Ahmad Afandi Abdulaev (, ; born 15 September 1959, Upper Inkho, Gumbetovsky district) is the

mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

, Russia. He serves as Chairman of the

Muftiate A muftiate is an administrative territorial entity, mainly in the post-Soviet and Southeast European states, under the supervision of a mufti. In the post-Yugoslavia states, spiritual administrations similar to the muftiate are called '' riyasat'' ...

of the Republic of Dagestan, Sheikh of

Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...

and

Shadhili The Shadhili Order () is a tariqah or Sufi order. The Shadhili order was founded by Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili in the 13th century and is followed by millions of people around the world. Many followers (Arabic ''murids'', "seekers") of the Shadhil ...

tariqa A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the ...

s, one of the spiritual leaders of Dagestani Muslims.

Early life

Ahmad Afandi Abdulaev was born on September 15, 1959, in the

Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991), abbreviated as Dagestan ASSR or DASSR and also unofficially known as Soviet Dagestan or just simply Dagestan, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Unio ...

, in the village of Inkho,

Gumbetovsky District Gumbetovsky District (; ) is an administrativeLaw #16 and municipalLaw #6 district (raion), one of the forty-one in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. It is located in the west of the republic. The area of the district is . Its administrative cente ...

. From his earliest years, Ahmad studied

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. His family practiced devotion to faith, even during

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

times, when believers were persecuted. His relatives took care of their faith and raised their children according to Islamic precepts. Ahmad is the grandson of

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

sheikh of

and Shazali Tariqas Abdulhamid-Afandi.

Career

In 1991, Ahmad became the

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

of a mosque in Kizilyurt district. In 1992 he began teaching at the Islamic Institute in Kizilyurt, where he served as Rector. In 1998, at the Council of the Alims of Dagestan, Abdulaev was elected as mufti and chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Dagestani Muslims.

Awards

* Order of Merit "For services to the Republic of Dagestan"(2009) * Anniversary Medal "50th Anniversary of ROSSNAA" (Russian Society of Solidarity and Cooperation of the Peoples of Asia and Africa) (2011) * Gold Star of the People's Hero of Dagestan (2015) * Commemorative Medal in honor of opening of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque complex (2015) * Medal of Honor of Dagestan Republic "For the love of his native land" (2016) * Golden "Order of the Peacemaker" (2018) * Memorable badge of RosAviation "95 years of Civil Aviation of Russia" (2018) * Anniversary Commemorative Medal "90th Anniversary of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Dagestan" (2018) * Memorable badge of the Russian Parliament "25 years of The

Federation Council The Federation Council, unofficially Senate, is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the lower house being the State Duma. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Each of the 89 federal s ...

" (2019) *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

(2019) * Order of Merit for the Ummah, I degree (2019) * Order of Glory and Honor (2019) * Medal "For Valiant Labor" - for services to the Republic of Dagestan (2021) * Medal "For loyalty to the Fatherland" (2021)

Bibliography

In 2015, his book ''The Virtues of the Righteous'' was published in Arabic, its translations in Avar,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Tajik Tajik, Tajikistan or Tajikistani may refer to. Someone or something related to Tajikistan: Tajik * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik alphabet, Alphabet u ...

, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uzbek languages were published subsequently.«Благонравие праведников» на таджикском языке презентовали в Доме дружбы
/ref> By the end of 2015, total circulation exceeded 200,000 copies. Based on the book a series of video lessons, as well as audio book followed its release.

References

External links

The Virtues of the Righteous
(in Arabic) {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdulaev, Ahmad Afandi 1959 births 21st-century Muslim scholars of Islam People from Gumbetovsky District Russian imams Russian Sufis Russian Sufi religious leaders Avar people 20th-century Islamic religious leaders Naqshbandi order Soviet Sufis Sunni Sufis Living people Russian people of Dagestani descent