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The report of MOHABBAT's webmaster It was not so long ago, in July 1999, that we visited Untsukul for the first time. From the very beginning we were greatly impressed by this lovely place. What beautiful mountains! What colourful plants!!! But most importantly, the people of Untsukul: brave children of the mountains; people who have managed to preserve their religion in spite of numerous events which tooks place over many years and in spite of communistic regime that reigned over 80 years. We were told about the purity of Islam in Daghestan nowadays, but being there we could see it with our own eyes - there's no need to travel from Moscow to long distances abroad to be able to meet True Muslims. |
| Here we found Daghestan, Alhamdulillah, and here we encountered real Islam, real Islamic scholars, real practice of the teachings of the Holy Qur'aan and Sunnah in everyday life. With regard to this, we would like to draw our readers attention to the practice of fasting in Daghestan. Many of Untsukul's people are fasting for three months - from the beginning of Rajab till the end of Ramadhan. And Daghestan's hospitality!!! We simply cannot express the extent of their hospitality - it seems beyond description. They treat each and every guest in full accordance with the Sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alayhi was-sallam). The guest is regarded as a gift from Allah Almighty; and Masha-Allah, the people of Daghestan obviously understand the deeper significance of hosting visitors and do their utmost to fulfil their duty as hosts. |
Inside of the Untsukul's mosque |
| When guests try to express gratitude for their warm hospitality, they modestly answer: "Our grandfathers would feel shame for us if they could see us now, because the custom in those days was that the hosts would not even ask the guest his name for the first three days of his stay, for fear of troubling him in any way." | |
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Ziyarat of Imam Gazi Muhammad (r.a.) |
The second time we visited Untsukul was at the end of October this year. This time we went there with the concrete goal of collecting information about the religious and social character of the local people of this wonderful place, Untsukul. We discovered that Untsukul is the motherland of great shaykh Gazi Muhammad (Rahmatullah 'alayhi - may Allah shower His mercy on him) - the descendant of world famous Imam Shamil (Rahmatullah 'alayhi). |
| Imam Shamil (Rahmatullah 'alayhi) was the leader of Jamaat at the central mosque in Untsukul where was declared gazawat in the18th century. Dagestan is the place being called "the land of 'Aalim (`Ulama- Islamic scholars), and this is most appropriate! Anybody who visits this place, even if only once, will be amazed by strong Imaan of these people. In spite of 80 years of communistic rule, the Dagestani people have continuously made all the possible effort to keep their religion pure and untainted, Masha-Allah. And with the Grace of Allah, the Almighty they have managed to preserve an exemplary representation of Islam. |
Imam Shamil (rahamtullah 'alayhi) |
| But what was the price paid to preserve Islam here? The people of Dagestan paid with gruesome suffering, and with their lives. Dagestanis sacrificed everything for the sake of the Deen (religion), and they understood that Islamic education must take priority above everything else. They studied hard, though they were forced to study secretly (because of the communists). They found themselves studying in special secret places underground, and today all this dedication and sheer hard work has yielded its fruits - most of the people are able to read the Holy Qur'aan correctly, memorize it, study the Ahadeeth in Arabic, and so on. One of the Dagestani girls managed to memorise the entire Qur'an (in Arabic) by the tender age of five! Within the territory of the reformed Soviet Union nowadays, one can find the most complete answers on Islamic matters in accordance with Qur'aan (Tafseer) and Sunnah (Ahaadeeth) only in Dagestan. | |
| What cannot go unmentioned, is one of Dagestan's young people, the 22-year-old Maryam, whom we met in Untsukul's Islamic Institute. Four years ago, she entered Untsukul's Islamic Institute named by Imam Gazi Muhammad (Rahmatullah `alayhi), as one of its students. After she had completed her studies at the Institute, she decided to live there to teach others and also do domestic work for the students. It's really unbelievable thing to happen in our day and age. This girl has devoted her life to serving Allah Almighty and she is doing everything she can to help the Institute and its students. She not only teaches, but she also cooks for everybody and washes (by hand) the clothes of all the students, numbering more than 50. She thus cleans and maintains the order of the institute. And: She does this alone, without any assistance, solely for the love of Allah Almighty. | |
| We asked the Director of the Institute - `Abdul Majid Magomedov, why only one person has undertaken so many responsibilities, why she has to do all this work alone, without any assistance. `Abdul Majid answered that their institute is not able to pay a salary even to the teachers. (It is unbelievable how this paltry amount of money one can be referred to as a "salary", for it is only around 300 rubles (about $11) per month). Hence, the labour of the entire Institute and its students is carried on the feeble shoulders of one person, Maryam. |
