Мугаллим Авваль. معلم اول

As you know, over the course of many centuries, all written and printed monuments reflecting the rich history and culture of our people were made on the basis of Arabic graphics. Today, some of them are kept in archives in handwritten form, while many of them were published in the form of books and are kept in libraries or in private hands.

We used the Arabic script until the 1930s. But since the schools stopped officially teaching it, the majority of our people, not knowing the Arabic alphabet, have been deprived of the opportunity to get acquainted directly with most of our religious literary heritage.

For a long time, the Tatars used Arabic graphics without any changes. The Persians, however, added 4 letters to the Arabic alphabet, depending on their linguistic needs (n, h, f, d). Over time, these letters were mastered by the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and also the Tatars. The alphabets have been preserved under the names "Iske imle" or "Iske elif".

At the end of the 19th century, a movement began for a more complete adaptation of the Arabic script to the Tatar language. This idea was first introduced by Kayum Nasyiri (1825-1902). This topic is covered in some detail in his book "Enmusezh", which was published in Kazan in 1895. Stating that there are ten vowel sounds in the Tatar language that need to be designated with additional letters, the scientist proposed these letters. But for various reasons, he was unable to put his ideas into practice.

Among the scientists who have made a significant contribution to the development and improvement of the Tatar spelling is Akhmathadi Maksudi (1867-1941). His book Mugallim Auval, published in 1892, was particularly successful. The total circulation of the book, numbering more than 30 editions, exceeds one million two thousand copies. The basics of reading and writing alphabetically by A. Maksudi were mastered not only by the Tatars, but also by other Turkic peoples living in different parts of the world: Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Crimean Tatars.

A. Maksudi added two more to the three Arabic vowels (short wau and hai rasmiya) and realized this through books and textbooks. Other Tatar alphabets were also created, but they were not implemented.

In this book we offer you the alphabet of A. Maksudi "Muallim auval". For convenience, transcription in Cyrillic has been brought under the words

Akhmad Hadi Maksudi was born in 1868 in the village of Tashsu, Kazan province. Having received his primary education in his village, he continued his studies in Kazan at the Kulbue madrasah, where he studied Arabic and Persian. At the same time, he compiled the alphabet "Mugallim Awal", and in subsequent years he published the books "Mugallim Sani", "Shifahiya", "Sarf", "Nahu", "Akhkam ash-Shargiya", "Istibdal", "Istikmal", "Russian-Tatar phrasebook", "French-Tatar phrasebook", "Scientific Dictionary".

From 1906 to 1918 he published the newspaper "Yoldyz", where famous Muslim leaders of the Tatar people were published. After the revolution, he began to study oriental philosophy, and translated a number of classical works of medieval authors into the Tatar language. During the period of Stalinist repressions he was arrested four times, but was released "due to old age." He died in 1941 at the age of 73.

Ahmadhadi Maksudi made a significant contribution to the development of Islamic education. Only in our time, Muslims have the opportunity to appreciate his activities, recognizing all his merits. His books are still popular throughout the Muslim world, published and reprinted in millions of copies, they are indispensable tools for many Muslims.