that if there is an opportunity, you need to learn from a teacher," said the head of the Musim Spiritual Board of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kamil khazrat Samigullin, at a press conference. “Let's say I want to learn how to read Kuran online, it's possible, but difficult. If there is no one to correct me, I will read like this for the rest of my life. A specialist is needed who would guide me at the beginning of the journey.
As the rector of the Russian Islamic University, Rafik Mukhametshin, noted, the project has certain strategic objectives:
“There are a lot of online madrasas in Russian now, and they are very different ideologically. Studying in them, you can become anyone, both a sectarian and a radical. Our task is to give good and correct knowledge remotely.
The journalists clarified whether it would be possible to study online immediately from a specific teacher. “Do you imagine that a teacher is sitting in an aquarium and you can always turn to him?" the mufti joked. The organisers reminded that, in particular, there is distance learning in the RIU — you can listen to lectures at a specific time in the conference mode. But this is a paid service. Online madrasa is free.
The correspondent of Realnoe Vremya clarified whether it is planned to hold any activities in the form of seminars where Internet shakirds could ask clarifying questions. The head of Khuzur, Rishat Khamidullin, replied that such events are in the plans.