Chechnya opens sixth Hafiz School

A Hafiz School (where they train reciters of the Koran by heart) was opened in the mountain village of Pachu in the Nozhai-Yurt District of Chechnya, becoming the sixth such school opened in the republic during the last 8 years.

"Its construction was started last April for the money allocated by the Akhmat-Hajji Kadyrov Public Fund. The opening of the school was a great event for the whole republic," said a source from the Muftiate of Chechnya.

Some residents of the republic doubt that Chechnya needs six such schools. Some treat it as a boon; others believe that the Chechnya needs more specialists in different areas, not theologians.

"Yes, spirituality is certainly important, but today we first of all need not Koran reciters, but economy experts", Akhmad, a former employee of one the republic's agencies, is convinced.

"I wonder what they'll do in the future: will they all become mullahs and mosque imams? Roughly speaking, these are people who'll make nothing and live at the expense of others," a Grozny resident named Israil believes.

"I'm a believer myself, but I believe that a man should have some profession that'll allow him to maintain himself and his family," the man is convinced.