Ahmed Hasanov is the new Chief Mufti. This was announced to NOVA by Jelal Faik - General Secretary of the Chief Mufti's Office.
A conference was held at the National Palace of Culture to elect a new Chief Mufti and a new leadership of the Muslim denomination. Two candidates were submitted for the position. These are the Chairman of the Supreme Muslim Council Vedat Ahmed and the Deputy Chief Mufti Dr. Ahmed Hasanov. The choice was decided by over a thousand delegates.
„The needs of the Muslim community are very different and of a different nature. We have different ideas for solving the problems, but the main emphasis we place is on the education and retraining of the personnel who are currently working or who will be preparing, since the Muslim community needs more educated and prepared religious leaders to lead the Muslim community in this multi-layered world,” said Vedat Ahmed.
As a challenge, he pointed to awareness. “It is important for Muslim leaders to be prepared and knowledgeable, but at the same time to emphasize education in values, and this is possible when they themselves share certain values,” said Vedat Ahmed.
”The new Chief Mufti will work for the benefit of Muslims in Bulgaria. We will start working with young people, we have young imams, we have mufti offices, schools and we are moving forward. Our goal is to first emphasize the education of young people, moral values, and we will be close to the people. We have ideas and ambitions, so we will work with everyone,” said Ahmed Hasanov.
“Young people are leaving for the West, especially in our circles we have young people who prefer to be in the West. With my team, we will do everything possible to return as many people as possible to our country”, he added.
344 delegates demanded that the new chief mufti be elected by secret ballot. However, the procedure caused a scandal, as the organizing committee announced that there was no technical preparation for a secret ballot. 529 delegates declared themselves in favor of an open vote.