ВЫСТУПЛЕНИЕ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА РТ НА ВСТРЕЧЕ С ВЕТЕРАНАМИ ТРУДА В РАШТСКОМ РАЙОНЕ ( английская версия)

        Speech of the President of the Republic        of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon        at the meeting with veterans of labour        in Rasht District        (October 2, 2008)         Dear fellow-countrymen,        Esteemed audience,         First of all, I congratulate you, the people grown wise with life experience who have seen much of both joy and sorrow in life, on the occasion of the feast of "Idi Fitr" dedicated to the closure of the noble month of Ramadan, which signifies sacred and blessed days for all the Muslims of the world, including the noble and dignified people of Tajikistan. Before the See of the Lord forgiving and merciful, I pray that He giveth you robust health, happiness, fortune, successful and peaceful life, and peace of mind.         From the pint of view of the Islamic religion, keeping the fast is in fact connected with spiritual and moral perfection of every Muslim. The grounds of this teaching were laid down in the great Koran, the first verses of which were sent down precisely during the sacred month of Ramadan.        The most important requirement of the fast is bodily and spiritual abstinence, and every Muslim observes this regulation of the pure religion of Islam, preserving his purity, faith, conviction, endurance, compassion and solidarity.         That is precisely why the Prophet of Islam Muhammad, in one of his hadiths, named the fast during the noble month of Ramadan "the protection from any transgression or misdeed".         This moral and spiritual pivot, first of all, determines the sincerity of relations between Muslims and directs them towards accomplishing good and noble deeds, as well as rendering help and assistance to each other. We hope that, thanks to our Lord's grace, during this noble and blessed month the hearts of all people in our land, young and old alike, have cleaned from greed and envy, hatred and enmity, and have filled instead with feelings of love, devotion, mercy, charity, friendship and brotherhood.         In a verse of the surah "The Cow", our Lord, while depicting the Ramadan, quoth: "The month of Ramadan is the month wherein the Koran was sent down which instructs people and lets them tell the true from the false". This dictum of our Lord obliges the faithful to be bent, along with piety, on accomplishing good and noble deeds, purifying themselves from malice and arrogance, because solely in this case will the Prophet's flock deserve forgiving and absolution of past sins.         Among especially welcomed virtues are alms-giving and rendering help to orphans, since this, according to sheikh Attar's words, opens "the gates of paradise" before benefactor servants of the Most High. Today, thanks to our state independence, the Muslims of this land have opportunities to freely observe all regulations of the Islamic religion. All rights and freedoms of citizens, including believers, are guaranteed by state and the Government of Tajikistan.         That is why the Muslims of our country should gratefully respect the state independence; they should accomplish good deeds, show high morality and well-disposed, sincere attitude towards each other, and try to tell truth from lie. As telling truth from lie concerns, Muslims must necessarily be aware of the three basics, to wit, the verses of the Divine Word, the Prophet's precepts and hadiths, and the Hanafi fiqh.        The knowledge of these three essentials leads us towards cognizance of the true Islam, the Hanafi fiqh fully meeting all regulations of this veritable and righteous religion. Many issues, including those concerning the observation of namaz, were touched upon in the great Koran, yet the precise order of its accomplishment is not described in the Koran. So, this commandment of the Most High we observe according to the Prophet's tradition, relying at that upon the mazhab of our own, the Hanafi one.         As one of faqihs of the Hanbali mazhab, commentator of the Koran and reputable in the Islam's world theologian Ibn Jawzi mentioned, in the course of his life, Abu Hanifa succeeded in interpreting about sixty thousand (and according to others, three hundred thousand) theological issues and in proposing his explanations of the Koranic verses and the Prophet's hadiths, as solutions of problems arising in spiritual and social life of Muslims. That is precisely why one outstanding representative of the jarh wa ta'dil trend said the following concerning the significance of the Great Imam: "I swear on Lord's name that among the Muslim community there is no one who could match Abu Hanifa as regards the knowledge of the regulations of the Most High and His prophet".          Considering this, and with the aim of glorifying outstanding persons and studying their unbounded scientific, literary, religious and theological activity, as well as with the purpose of broadening the dialogue and interaction between civilizations, we have proclaimed the year of 2009, on which the 1310th anniversary of the founder of the Hanafi mazhab, the Great Imam, falls, the Year of the commemoration of this unique person.          This step of ours is, first of all, directed towards the cognizance of the grounds of Islam by means of one of the main trends of this religion, i. e. the Hanafi mazhab, raising the level of humanitarian and religious knowledge and culture, upbringing of worthy and honest generation, formation of sane thinking, encouragement of virtue and high morals in society, and, finally, deliverance of people from the burden of traditionalism, fanaticism and superstitions.         The works and deeds of Abu Hanifa are a striking example of such aspirations.        