One of the oldest and most respected religious activists of Ukraine passed away recently. The heart of the 78-ears-old Mr.Girfan Gildeev, Imam in the town of Alchevsk, Donbass region, failed to carry on all the trials that the people of Ukraine faced recently. We, the “Islam in Ukraine” team, express our sincere condolences to this relatives and friends, and ask Allah Almighty to reward Girfan-hazrat for everything he’s done for Ukrainian Muslims.
According to what the parishioners recall, Mr.Gildeev was a very kind and compassionate man. The late Imam advocated for maintaining and spreading Islamic values among his compatriots. He was laser-focused on distributing religious knowledge so that there are less and less “formal” Muslims from day to day, and more and more practicing believers. He never spared his private time for explaining some religious matters to people or giving a piece of advice how to act best in that or other situation, when he was asked for some. Late Mr.Gildeev played a prominent role in reviving Islam not only in his native Alchevsk, but in Luhansk region in general.
In 2004 he approached Social Organisation “Al-Bayan” with his dream, which was to build a mosque in his hometown Alchevsk. The cooperated with the local Muslims back then and soon the dream was implemented. Mr.Gildeev served there as Imam until his last breath.
Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine expressed their sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of late Imam, and also to all the Alchevsk Muslims, due to their loss. “Ukrainian Muslims remember Girfan-hazrat first of all for his strong belief in Allah that he had with him during all of his life and shared it with everyone around. Whoever came to power, Girfan-hazrat remained a safe island of faith in the ocean of unbelief and ignorance. It was due to his efforts and persistence that the Mosque was built in Alchevsk, and later it became a sort of magnet attracting Muslims from all around the neighrourhood,a symbol of reviving faith and religious tradition for all the local followers of Islam. May God grant His slave with a castle in Paradise!”, the official RAMU “Umma” statement says.
Mr.Said Ismagilov, Mufti of RAMU “Umma”, noted in his personal condolences that Mr.Gildeev was one of those “iron men” that revived Islam in Ukraine: “For his firm loyalty to Islam he was, at the suggestion of communists, fired from his job. The Atheism Empire collapsed, and he Mr.Gildeev was an iconic figure, a sort of incarnation of victory of a personal faith over evil and aggressive disbelief.”
