Mustafa Dzhemilev: Organizing a Competition of Readers of the Quran on Crimean Soil Is of Moral Significance

From October 24 to 26, a competition of readers of the Quran was held in Simferopol, in which participated 40 representatives from countries of eastern Europe and Central Asia, reports Inferfax Ukraine.

The head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, a people’s deputy Mustafa Dzhemilev, noted that organizing a competition of readers of the Quran on the Crimean soil is both of a practical and of a great moral significance for the Muslims of the peninsula. He reminded that the Crimea is the national territory of one of the Muslim nations of Europe, where Islam, to his great regret, was severely persecuted for over two centuries.

“In the past, thanks to the existence of our state, the Crimean Khanate, over 1.5 thousand mosques and numerous educational institutions functioned in the Crimea and five hundred years ago, one of the oldest Islamic universities in Europe, Zyndhyrly Medrese, was opened. However, after the invasion of our territory by the neighboring state, a systematic expatriation of the indigenous people from its native land and destruction of its spiritual values began,” said the head of the Mejlis.

“Since the time of return, 84 new mosques have been built and 43 old ones have been restored from ruin and returned. But a lot is still to be done. We must build more than a hundred more mosques, increase the level of knowledge of Islam among our compatriots, neutralize the activity of various sects acting in our territory that deceive our people and sow discord among the Muslims of the Crimea and discredit our sacred religion in the eyes of representatives of other confessions,” stressed Dzhemilev.