Talgat Tadjuddin: ‘Zaripov was keen on Wahhabism a bit, but now he settled down’
The colleagues of the lost imam call him ‘judge of character’ and ‘mild preacher’ or say nothing
Taking into account the opinions appeared on the Internet about the work of 57-year-old Hazrat Suleyman Zaripov, who disappeared yesterday in Buinsk District, Realnoe Vremya questioned his colleagues-priestess. Nevertheless, the Chief Mufti of Russia Talgat Tadzhuddin, who also praised him, remembered his 'temporary keenness' on Salafist views.
'Those changes that happened in Tatarstan had a sobering effect on him '
After when it was known that Hazrat Suleyman Zaripov disappeared in Buinsk District, and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a murder Hazrat Suleyman Zaripov disappeared in Buinsk District, and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a murder case, contradictory information about imam-khatib of Petrovsky Mosque and his work appeared on the Internet. On the one hand, information about his tight relationships with Arab and Islamic organizations and representatives of Salafist Islam. On the other hand, the Internet offers a plenty of comments that Suleyman Hazrat was a supporter of the 'traditional Islam', preached tolerance. It is interesting that, in general, professional circles prefer to say only positive things about him or nothing.
It is interesting that, in general, professional circles prefer to say only positive things about him or nothing. Photo: vk.com
Talgat Tadzhuddin, Russian Shaykh al-Islām, Chief Mufti of Russia and head of the Central Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Russia, is one of those who personally has known Hazrat Suleyman for a long time. He knew about the imam's disappearance through a correspondent of Realnoe Vremya. The head of the Central Muslim Spiritual Directorate presupposed that Zaripov could visit someone on his way. So, he recalled how he sent 'the boy who had a head on his shoulders' to Bukhara, who worked in the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Tatarstan later. He also was a deputy mufti of Tatarstan. Tadzhuddin, who came back from Morocco two weeks ago, saw him in Kazan. The mufti characterized Zaripov as an intelligent imam 'since the Soviet era'.
In the past, he was keen on Wahhabism, but now he settled down. Those changes that happened in Tatarstan had a sobering effect on him. I did not expect that he would keen on Salafism or Wahhabism. Moreover, I haven't heard neither good nor bad things about him. We will ask God Most High; we want him to come back to his family safe and sound.
'Judge of character, mild preacher'
Ildar Bayazitov, the deputy mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan, says that Zaripov is an active person who successfully has been acting as priestess for a long time.
'Hazrat Suleyman is an active imam, a 'long-standing' one. He is a judge of character and mild preacher. His sermons are very wise,' told Bayazitov to Realnoe Vremya.
Rafik Mukhametshin, the rector of the Russian Islamic Institute, notes that Zaripov is a good psychologist:
Ildar Bayazitov: Hazrat Suleyman is an active imam, a 'long-standing' one. He is a judge of character and mild preacher. His sermons are very wise'. Фото info-islam.ru
'He is a judge of character. He had good relationships with the young. We worked together when he was the prorector of the Russian Islamic Institute and during his work in the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Tatarstan. He probably had some links with Muslim countries, but he has not expressed any interest here recently.'
'Understanding person and polyglot'
The head Qadi of the republic Djalil Fazlyev characterized Suleyman Zaripov as cheerful, understanding person and polyglot. 'He knows many languages – Uzbek, Tatar, Arabic, Turkish and Russian.'
Farid Salman, a Muslim theologian, was the only person among inquired priestess who refused to tell about Zaripov. He noted that Muslims should not speak ill of each other.
In terms of secular approach, I can characterize a person as neither a good nor a bad one. I don't know him,' Hazrat Farid said.
All Buinsk District is working
A correspondent of Realnoe Vremya visited Buinsk District of Tatarstan.
As for the forces participating in this case, the whole body of the Department of Internal Affairs, the local department of the Investigative Committee are working here. Specialists came from Kazan. All Buinsk District is working,' according to a representative of one of the force structures.
To all appearances, all possible resources are engaged in the work. On Tuesday, we could not find neither the chief police officer nor the head of the Investigative Department of Buinsk.
Hunt with the help of posts
The workers of the law enforcement agencies, who investigate the 'imam's case', were situated in three places. Stary Studenets settlement was one of them. The settlement is located 10 km from Buinsk. Zaripov's Toyota was there when he visited a local mosque to pray and saw his firend Linur Hazrat. According to the priestess, the wayfarers did not wait for the communal pray, limited a 5-minute salah and refused to have a cup of tea.
'Hazrat Suleyman knows that I rear fowls, so he told a joke saying that next time I would prepare chicken and we would sit at the table. In general, I did not notice anything unusual,' said the imam of the mosque to Realnoe Vremya and added, 'At present, I'm the last person who saw them'.
Is not there any crime?
The second place, which was examined by investigators, experts and criminal experts, is situated in the centre of Buinsk. On Monday evening, the disappeared imam's empty car was detected there near Bik-bai shop, which closed long time ago.
'The car was neatly parked near our shop. I even did not pay attention. If there had been any fight, I would probably have heard it. But I did not notice anything,' told a shop assistant of the neighbouring shop to Realnoe Vremya.
'The car is neatly parked and the alarm was turned on. There are no signs of a fight. There were found some personal items, which were fingerprinted, but there was no crime detected,' Gumar Ganiev, son-in-law of the lost imam, stated the preliminary conclusions of the investigation.
Rumours inform: abducted by intelligence service
It should be reminded that the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan launched a criminal investigation on the imam and his mysterious companion's disappearance. The latter is a citizen of Saudi Arabia but born in Syria. However, a couple of hours later, a rumour that Suleyman Zaripov was abducted by workers of the intelligence service, who have some issues with his Arab companion, appeared in the Muslim community of the republic. HazratSuleyman's relatives tried to check the information about the implication of the Federal Security Service; they were given a negative answer. At the same time, according to the data of Realnoe Vremya, the employees of other force structures were ordered by their heads not to comment the course of the searches and the investigations.
Could you tell what clues the investigators hold?
All possible ones… The worst thing is that he disappeared as a result of an attempt made on his life, and other versions are based on conjectures. By the way, we don't consider the version that he was detained by FSS. At present, a criminal case under the Article 105 ('Murder') was launched; it empowers to carry out all complex of sweeps.
The fact that they came from Saransk to Buinsk using his personal car and practically did not talk to anyone – potential witnesses – creates a problem. The searches continue.