The diversity of pre-revolutionary Tatar literature was presented in the Museum of Islamic Culture in Kazan
The Museum of Islamic Culture in the Kul Sharif Mosque is hosting the Tatar Book Culture exhibition dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Kazan Kremlin Museum-Reserve until October. The exhibition presents the results of the museum’s activities during its operation – religious books, fiction, textbooks, and magazines.
Hadith from the Marjani collection
As Ilnur Nizamiev, head of the department of the Museum of Islamic Culture, explains, the exhibition begins with the manuscripts donated to the fund:
“These books were brought by people from neighboring regions, from the districts of Tatarstan. Since the 1990s, when the construction of the mosque began, the late director of the Kamal Theater, Shamil Zakirov, had the idea of collecting Korans. But in addition to the Korans, religious and non-religious literature is also exhibited there.
The most interesting exhibit is Al-Jamig al-Sahih by al-Bukhari in 1384, a collection of hadiths kept in the library of Shigabutdin Marjani. It was acquired by the Ministry of Culture in 2018 on the 100th anniversary of Marjani.
The library of the theologian and imam of the First Cathedral Mosque was divided into several parts by Galimyan Barudi after his death. One part of the TASSR was deposited in the Scientific Library of Kazan University. The other part was “scattered” – this book was bought by a Moscow collector through the efforts of the orientalist Nuria Garayeva. Its value is hundreds of thousands of rubles. In fact, all major museums of the republic are involved in such purchases.
Part of the exhibition is devoted to the Holy Korans. Nizamiev says that the Koran of 1803, published in two volumes, is currently being restored. It was found in the Zelenodolsk district. Perhaps in the future it will be shown in a separate exhibition.
Indeed, part of the exhibition is devoted to Tatar religious figures – Gabdrahim Utyz Imyani, Musa Bigiev, Shigabutdin Marjani, Galimzhan Barudi. On one of the books you can see the seal of Nigmatulla Vagapov. This collector lives in Bashkortostan, on the border with Orenburg.
“He is one of the people we turn to again and again,” Nizamiev explains. “If you come across such books, please let us know.”
A separate part of the exhibition is devoted to the books of the enlighteners – Kayum Nasyri, Rizaetdin Fakhretdinov, Ziya Kamali (whose house was demolished in Ufa last week). For example, there is one of the volumes of Fahretdin’s monograph “Asar” about cultural figures of the peoples of the East. These were inexpensive publications published mainly in Orenburg.
Several other sections are devoted to secular literature, including the poems of Ğabdulla Tuqay and the writings of Fatih Amirkhan, as well as textbooks on mathematics, logic and geography used in the madrasas of the new method.
The Adventures of Nat Pinkerton
An interesting category is mass literature, including translations, for example crime novels about the American detective Nat Pinkerton. These books were mostly translated from Russian or Ottoman and not directly from the originals and sold in editions of 1,000 to 4,000 copies. Tolstoy, Defoe and Pushkin are also represented in translations.
Although a significant part of the books is devoid of illustrations, there are also interesting specimens. For example, an album dedicated to the anniversary of the service of Mufti Mukhammedyar Sultanov, who headed the Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly for almost 40 years. The book contains photographic images of mosques of the Russian Empire. Here is the mosque in Troitsk. Interestingly, in March 1893, the Ottoman Sultan presented him with the hair of the Prophet Muhammad, and this relic was freely exhibited until 1961 (until the death of the Chairman of the Council for Religious Affairs Ivan Polyansky).
“Some offer to buy a book for two million”
Today, the museum has over 50 manuscripts from the 14th to the early 20th century. More than 350 prints in Tatar with Arabic graphics. A small collection of Latin books. Some books have been translated and published, for example “The Good Father” by Ibrahim Idrisi, a kind of response to similar books by Rizaetdin Fahretdin: Idrisi wanted to draw attention to the fact that the father should also be involved in the upbringing of the children.
Radif Kashapov
Tatarstan
