Followers of various trends in Islam in Dagestan call on believers not to celebrate New Year

New Year celebrations have nothing in common with Islamic traditions and have no historical past in Dagestan. This was stated by Akhmad Anchikhsky, a follower of the Salafi trend in Islam. Meanwhile, according to Sirazhudin-Khadji Akhmedov, a follower of the Dagestani Sufism, some actions of celebration can drive Muslims out of Islam. In his turn, Abdulla Rinat Mukhametov, an Islamic scholar, notes that Muslims "have far more important problems to solve than the fight with the New Year."

Abdulla Rinat Mukhametov, a political scientist and Islamic scholar, has noted that in many Muslim regions of Russia, mainly in the north-eastern Caucasus, there is a campaign to call coreligionists not to celebrate the New Year holiday. So on, activists post on the "YouTube" and social networks the video records with famous athletes, public and religious figures of Dagestan, in which they express disapproval of New Year celebrations and call to boycott the date.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been told by Khadji Asif Bagirov, Imam of the Shia community in Moscow "Ahl Al-Bayt", that Islam encourages any event in case if it allows to commit any of the acts of worship, a prayer or alms to a person in need. When mentioning the fact that this December, the day of 31 year coincides with the departure of the Prophet Muhammad and the date of death of the Prophet's grandson Imam Khasan, Khadji Asif Bagirov has said that Muslims should consider this date, since it is associated with mourning, and refrain from amusements.

Let us remind you that in December 2012, in Dagestan, debates over the celebration of the beginning of the year were started. Some residents of the republic and the leader of Dagestan said they planned to celebrate the New Year and did not see anything wrong with the holiday. Others believe that the New Year is a pagan holiday and that Muslims should not celebrate it.