With strict safety measures on April 17 (Thursday) this year the Mufti’s representation – Provadia hosted a working meeting, held outdoors with some of the imams from Regional Mufti’s Office – Varna. In it participated the Regional Mufti of Varna Nuray Shukri, the Deputy Mufti in Provadia Oktay Hashim, as well as all imams from the region, who are under the age of 60 years and do not fall in the vulnerable group in the situation of the current pandemic.

Before the meeting all participants received safety masks and disinfectants, and there was also observed the required physical distance between the people.

The agenda of the meeting included informing the imams from Varna region about the instruction, the orders and the regulations on behalf of Grand Mufti’s Office for working in the situation of the state of emergency. There were discussed all upcoming initiatives during the month of Ramadan, which will begin on April 24 (Friday). It is expected that the local imams will regularly recite the adhans (calls for prayer) during the holy month, as well as when possible to use the sound systems in the mosques to recite short preaches and appeals from the minarets.

The management of Regional Mufti’s Office – Varna urged the clerics to take an active part in the two campaigns of Grand Mufti’s Office – for supporting the needy and for supporting the Islamic education. It is expected from them to work on a local level together with the town halls, the Muslim boards of trustees, so that to provoke in the population the sense of mutual help.

Among the discussed at the meeting topics was also the organization of the upcoming online training of imams from the mufti’s office in Varna, which will take place the next week. The aim is to refresh the knowledge of the local imams. The training will be led by the Mufti Nuray Shukri and the guest-imams from the Republic of Turkey at the mufti’s office in Varna.

At the end of the working meeting the participating imams received also their newly issues service cards. They have been introduced in accordance with the new provision in the Law on Religious Denominations according to which the staff in the structures of the official religious denominations must make themselves known. For this purpose, all imams and vaizes (preachers) in the structure of the Muslim Denomination will already have such service cards.

Author: L. Chausheva