Died 5 June 1957, Tashkent, Uzbekistan | ||
Eshon Babakhan ibn Abdulmajidkhan (Russian: Эшон Бабахан ибн Абдулмажидхан, Uzbek: Eshon Boboxon ibn Abdulmajidxon; 1858—1957) was an Islamic religious figure, theologist, Islamic jurist, Shaykh al-Islām active in Russia and later Soviet Union.
He was arrested two times - in 1937 and 1941 - accused of religious mentoring.
He was one of the founders and the first chairman of the Soviet Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan (founded in 1943 during World War II). He was the first mufti of the five Muslim Soviet republics (The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan administered the Muslim organizations in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan).
Eshon Babakhan played an important role in re-establishing relations with the Islamic word. The Islamic pilgrimage Hajj for Soviet Muslims was re-established and in 1945, and Babakhan led the first group of pilgrims numbering 22.
He initiated the publication of the Quran in the USSR in 1957.
Eshon Babakhan ibn Abdulmajidkhan was Uzbek by ethnicity.