Kamil Samigullin becomes mufti for the fourth time — until 2030

“Appreciate five things until they are replaced by another five”

1,520 imams, heads of regional religious centres and educational institutions as well as 115 guests arrived for the congress. Along with Mufti of the Tatarstan Muslim Religious Directorate Hazrat Kamil Samigullin and Qazi Hazrat Jalil Fazlyev, the floor was taken by Rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Vice-Premier of Tatarstan Vasil Shaikhraziyev, Deputy Chairman of the Tatarstan State Council, Chairman of the Commission For the Preservation, Development of The Tatar Language and Native Languages of Representatives of The Peoples Living in the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Akhmetov, Vice-Chairman of the Department for Affairs with Religious Organizations of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation for Domestic Policy Almaz Faizullin as well as the Chairman of the Central Muslim Religious Directorate of Muslims Talgat Tadzhuddin.

The Congress began with the reading of the verses of the Quran, this honourable work was entrusted to Imam of Zelenodolsk and Zelenodolsk District Hazrat Gabdelhamit Zinnatullin. Thanks to the efforts of the first deputy mufti Ilfar hazrat Khasanov, the presidium, secretariat, mandate committee and voting method were quickly elected, after which Samigullin took the floor.

As the mufti noted, the hadith was taken as the basis for the four-year work of the Tatarstan Muslim Religious Directorate: “Value five things until they are replaced by five others: youth — until old age comes, health — until illness comes, wealth — until need comes, free time — until employment comes, life — until death comes.” And five values were determined.

Special military operation, youth, education, health, free time

Samigullin devoted the first minutes of the report to the special military operation: the directorate helped 545 soldiers' families, seven cars and three motorcycles were sent to the front, 165,000 prayer books were printed, 14 humanitarian aid packages were sent, 27 meetings with imams were held, four imams constantly work with the republican battalions.

After that, Samigullin moved on to the value of youth, indicating that 1,400 volunteers work at the muftiate.

“Over the course of four years, 36 projects were implemented for boys and girls,” said the hazrat. “As a novelty, in the reporting period we tried to motivate young people to project activities for the benefit of the ummah and provided grants to 20 youth Muslim startups. Young people offered their ideas: IT projects, social videos, events, platforms, and we, together with experienced experts and sponsors, selected the best of them, financed them and taught them how to implement them.”

Samigullin also recalled that there are three private comprehensive Muslim schools in Tatarstan — Usmaniya in Kazan, Nur in Almetyevsk, Ihsan in Yelabuga where 185 people have graduated in these four years, and 277 are studying.

“Thus, the directorate has accumulated significant experience in creating a large modern comprehensive Tatar-Muslim school in Kazan, and it will be used, inshaAllah. Along with the Orthodox gymnasium and the Jewish school, there should certainly be a Muslim school in Kazan,” Samigullin noted.

As for education, eight madrassas, Kazan Islamic University and the Russian Islamic Institute trained 2,601 specialists. Another 25 representatives of the directorate graduated from the Bulgarian Islamic Academy, and seven of them became doctors of Islamic sciences. 45,000 people study in mosque courses, and 133,000 people study in online madrassas (the top ones are Tatarstan, Moscow and the region, Bashkortostan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara), of which 60% are women. 59% are aged 18-44.

Speaking about health, Samigullin spoke about the development of Halal food. In particular, the Halal Standard Committee of the directorate certified 317 enterprises in four years (in 2017-2020 — 152).

“As it is known, Russian Halal standards are not always identical to halal standards in Muslim countries, so the committee worked on official recognition of its certificate abroad. As a result, the committee was accredited by the Gulf Accreditation Centre and opened up new export opportunities to the Persian Gulf countries for Tatarstan producers. And recently, another piece of news came in: the Committee was accredited by SANHA organization in South Africa,” Samigullin said.

And, of course, it could not ignore the favourite sport, noting:

“At regional religious centres of the republic today, no one will be surprised by interfaith or Muslim competitions, be it football, hockey or skiing.”

Why the handwritten Quran is valuable

The mufti spoke separately about the Tatar spiritual heritage. His special pride is the Kazan edition of the Quran, which was printed in a circulation of 33,000 copies. Khuzur publishing house has released a total of 58 books with a circulation of 210,000 copies dedicated to the Tatar religious heritage. And on the Darul-kutub.com website, 2,000 pre-revolutionary books were posted. Five imams defended their doctoral theses, and 14 — master's theses in Tatar. Now a handwritten edition of the Koran is being prepared for printing.

“The value of the Kazan handwritten Quran was explained by the world-famous theologian, head of the Commission for the Preparation of the Quran of the Dubai International Prize of the Holy Quran, Sheikh Mamun ar-Ravi: “The uniqueness of this mushaf is that it is written based on 11 sources. This mushaf will become a standard, other mushafs will be written from it.” Agree, high praise!” added Samigullin.

Another favorite topic of the mufti is Islamic finance. In this regard, the directorate has the following achievements: 17 products in the field of Islamic finance — mortgages, debit cards, leasing, etc. 14 financial organizations operate under the supervision of the muftiate.

