The personality of Murat Ramzi is one of the most interesting in the history of Tatar theological thought. Murat Ramzi devoted a considerable part of his life to a thorough study of classical works of world-renowned leading Tatar theologians. By the end of his life he had completed his most important work – the translation of the Quran and commentaries to it in the Turkic language, which became widely known among the Tatars, Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking peoples.
Moradullah ibn Bahadirshah Abdullah Sheikh Murat Ramzi is rightfully considered to be one of the most prominent representatives of the Muslim intellectual community, who in the late XIX – early XX centuries not only realized the cultural and religious revival of the Tatar and Bashkir peoples, but also beneficially influenced the general processes of spiritual revival of Muslim peoples in the Russian Empire. Murat Ramzi was awarded the honorary title of Sheikh for his outstanding services in the field of historical research and enlightenment of Muslims.
Murat Ramzi was born in 1854 in the Bashkir aul of Almet Bulyarskov volost in Minzelinsky district of Ufa province. His uncle’s father, Mullah Zeynuddin Nurkai, served as a regimental Imam in the Bashkir Cossack Army. The future theologian’s father, Bahadurshah (Batyrshah) Abdallah, was orphaned in early childhood and did not receive good education. His mother was a well-educated woman, coming from a family of teachers. Following the family tradition, she opened a primary school for girls. It was from his mother that Ramzi received his first knowledge of religion.
At the age of 8, he entered a madrasah in the village of Almetyevo. In a year, Ramzi was fluent in Arabic grammar, and at the age of 11 he began studying kalam. His uncle, feeling that he had given his nephew the best possible knowledge, recommended to his parents that the boy be sent to Kazan, to the madrasah of Shigabutdin Marjani, where he had already sent letters of recommendation.
Murat did not stay long in Kazan. He decided to go to Bukhara in order to continue his studies in Central Asia. However, after reaching Troitsk, he stayed there for two years. At that time he was studying in the madrasah of the third city mosque. It was in Troitsk where the theologian joined the Sufi school of Islam and later joined the Naqshbandi brotherhood.
After that he went to Bukhara. His route was through Tashkent where he attended classes of several well-known scholars within two months. At the beginning of 1876, Murat Ramzi finally reached Bukhara. There he continued to study kalam, but already in the early spring of the year 1876 he returned to Tashkent, where he spent the following two years, attending classes of scholars in and around the city. In Tashkent he found a lot of books on Sufism and numerous biographies of the prophets in the Arabic and Persian languages. According to Azat Akhunov’s works, a bit later Ramzi made up his mind to travel to Turkey, Egypt and the Hejaz. With a group of his compatriots he set out for India, where he stayed for three months together with pilgrims. Only in early 1867 he arrived in Jeddah by ferry. After visiting Mecca and performing the Hajj, Ramzi settled in Medina for four years. During this time he improved his knowledge of the Arabic language, studied hadiths, tafsir, fiqh and learnt the Quran by heart.
Ramzi continued his studies in Mecca under the guidance of Sheikh Abd al-Hamid ad-Dagistani. He concentrated on books on kalam, fiqh, hadiths and tafsir, while at the same time being interested in historical works.
Already in Medina, Ramzi began translating works, which particularly were revered by the followers of the Naqshbandi branch of Sufism, from Persian into Arabic. Historians say that Ramzi’s spiritual master, Sheikh az-Zawawi, found Ramzi’s translations the most successful among the available ones and had them published. In 1889-1990, his translations were published in Mecca at the expense of Sheikh az-Zawawi and his compatriots.
During his life, Murat Ramzi wrote and published over 15 scientific works, as well as many articles and poems. However, his main occupation was studying the history of the Russian Turks and Islam in the Volga region, the Urals and Western Siberia. Ramzi began compiling his book ‘Talfik Al-Akhbar’ (‘Work on the History of Kazan, Bulgars and Tatar Kings’) in 1892 and completed it only 15 years after. In 1908, with the financial support of Sheikh Zaynulla Rasulev, a prominent Sufi and Rector of the Rasuliya madrasah in Troitsk, the book was published in Orenburg, and caused a great stir.
The book ‘Talfik Al-Akhbar’ is of particular value because it is a detailed presentation of the historical development of the Huns, Turks, Slavs, Magyars and Goths from ancient times to the Middle Ages. Then the author gradually narrows the reader’s attention exclusively on the history of the Golden Horde, its culture and peoples inhabiting it, studying the interrelations between Tatar khanates and the fast growing young Russian state. The final part of the book is dedicated to the history of the Russian conquest of the Volga region, the Urals and Western Siberia, as well as the consequences of these events for the peoples of the Volga-Ural region. The fate of these peoples is a subject of particular concern to Sheikh Ramzi.
The bibliographical material on more than a hundred and fifty prominent religious figures, mostly Tatars and Bashkirs, who carried out cultural and educational activities in the XVIII-XIX centuries, deserves special attention. Sheikh Murat Ramzi devoted several pages to the biography of Sheikh Zaynulla Rasulev, his spiritual guide.
Sheikh Ramzi’s book compares favorably with the works of other Muslim scholars of a similar genre: it is written in the Arabic language, it incorporates the best practices adopted by the author from Russian and Western European historians. Ramzi divided his work into chapters, paragraphs and provided a list of works used. His book is accompanied by drawings, diagrams, tables and plans of historical sites.
Murat Ramzi was not only a major scholar and historian, but also a true patriot of his people. It is noteworthy that even today in Western and Arab community Murat Ramzi is known as a Muslim scholar, historian and the author of ‘Talfik Al-Akhbar’, dedicated to the history of the Turks who lived in Tsarist Russia (the Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Volga Bulgars, Kazan Tatars, Uzbeks and Nogais) and to Islam in vast territories of the former Russian Empire. It is remarkable that in the West this work has long been firmly embedded in scholarship and is used as a scientific source in the writings of contemporary researchers.
Ilmira Gafiyatullina
Photo: RBM RT