The most significant virtues and advantages of the Great Imam's mazhab in comparison with other mazhabs of the Islamic religion consist in that it is based on a simple and comprehensible order of public worship, taking into account the interests of poor and infirm people, equality among the Muslim community's members, respect for humanity and personal freedom.         Basing on these Koranic principles, Abu Hanifa stressed the necessity to respect cultural originality of other peoples. That is why, Abu Hanifa, himself being a child to Tajik parents, attached much significance to the languages of non-Arab peoples, especially Tajik, considering them necessary for the Koranic culture's striking root in the hearts of people.         According to the Abu Hanifa's teaching, the science of fiqh is divided into two parts. The first is the "greatest fiqh", consisting from the knowledge of the essentials of the religious teaching, cognizance of the Most High's properties, and belief in prophecy and resurrection (mi'ad). The second is the "terminological fiqh", or the science of the sharia's prescriptions, comprising detailed instructions concerning namaz, fast, every-day practice of public worship, communications and relations.          In his book "The Greatest Fiqh", the Great Imam writes: "To prove the sharia's prescriptions, I first of all apply to the book of the Most High and if don't succeed in proving a prescription from the Most High's book and the Prophet's tradition, I use the words of the Prophet's associates, not following the words of other people".          In other words, the Great Imam relied mainly upon the sacred Koran, the Prophet's tradition, unanimous consensus of his associates and reasoning by analogy (qiyas), which is why he always based his conclusions and fetwas (sermons) upon facts and documents.          It's worth noting that Nu'man ibn Thabit ibn Marzban, more widely known as the Great Imam, being one of the founders of the Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), wrote many books, including "The Great Fiqh" and "The Book of Teacher and Learner", which enjoy great popularity in the world of Islam and are the base for studying the Hanafi mazhab.          The studying and making use of ancestors' heritage, including the teaching of the Great Imam, are of paramount importance for our generation. In contradictory circumstances of the modern wold, wherein contradictions and confrontation of civilizations, religions and fundamentalist trends are on rise, it is highly necessary to rely upon the tolerant Hanafi fiqh. Since the bright religion of Islam leads humankind along right and true road and directs it towards good and righteous deeds, it is recognized as a pure spiritual and moral source and condemns contradictions and conflicts, hatred and radicalism among human beings.         All of us have been witnesses of how, in our not so distant history, various self-interested groupings, advocating radical and misanthropic ideas alien to us, made use of our population's low level of religious knowledge and unleashed a civil war.        In those days most of inexperienced young people were drawn in the maelstrom of ideological and religious contradictions. This conflict finally led to armed confrontation, numerous human losses, immense economic damage and sharp political and spiritual crisis within our society.         The bitter lessons of our country's history urge us never to lose political vigilance and common sense, always to be patriots, to be proud of our rich past and to protect national unity and territorial integrity of our ancestors' land. These days, there are people in our society who tend to sow discord among the country's population by means of their misanthropic and radical ideas.     Addressing you now, I categorically declare that we will abort any extremist action threatening the peace of our people, and will secure political stability, security and cohesion of the Tajik nation.         We are fully confident that you, the reputed and experienced people, as well the clergy, deeply realizing your human and moral obligations, will accomplish your historical mission connected with unifying the people and protection of national unity.         As all of you know from mass media, these days some circles in certain countries are trying to present the bright religion of Islam in the eyes of the international community as a source of cruelty and violence.         In these circumstances we must act according to the precepts of the Most High, the Prophet's hadiths and the Hanafi mazhab, thus protecting our society, and especially our youth, from ill influences of extremist religious manifestations.         From the time immemorial, we have been a cultured and civilized people. The invaluable writings of our ancestors attached much importance to human being's teaching, upbringing and spiritual perfection, the mazhab of the Great Imam being a striking example of this.          Basing upon this mazhab, all of us, armed with warm feelings f patriotism, national pride and authenticity, respecting genuine historical and cultural values, protecting and developing them, must lay reliable grounds for the unification of the nation, construction of our new state, strengthening of humanistic ideals and high morals, and propaganda of creative knowledge and ideas.          In our society, we must bring up a worthy and educated generation of people possessing high qualifications and professions, who will in future devotedly and honestly serve the interests of the prosperity of our beloved Motherland — Tajikistan.         With these good intentions I once again congratulate you, esteemed audience, and all the inhabitants of our country on the occasion of the sacred feast of "Idi Fitr" and wish you all well-being in your homes, strong trust and robust health.         Thank you for your kind attention.                                              Translated by NIAT "Khovar"