Seminar for women in Nikolayevka: Saudi grand-daughter of a Crimean Tatar woman brings the light of knowledge to her ancestors’ land

Seven days long cultural and education seminar for Ukrainian Muslim women who have recently adopted Islam, organized by the Department for women, children and teenagers affairs at AAPO “Alraid” and the Women’s Public Organization “Mariyam”, was held in 27 June – 3 July 2012. Its participants learned rules of reading of the Koran (tajuid) by an advanced computer method not used earlier in similar events, under the supervision of teachers from Saudi Arabia.

60 ladies and young women of various age groups were accommodated in a resort hotel. The participants came from not only various regions of Ukraine (cities of Kiev, Lvov, Odessa, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Lugansk, Kharkov) but also from Chişinău (Moldova). Such geographic diversity allowed them to have a deeper feeling of the mercy of Most High Who brought together people from various locations so that they could learn to read the Koran together and extend their Islamic knowledge.

Organizers were immensely pleased that it is the first time since the launch of the seminar five years ago that they could invite high qualification teachers of tadjuid. These were Mrs.Luftiya Badusan, deputy-director of Women’s Department of the International Association for New Muslims at the World Islamic League, Mr. Awatif bin Hyreib, director on finances and public relations of ustaza, and Mr. Nura Al-Amudi, secretary of the same department. It was found that one of the teachers had Crimean Tatar roots, as her grandmother, Saadat Kyrymly, a Crimean Tatar woman, was engaged in marriage by a young Saudi man, when she came to haj with her parents. Now the granddaughter of Saadat came back to her homeland, to teach Ukrainian Muslim women.

It is true that the ten days long program had to be shortened to 5 days due to time limits, but the ardor shown by seminar participants could make up for shortage of teaching ours.

The eagerness in learning tajuid and proper manner of reading the Koran pushed the participants to repeat and confirm the material learned in 3 or 4 hours in the

daytime in their free time in the evening, which excited sincere admiration in their teachers.

Mrs. Luftiya Badusan shares her impressions: “No doubt that it is rather difficult to teach one proper pronunciation by explaining rules of reading, given the existing language barrier (young women do not know Arabic), but is it not a problem. This method is very simple and widely used across the world. Persons who had never known Arabic, start reading in several days. Praised be our Lord! We learned this course at one time and obtained certificates after passing the exam. Ukrainian Muslim women will have this opportunity in a month, as a sheih will come from Jordan, who is a grandson of Nur Mohammad Hatani and author of the manual. It was Nur Mohammad Hatani who developed this method nearly 100 years ago during his stay in India. The title of this method, “Nuraniya”, originates from the name of this reverend shehih.

Those who wish to receive the certificate must pass the exam to the sheih. If the results are good, female students of the course will receive certificates that will entitle them for teaching this method to all who wish. Because, according to the Prophet Muhammad (may be peace and blessings on him), “The best of you is one who has learned the Koran and teaches it to others”.

Apart from tajuid classes, seminar participants listened to several lectures on various themes, from basics of fikh to selected details of faith. They included the lecture of Sheih Mohammad Nuh Al-Kudah, delivered by him on the framework of his four days long visit to Ukraine.

This seminar gave women a lot of useful knowledge, exciting meetings with people and new friends. The farewell evening party was arranged before departure, where participants played various little scenes, shared impressions with each other and gave each other contact information. Best students were given presents from the guests, electronic manuals, CD for learning the reading rules of Koran by “Nuraniya” method, MP3 players with audio records of the Koran, performed by various sheihs, and electronic watches with the azan from Mekkah.

reporter.