Ravil Bukharaev, Tatar national, an internationally acclaimed author, poet and religious scholar died yesterday in London. He was a great spokesperson for Ahmadiyya Islam in Russia and a lovely human being. Below is a brief auto biography of him. May Allah rest his soul in peace.
Author, poet, radio journalist and scholar in the field of the cultural, social and political history of the Turkic and other Islamic peoples of the former USSR, was born in Kazan in 1951. He graduated as a mathematician from Kazan University in 1974 and in theoretical computer science at Moscow University in 1977. He is the author of more than ten books of poetry composed in Kazan Tatar, Russian, English and Hungarian. In 1996 he was nominated for the Russian Booker Prize for the best Russian novel of the year. Among his books in English are Kazan: The Enchanted Capital, 1993; The Model o[ Tatarstan Under President Mintimer Shamiev, 1999, Historical Anthology of Kazan Tatar Verse (with David J. Matthews), 2000. Since 1992 Ravil Bukharaev has lived in London. (Courtesy Vanguard books)
My name is Ravil Bukharaev. I was born in the city of Kazan, on the River Volga, in 1951, to a family of mathematicians. By birth, I am a Muslim. But the situation was that up to 1989 I didn’t have any clear idea of Islam, because I lived through the decades of the Russian Soviet state atheism. Nowadays, I am a radio journalist, in a way a religious scholar, a linguist, an author and poet – and a believing |Muslim. My parents were both born before the Second World War, during the ’30s. So it means that the Soviet state atheism was already at its height. They knew about their background, but they never practised Islam as a religion. As for myself, it was even less with me, because I was born in the ’50s. And at that time not only Islam as a religion but even my mother-tongue, which is the Khazan Tatar tongue, was effectively banned, banished from the school curriculum. Almost all Tatars of course knew about Islam. Whosoever they were – they were party officials, or they were managers or schoolteachers or professors of the university, for that matter – they never did anything without saying: “In the name of God”. So in this sense, we can say that the Tatar culture – which is about one thousand years old – was always based on Islamic values. I can’t say that I was a secret Muslim, who was always thinking about going to the mosque and offering my prayers. That wasn’t the case, of course. I was a student. I was a young man – with everything that comes to mind in this situation. But if a person would like to learn something more about Islam or about his roots, his national roots, it always looked suspicious to the authorities. And the authorities, who were most prominent in persecuting and pursuing their ideas were not Russian authorities. They were local Tatar authorities, who would build their careers on it. They were very much feared. The atmosphere in 1989 became more liberal, not only in religious terms, but in all other terms as well. But to be a religious person it’s not enough only logically to understand what religion is. Faith is given by God Himself. And that’s why I was kind of in a jam. Because rationally I could understand that Islam is good, because it teaches good. But nothing was in my soul. And the only thing which saved me from this doubt was that in London I met some people whom I now count as true Muslims, although they are being persecuted in the big outside Muslim world as heretics: the Achmediat Muslim Society. The main idea of Achmediat is that you can’t love God as a creator without loving his creation and helping his creation. Here I realised that this was my place. Because everything came together: my education, my thirst for knowledge and rationality, and my search for a purely religious and spiritual experience. And now I believe very strongly that nothing disappears in this world. You can suppress something, even ruthlessly. But you succeed only in hiding something very deep. In fact, Islam cannot be destroyed. Because it is not politics. It is not a culture, after all. It is a state of mind. (Courtesy BBC)
Categories: Europe, Islam: A Religion of Peace, Russia
Sad indeed. We met when he visited Washington DC for some translation work. I think it was translation of the Holy Quran. He stayed at the American Fazl Mosque. Nice man. May Allah shower His blessings on him. Aameen
Yes. He was close friend. He will be missed
Inna lilla he wa inna alaehe rajeoon – We are from Allah and to Him we all return.
What else can we say. He was a great man and a dear friend…
I met Ravil only once (curtesy Abdul Alim) and enjoyed listening to him. He was a fine gentleman and an intellectual.
Who, when a misfortune overtakes them, say, ‘Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return.’ (Al Quran 2:157)
Ravil Bukharaev No More: Inna Lillahi wa inna Ilaihi rajeoon.
Unbelieveable, I’m really shocked to listen this news. Last time I met him on Jalsa Salana London 2011. He was hale and hearty. Energetic as usual. He was very much engaged with naw mobaeen. He exchanged with me in Russian and English. He was very pleased to know that I’m learning French at the age of 55. “I really have a passion to learn French, how lucky you are”,He said. I remember the day when Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV announced about his bai’at. During a presidential election of Kazakhstan, he came to Almaty Kazakhstan, representing BBC as an observer. On this occassion we arranged a sitting of our contacts with him. Before proceeding for question answer with our non ahmadi friends, he delivered a speech and beautifuly explained Surah Fatiha. Everybody loved the way he explained. Our Tatar friends were more happy to meet him. He had very actively been participating for translating Jama’at’s literature into Russian.Its a great loss. May Allah bless him and may his soul rest in peace.
Инна лилляхи ва инна иляхи раджиун! О Всевышний Аллах, прости и помилуй Равиль сахиба, и даруем ему высокое место в Раю. Аминь
Really a sad demise. Reminds me our associations when he used to visit Germany for tabligh amongt Russians. Allah may rest this departed soul in peace. amin
I was once looking into older editions of urdu dailies published from Qadian. I found that a white looking gentleman from Russia who is related to Tatars visiting Indian state of Kerala and giving an idea about Islamic history and scope for Islam in Tatar.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilaeyhe ra’ziun!
I regret that I never met him. The only secular person I want to meet is Nelson Mandela. I better rush.
Ушел из жизни великий Человек, большой Друг, духовный Брат. Погасла яркая талантливая Звезда. Звезда,сияние которого освящала нам путь. Глубокая печаль наполнила наши сердца. Мы скорбим по Тебе, Наш брат!
Пусть, Аллах Всевышний упокоит Твою душу в Райских кущах.
Инна Лилляхи ва инне Илейхе раджиун!
Inna lillahi wa inna ilaeyhe ra’ziun!
MAY ALLAH ALLMIGHTY GIVE HIM A HIGH PLACE IN PARADISE!
He was a wonderfull brother in Islam-Ahmadiyyat and an international representativ of living Islam all over. He had revolutionary freedom thoughts and was a true fighter for peace and freedom. Youngsters should come forward to follow his way of sacrifice.
He did a lot for Islam and his country! I’ll pray for the rest of his soul and for the dear once he left behind!
Ravil Bukharaev; Inna Lillahi wa inna Ilaihi rajeoon.
My son Rizwan and I used to attend the Urdu class recording three times a week at the time of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih Rabae (RA). Ravil Sahib was also a member of the Urdu Class He participated regularly in these classes. It was fun!
Friday sermon dedicated to him:
http://www.alislam.org/friday-sermon/printer-friendly-summary-2012-01-27.html
A man of great character, as well as words. Truly rare.
Asssalamo Alaikom
As Mr. Rufatzhan Tukamov said in Russian, I repeat:
“Инна лилляхи ва инна иляхи раджиун! О Всевышний Аллах, прости и помилуй Равиль сахиба, и даруем ему высокое место в Раю. Аминь”
Follow the link to listen special program on BBC Russian Radio in memory of Ravil Bukharaev sahib:
http://www.google.com.pk/url?q=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DbNYjePfFzl8&sa=U&ei=DWlcT8OlHM7jrAfT0viYDA&ved=0CDYQtwIwAQ&usg=AFQjCNFc6US0p60837pdIBE-hLXn2_N6Hw