On the photo: |
| We sincerely pray that Allah Almighty grants this type of Imaan to other Muslims sisters and brothers, and we hope that there are concerned people who will offer a helping hand to this institute, insha-Allah. |
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Students in the sportroom |
Childhood on Untsukul's streets |
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Kitchen room (only one stove for 50 people!) |
Students & grown men after the prayer |
| Alhamdulillah, there are people who are giving flour to make bread and feed the students. Their ration is very very poor, and mostly their food consists of soup, tea and bread only! They suffer but there are no complaints at all; all of them understand the difficulties and they patiently bear it. |
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Another huge problem encountered, was after the earthquake which had occurred in February 1998, in which the building of the Untsukul Islamic Institute was damaged. Asking for help from Administration did not yield any positive results. On the contrary, it caused consequence possible: the people working in the Administration, who are by and large far from religious and virtuous, reported that they would close the Institute because of extreme situation of the building. Obviously, it was understood that the building presented danger.But what is there to do, till now the people of Untsukul have had no choice for they have to teach their children. And with endless hope for the Rahma of Allah they are making supplications (du`a) to Allah Almighty to improve their situation and to help them by sending to good, understanding, sincere people who wish to strive in the path of Allah (fisabilillah). We would like to appeal for assistance on behalf of the Institute, which is able to accommodate over 500 students, provided that we fix the building and pay the teachers a reasonable salary. |
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In conclusion...Dear brothers and sisters! Dear Muslims!Our worldly life (duniya) is very, very short. Each and every breath is taking us nearer to our last destination - death! Each moment of our life that has passed can never return at ANY COST and is lost forever; and the moment, which is to follow, may or MAY NOT come. After death, we will be asked about everything; we will be asked how we spent our time and our MONEY; how many good deeds we did for mankind (with the sincere intention to strive in the WAY of ALLAH ALMIGHTY). And we should not forget about Sadaqatul-Jariyah (i.e. those good deeds which will benefit us even after our death, for example to build mosques, Islamic educational centres or to leave pious children who will pray for us). We appeal to you please try to help us, and by doing so to get great rewards for Hereafter. Especially in this case, where the Muslims are in dire need of your assistance, it will benefit you as Sadaqatul-Jariyah - as long as the knowledge which is obtained in this institute exists, the angels will write the reward to the record-book for its helper, that means the contributor will continue being rewarded until Judgement Day, insha-Allah). We, the editors of the magazine "Muslims," humbly appeal to you to make any donations or offer any other kind of help to the Islamic Institute in Untsukul, Dagestan. Let us do something today, before the students find themselves under the ruins of this ravaged building. This may just be your contribution in the way of Allah which will tip the scales of your good deeds (al-mizan) in your favour, on the Day of Judgement, so that you may be among the companions of 'the Right Hand,' whom Allah will cover with His Mercy, insha-Allah. If you, dear reader, are not able to assist financially then we request humbly that you please make du`as for the people of Untsukul, Dagestan. May Allah uplift the helpers, Insha-Allah.
With respect P.S. This report about Untsukul would be incomplete if we did not mention the amazing Untsukul's masters of exclusive wooden art handicrafts and their unique inlayed work. These experts have offered, with love, their work as a sacrifice for the Institute, and a great part of their earnings from selling these goods will go toward the Institute. By simply buying these unique handicraft products, you could make an invaluable contribution in educational field, and to the institute in particularly, and Allah will reward you greatly, insha-Allah. Please, don't hesitate to write to us as we would highly appreciate your comments, advice etc. If you need further information concerning Untsukul's people, the above-mentioned institute, Untsukul's handicrafts or our magazine "Muslims," we will gladly do our best to answer any of your queries. In case if you'd like to visit Dagestan and see it all with your own eyes, you would be more than welcome. We promise that this kind of hospitality you hardly meet anywhere else. May Allah bless you and keep you safe and healthy. |
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HOW TO CONTACT US FOR YOUR DONATIONS - or you can send directly to them some goods or food: Russia Dagestan 368240 |
Untsukul's Islamic Institute named by Imam Gazi Muhammad
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