Crimean Muslims Elect Spiritual Leader

The Fifth Kurultay of Muslims of Crimea, which was attended by 311 delegates, unanimously elected Adji Emirali Ablaeva as the mufti of Crimea, the press service of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Crimea reports.

During the meeting, delegates of the Kurultay nominated only one candidate for the position of mufti – the current Mufti of Crimea Adji Emirali Ablaeva.

The election of the mufti was held openly. The decision was passed unanimously by the delegates, RBC-Ukraine informs.

Emirali Ablaev was born July 11, 1962, in the village of Dalverzin, Uzbekistan. In 1978, he graduated from high school. In 1988, he moved to Crimea, to the village of Ak-Chora. In 1993, he began to take private lessons in religion from a distinguished Islamic theologian. In 1995, he was elected imam of the village Zolote Pole, and then later the regional Imam. In 1998, he studied at the madrasas in Turkey, and in the same year performed the Hajj. In 1999, he finished his study of Arabic in Lebanon.

In 1999, at the Second Kurultay of Muslims of Crimea he was elected mufti of the Muslims of Crimea.