As for charity, Zakat fund provided assistance in the amount of 133.3 million rubles. In particular, 60 tonnes of food were sent to Gaza by three planes, 69.1 million went to help 780 individuals and 52 organizations, and 6,500 families received food. There are 14 Human Shelter points operating in eight districts. Finally, six mosques have been restored in the republic, and 59 mosques and 15 new religious buildings have opened. Samigullin concluded his report with the topic of free time. It can be devoted to reading: Khuzur has published 354 books over the past 4 years. Or you can watch TV — Khuzur TV channel began broadcasting in 14 regions of Russia and entered the top 25 best regional TV channels. The hazrat also reminded the audience about the film Ibn Fadlan and about 4,410 Hajjs and 3,725 Umrahs and finished with information that imams work in all correctional colonies and detention centres of Tatarstan, there are mosques or prayer rooms. Recidivism among Muslims is 4%.”

“I want to thank the imams and heads of districts and cities”

In the end, the mufti quoted the surah: “And so your Lord declared: ‘If you are grateful, I will increase you. And if you are ungrateful, then my punishment is severe.’”

“We have a believer and a strong leader — rais, there are great scholars and conscientious hazrats, Kazan is recognized as a Muslim centre, all the opportunities for observing the Halal way of life have been created. Today, for example, the republican iftar for 13,000 people will be held. Where else can there be so many blessings? “ Samigullin concluded.

After which he unanimously became the mufti of the republic for the fourth time.

Samigullin was born in the village of Krasnogorsk in Zvenigovsky District of the Mari ASSR. In three days he will turn 40. After school in Volzhsk, he moved to Kazan, where he attended evening school and Muhammadia madrasah, then studied at the North Caucasus Islamic University in Makhachkala, the Istanbul madrasah at the Ismail-Aga Mosque and at the Theological Faculty of the Russian Islamic Institute in Kazan. He was an imam in the village of Novoagansk in Nizhnevartovsk District of Tyumen Region and the Tynychlyk Mosque in the Mirny village of Kazan.

In 2011, he became the head of the publishing department of the directorate and was soon appointed deputy of Hazrat Ildus Faizov for scientific work. After Faizov's resignation due to health reasons, he became acting mufti, and since 17 April 2013, he has headed the directorate. In 2017 and 2021, he was re-elected to the post of mufti. Samigullin is a Quran hafiz, a doctor of Islamic sciences. The head of the directorate also knows Arabic and Turkish, translated and co-authored 20 theological books. Hazrat Kamil is the father of two sons and two daughters.

“Mufti Hazrat Kamil, I believe that you will fulfil your duties for the good of the republic, faith, country,” noted in a short speech the rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov. “Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank the imams and heads of districts and cities. Your work is enormous, the country is going through difficult times, a military operation is underway, we see guys here with whom we are always in touch.

After which he presented the oldest imam of the congress, 97-year-old Haris Salikhov, imam of the Khater mosque, with the jubilee medal 80 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. By the way, in 2013, the retired police colonel, who devoted himself to religion in the 90s, and received the Tukay Prize for the books Secular and Spiritual Motifs in the Works of A. Pushkin, G. Tukay and the Problems of Moral Education Today and Religion and Science (Fundamentals of World Religious and Secular Cultures), put forward his candidacy, along with Farid Salman, in the elections of the mufti of Tatarstan. Then, for the first time, Samigullin won.

After the award ceremony, Minnikhanov left the stage, noting that he would return for the iftar.

Qazis and firefighters

Also at the congress, the chief qazi of the Republic of Tatarstan was re-elected — Hazrat Jalil Fazlyev was re-approved for this position at the plenary session of the directorate on 15 January 2025. Both Samigullin and Hazrat Jalil were nominated as candidates by all regional assemblies of the republic's districts, so there were no surprises in the elections.

Fazlyev, who has been working in this position since 2006, recalled how the phenomenon of qazis arose in Tatarstan in 1996:

“At that time, the number of communities was more than 700, on the advice of Hazrat Gabdulla (editor’s note: Galiullin, mufti), in order to resolve issues of divorce, disagreements between the imam and the mahalla, between the muhtasib and the imam, the imam and the leader, they proposed to unite several districts, the main muhtasib appeared, and then the qazi. We were the first in Russia.”

People often turn to judges to resolve disputes, Fazlyev noted, but is it worth being proud of? Firefighters are not praised for the number of fires. On the contrary, this means that work with the people is not being carried out at the proper level. If the districts live peacefully, this is good work of the qazi.

“In 2006, this fate befell me too, Hazrat Gusman (editor’s note: Iskhakov, also a mufti) called me. I said that you are you crazy, I live in a village. Gusman even got offended, then I said: if you don't take me from the village, I'll work temporarily...”

At the same time, the decisions of the qazis do not have legal force, unlike in some countries, including Great Britain, noted Fazlyev: people can argue for a long time, and then one simply refuses the services of the qazi...

Tatar language, five-year checks and the volunteer movement

The series of speeches was concluded by Talgat Tadzhuddin who, recalling his trip to Bahrain for the international Islamic forum, criticized the imams for decentralization in relation to the oppression of Muslims in Russia, the tragedy in Palestine. Against this background, the speech of Bulat Khusainov, head of the legal department of the muftiate, sounded quite quiet, he announced important changes to the charter of the directorate, which were adopted unanimously.