of activities were held in the Penza Oblast of Russia; on June 23, a plaque was dedicated in the city of Kikino, one of Bigievs supposed birth places, and a maktab and a garden near the mosque of the town were renamed in Bigievs honor. Family Bigievs wife Asma died in Ufa in 1979; of their eight children, two died young. His son-in-law Abdurahman Tagirovich Tagirdzhanov became a professor of Orientalism at Leningrad State University, while his cousin Abrashit Museevich Bigiev (1917–2010) became professor for Metallurgy at Magnitogorsk State Technical University. Today, descendants of Bigiev live in Russia (in Ufa, Moscow and St. Petersburg) and in Ukraine (Dnepropetrovsk). Views While he was one of the leading members of Jadidism, Bigievs provocative nature led to opposition not only from the Kadimists (nearly all issues of the Qadimist journal Din vä Ma'ishät include one or more articles written directly against him), but also from fellow reformers. In his 97-page essay Rahmet-i Ilahiye Burhanlari ("The storms of God's clemency"), published in Orenburg in 1910, Bigiev argued that God would also include unbelievers in his mercy and forgiveness. This elicited criticism from many Ulama, including Ismail Gaspirali. The influence of Bigiev was felt beyond the Russian Empire, for example in Istanbul, where the scholar Mustafa Sabri Efendi criticized Bigiev for his "dangerous and heretical" (küfriyati muhtevi) ideas and was responsible for the ban of three of his works in the Ottoman Empire. However, Sabri defended Bigievs qualification to discuss theological matters. Sabri coined the epithet "Luther of Islam" for Bigiev. Bigiev has also been described as one of "the most notorious Sunnite polemicists against Shiism in the 20th century", along with such figures as Muhibb-ud-Deen Al-Khatib and Ehsan Elahi Zaheer. This is the result of him penning several well-known anti-Shia books, including Al-Washi'ah fi naqd 'aqa'id al-shi'ah. In these works, Bigiev notes that during his travels in Iraq and Iran he had not met even one Shia individual who knew the Quran to a satisfactory level. Works (selection) Bigiev wrote extensively; for example, he published 64 books and more than 120 essays and articles on theology. Included here are some of his most notable works. Translations of the Quran and Hafez' Diwan into Tatar Tarihu'l Qur'an ve'l-Masahif ("A history of the Quran and the Quranic texts") – Published after Bigiev discovered editorial changes by Mullahs in a Quran edition 1913: Rahmet-i Ilahiye Burhanlari ("The