Islam in Ukraine has been through a new stage after a long period of stagnation. Muslim Youth started reviving religious knowledge in their Fatherland. Mr. Suleiman Veliev, a 27-year-old Crimean young man has successfully completed reading the Holy Qur’an for “ijazah” due to the rules of Hafs-an-Asem (one of ten styles of recitation proven to be canonical). Now he can teach students on his own.

Mr.Veliev wanted to learn how to recite the Holy Book the way the Last Messenger did, and this wish brought the young man to academic study of Qur’an. Suleiman, having completed memorizing the Holy Book at his 17, became the first hafidh after about a century of abandoning this tradition on the territory of Ukraine. He spent the grant he received from the AUASO “Alraid” to receive a degree in theology. He also finished a course of Fiqh studies in Hanafi Madh'hab and received the respective certificate.

Now he is a certified transmitter of the Hafs-an-Asem style of recitation, and can teach students on his own. If any of them gets skilled enough, Suleiman is in his right to certify such students, adding this student’s name to the chain of transmitters — right after his own.

Suleiman Veliev is a graduate from the Higher Medrese of Hafidh in Crimea, which was founded in 2003. The Medrese is the only educational body on its kind in Ukraine, and its students regularly participate in prestigious Qur’an reciting contests of many countries.