Genghis Khan’s Kazan descendants be ‘expelled’ from the Qul Sharif Mosque without requiem
The ceremony of reburial of two descendants of the Khanate of Kazan Makhmud and Mukhammad Amin is due to take place in the Kazan Kremlin in November
Remains of two Kazan khans who have been waiting for their reburial for over 40 years will have to wait a bit more. It should be reminded that in June the Muslim Spiritual Directorate told that the ancient rulers would be laid to rest in October this year. However, the event has been recently postponed until November. Interlocutors of Realnoe Vremya are sure that there is no reason for concern, the khans will be buried this year because the preparation process is about to come to an end – a mausoleum for the khans has been almost ready, their remains have already been given to Kazan Kremlin Museum-Reserve. The ceremony of the rulers' reburial has been also prepared.
Kick-off at Qul Sharif mosque and funeral without requiem
Realnoe Vremya found out that the Muslim Spirituality Directorate of Tatarstan held a meeting dedicated to the organisation of the Kazan khans' reburial. We are speaking about the remains that belong to the son of the Golden Horde's ruler, the Kazan khan Makhmud who died in 1467 and Ibrahim Khan's son Mukhammad Amin who passed away in 1518. Their tombs in the Kremlin near the foot of the Syuyumbike Tower were found by Kazan archaeologists in 1977. Our newspaper was the first among the Kazan newspapers to write about it.
The director of Mardjani Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan Rafael Khakimov had told the reburial was put off because of an unsolved problem of the burial. It seems it was finally solved last week.
The khans' tombs in the Kremlin near the foot of the Syuyumbike Tower were found by Kazan archaeologists in 1977. Photo: archive.gov.tatarstan.ru
'The mausoleum was a topic for discussion at the meeting: what it should look like, etc. The very procedure remained: for example, according to our Muslim tradition, an Islamic funeral prayer must be read. So should we read it twice or is it prohibited? Such details were examined. All in all, we came to an agreement,' said a member of the Council of Elders Rauf Ibragimov.
The editorial of Realnoe Vremya had the protocol of the meeting at its disposal where the burial procedure is briefly described. It is proposed to bring the Kazan khans' remains to Qul Sharif, wrap them in a shroud and take them one by one to the graveyard – the remains will return to their previous place. A prayer will be read there. Theologians agreed it would be wrong to read the requiem for the second time because it was done during their first burial. This order was unanimously approved at the meeting.
Tourist will be able to look at the tomb through a 'well'
The head architect of Kazan Kremlin Museum-Reserve Rustam Zabirov said to Realnoe Vremya that the documents on passing the remains into ownership of the Kremlin might have already been prepared. At the moment the rulers are waiting for their reburial in the depository of the Institute of Archaeology named after Alfred Khalikov.
'There are four skeletons: Makhmud and Mukhammad Amin are two khans who were identified. The other two have not been identified. They are likely to be members of their families or somebody from the khan's kindred. They were also buried and stored together with them. They might be khans, maybe not. Research is ahead,' our interlocutor shared.
Rustem Zabirov also kindly agreed to tell what the Kazan khans' mausoleum would look like and whether tourists and interested citizens would be able to have a look at the tomb.
'The Syuyumbike Tower has a mausoleum under a big glass cupola and a semi-underground crypt with glassed well above, which was especially made for the reburial. One can look there and see these tombs,' Zabirov shares. 'The very building will be unavailable for the common people. But there is a possibility to look at it: through a glass 'well' from above and a glassed grille (it is double, with glass and special holes for ventilation) of the entry portal to the crypt.'
The khans' remains will be located in the central part of the mausoleum. The supposed members of his families will be buried in the arched niche.
Will the reburial be postponed until May 2017?
It should be reminded that the chairman of the Council of Elderly of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Tatarstan Airat Ayupov said in June that the reburial was due to take place in October 2016. However, now our interlocutors unanimously claim that the ceremony would probably take place on November.
Hazrat Rustam Khairullin: 'It will be announced, so that any person will be able to take part in this good deed. It is history that we know not only by book but first-hand.' Photo: dumrt.ru
'We are thinking about the date, so that it will be comfortable for all the people. It is due to be held in November,' told the deputy mufti of Tatarstan Hazrat Rustam Khairullin told Realnoe Vremya. 'It will be announced, so that any person will be able to take part in this good deed. It is the history that we know not only by book but first-hand.'
One of the sources of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Tatarstan told that the reburial could take place only in May 2017. However, Rustam Khairullin doubted the accuracy of this information.
'As for the reburial in May, May is a holy month when Islam was adopted. But the quicker we do it, the better it is for the deceased,' Hazrat Rustam commented.