Gibadulla Murtasin

Gibadulla Murtasin (Гибадулла Муртазин, , Ğobəydulla Mortaza; October 25, 1895 – July 28, 1968) was a teacher among the Tatar community of Tampere and Helsinki, Finland. He also contributed to their cultural life by organizing theater plays among other things. Murtasin was born in Turkestan.

Biography

Life before Finland Murtasin (Murtazin, Mortaza) was born in Turkestan region to a wealthy family. He left his birthplace to study in a madrasa in Sarapul, Russia. Due to its innovative teaching methods, Sarapul was considered one of the best madrasas in Russia. However, the conservative groups thought that the teaching methods were too radical and the Russians had a fear that the qualitatively high level of education could increase the position of the Muslims too much. They also accused the teachers of anti-Russian activities. The state ended up closing the madrasa in 1912. Murtasin continued his studies at the Teachers College in Kazan and graduated in four years.

Murtasin was summoned to the Russian army during World War I. He was then transferred to Ufa, to train other draftees. During the war, Murtasin was ordered to the Baltic front. At one point, when he was in the middle of a difficult battle, he and his unit were blockaded. He was taken as a prisoner and sent to Denmark.

Alimcan Idris, a spiritual guide for the Muslim prisoners at a war camp close to Berlin, transferred Murtasin and other prisoners to his location. Idris assisted them by arranging work for them during their time of imprisonment. Murtasin worked in a composing room of a printing house where The Quran was being printed in Arabic.

In the 1930s, Murtasin worked as a teacher in a Turkic mother tongue school in Tampere. In 1941, he moved to Helsinki to teach Islam to children there. In 1947, he married Halime Abdrahim.

Literature Muazzez Baibulat: The Tampere Islamic Congregation: the roots and history (in English, Tatar, and Finnish). Gummerus Kirjapaino, 2004. .