Address of the Grand Mufti on the occasion of the first school day

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

The first school day is returning to science. And science or more precisely knowledge is one of the attributes of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Therefor everyone who turns to science, to knowledge, returns to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. This, on one hand, is a great merit, and on other hand is a great responsibility. Everyone in this world has responsibility in front of Allah Ta’ala, in front of himself and in front of the people who surround him.

The first school day is an expression of joy and at the same time it is an expression of giving what we owe to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Students again begin to study, and most of all the first-graders who begin to enter the depths of science. Along with this, parents have also responsibility because it is their obligation to guide their children to study science, because science is the best thing to which parents could guide their children. Not less is the responsibility of teachers because they are called to give science to their students, to live with their problems and to care about their spiritual upbringing. That is why teachers’ profession is a sacred work! Maybe everyone can graduate university or whatever level of education, but not everyone can become a teacher!

The different from the past years is that in our secondary religious schools we have admission in two sections. One is for ninth grade and the other is for eight grade. This shows us that on one hand the teachers and the tutors in these schools and in other hand the Muslim Denomination have to take maximum more care and take maximum efforts. To give this which is necessary for our students and especially to ensure their comfort, their good way of education.

Those who have chosen these schools are chosen from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Because science as a whole is an obligation for every person. But religious science is a way not only for spiritual uplift but a way for leadership, a way through which one can achieve his aims by relying most of all on Qur’an-i Kerim and the Sunnah of Muhammad (pbuh).

That is why the students who have chosen to study in the secondary Muslim schools have to know that they are not like the rest. They have the advantage to be chosen to be guided by Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. They have the advantage to be an example for the other part of the students! They have the advantage to show how, in what way one should live in this world.

On this day I wish all who have chosen this way, to be firm in their efforts, to be permanent in searching and mastering science, to be united and to rely on Allah Subanaahu wa Ta’ala. Indeed they will be the ones who will receive the leadership skills and will become people to lead the society in which they live.

Dr. Mustafa Hadzhi

Grand Mufti of the Muslims in the Republic of Bulgaria