Dagestan

Source : RT | 15 Dec 2011

RT travels to the country’s southernmost and oldest city. First mentioned by Ancient Greek historians, Derbent maintained strategic importance in the region for millennia and may have been the cradle of Islam in Russia.

The city’s present-day name is Persian in origin and is translated as “narrow gates”. In Arabic it was called Bab al-Abvab, or “the gate of all gates”. Many other names it had over its turbulent history also play on the idea of a closed doorway in one way or another.

By Bekmurza Bekmurzaev, Minister for National Policy, Religious Affairs and External Relations of the Republic of Dagestan | 05 Dec 2011

50 to 80% of Russian pilgrims have always been Dagestanis

Source : Tourism Review | 28 Nov 2011

Investors from Europe and Asia join a Russian project of a new tourism center. Planned to open in 2020, the complex is to include five ski resorts.

Singaporean investor Suprema Associates decided to participate in the construction of a huge Russian tourism center project in the Caucasus. The cooperation agreement was signed in Hong Kong during the international real estate exhibition MIPIM Asia 2011. It is assumed that about USD 1 billion will be invested.

Mahmood Afandi (may Allah sanctify his soul), great shaykh, Qutb, Murshid of the Naqshbandi tariqah was born approximately in 1810, in the village of Almalo (Dagestani village, now Azerbaijani territory).

In his youth he served as a clerk at khans Danial Sultanali and his relative Hajji Agabekov. They both were admired by the talents and wit of Mahmud Afandi(may Allah sanctify his soul).

Source : Tehran Times | Makhachkala | 20 Oct 2011

An exhibition of Quranic artworks inaugurated at Dagestan State University of the Russian Republic on Tuesday.

Entitled “Quran, in the Mirror of Iranian Art”, the exhibit is displaying a variety of artworks including illuminations, woodcarvings, and embossed works with Quranic themes, the Persian service of MNA reported on Wednesday.

By Ibrahim Abdulaev : IslamDag.info | Makhachkala / 07 Oct 2011

Institute of Theology and International Relations (ITIR) organized a nation-wide event dedicated to the memory of late Maksud Sadikov, former Rector of the Institute, assassinated by gunmen in June this year in Makhachkala. Government officials, Dagestani clergy, Institute staff and students, Sadikov's friends and colleagues from other Universities, some 500 participants gathered in multi-purpose convention hall in Southern building of the Institute.

Sermon by Shaykh Said Afandi al-Chirkawi in the village of Lower Kazanische, Dagestan

Some people think we do not recognize Abdurahman Sughuri. But who really wants to know the truth, he knows; and who does not, will never do. How can we reject him? Take for example a tree trunk. The trunk has branches. All branches grow on the same tree, and there is no difference between them. Some people collect the fruit on this branch, and the others collect on the different branch. They keep to their branches and do not swap them.

Sermon by Shaykh Said Afandi al-Chirkawi | Upper Kazanische | 20 Aug 2005

Dear Jamaat, dear brothers in faith, may Allah accept our present-day Majlis. There is a well-known hadith, which says that in the afterlife we will find those who we loved in this world. There is hardly a person who did not love Sayfulla-Qadi (may Allah bless his soul). InshaAllah-Rahman, we hope that by the grace of Allah we will all get together in Akhirat under Liwaul Hamd, the banner of the Prophet (PBUH) just like here.

Sufism has an age-long history which has yet only recently become the subject of study. However the last few years have seen a certain amount of work done, for example, the publication of important articles on the history and practice of Sufism in Daghestan, especially in the 18th-20th centuries, Sufi treatises by Dagestani authors. The research sources pool has grown. The Eastern Literature publishing house in Moscow has released an important monograph by a Dagestani author Alikber Alikberov on the early history of Sufism in Daghestan.

Source : Ibrahim Abdulaev | IslamDag.info
Makhachkala | 23 Aug 2011

(IslamDag) - It has become an annual tradition to organize charity iftars - fast breaking dinners during Ramadan in Makhachkala, Dagestani capital. Central Jum`a Mosque courtyard is filled with tables for Muslims to break their fast.

With the onset of evening prayer Dagestani Muslims break their fast with dates and fruits and proceed for maghrib prayers. Later they are served with heavy meals and refreshments. Around 300 people young and old attend iftar dinners provided by anonymous sponsors.