Thirty-two children were a reason for celebration in the town of Rudozem 

More than 4500 people gathered in front of the Central mosque in the town of Rudozem where on 29^th of July, 2017 32 children from the municipality presented religious-educational program during the specially organized hatim celebration. The occasion for this kind of a feast was their first complete reading of the Holy Qur’an that the young Muslims made for a first time in their life. The children easily recited verses from the Holy Qur’an in Arabic language and their meaning in Bulgarian, they told ahadith of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through which they reminded the attendees about the Islamic values. And the local band “Noor” performed ilyahi, praising the virtues of Islam. The hatim celebration was held at the initiative of the parents of the children with the assistance of the Muslim Board of Trustees in the town of Rudozem and Regional Mufti’s Office – Smolyan.

Official guests of the celebration were the Grand Mufti of the Republic of Bulgaria Dr. Mustafa Hadzhi, the Chairman of the Supreme Muslim Council Vedat Ahmed, the Deputy Grand Mufti Birali Birali, the Social Affairs Attaché at the Consulate General of the Republic of Turkey in the city of Plovdiv Metin Akbaş, the Regional Mufti of Smolyan Nedzhmi Dabov, the Regional Mufti of the region of Xanthi in the Republic of Greece Ahmed Mete, the Regional Governor of Smolyan region Nedyalko Slavov, the MPs Hayri Sadakov and Dr. Krasimir Sabev, the Mayor of the Municipality of Rudozem Rumen Pehlivanov, the Mayor of the Municipality of Madan Fahri Molaysenov, many imams and representatives of Muslim boards of trustees from the region, businessmen and public figures.

Teachers of the children were Vahdi Delihusev, Nihat Ademov and Myumine Sherifova and the efforts they made in order to give the young Muslims basic knowledge about their religion were crowned with success. The children ended the program with a dua (supplication) for guidance and welfare for the entire Bulgaria.

In his welcoming speech the Regional Mufti of Smolyan greeted the children for the diligence which they showed during the their training in the Quran courses and urged them with a self-confidence to continue on the way of the religious education, the teachers - for the efforts and the patience they showed in the preparation of the children, as well as their parents for the shown responsibility in upbringing their children according to the Islamic values. The Mufti called upon the parents – the support which they gave to their children to continue also in the future in order the knowledge which they acquired, to be applied in life when the day tomorrow their children will take their place in life.

The Mayor of the Municipality of Rudozem said that this day is a feast for the entire municipality because they came together – Muslims and representatives of other religions and stressed that one society is strong when there are educated people with high morality, professing high value system. And some of these values gives us the religious education, the upbringing of the parents, the school without which pieces there cannot be a strong society in which morality is brought to the fore.

The Social Affairs Attaché in the Consulate General of the Republic of Turkey in the city of Plovdiv greeted the parents of the children for the shown support during all that time of the preparation and highlighted that this which sustained the Muslims in these regions is their adherence to the Holy Qur’an, the example of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the tradition of the Muslims.

The Grand Mufti greeted the children, their parents and their teachers and turned with instructions to all attendees to emphasize on the religious education of the children. The Grand Mufti said that only when the growing generation is brought up with the religious values the society could hope for a better future and successes. “In this way we will show to the entire society that these religious and human values are not obsolete and our society needs them more than ever”, added the Grand Mufti.

All children were given gifts from Grand Mufti’s Office, the Regional Mufti’s Office – Smolyan, the Mayor of the Municipality of Rudozem and from the General Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in the city of Plovdiv. The attendees of the celebration also supported the children by making donations in specially prepared boxes for donations.

The celebration ended with a lunch for all guests and attendees, prepared by the parents of the happy children.