Sheikh Mohammad Zeki Atak, who was targeted by PKK because of his Islamic activities in Cizre and murdered on February 19, 1992 as a result of an ambush by PKK, his cause friend Molla Abdurrahim Timurtaş his exemplary personality to ILKHA.

Sheikh Mohammed Zeki, who was born from a sufistic family in the village of Güneyçam (Navyan) of Şırnak in 1957, started to educate the madrasa sciences from a small age.

Sheikh Mohammad Zeki, who studied in the madrasas in various places of the region for education of science after finishing elementary school in the village and took lessons in science of time, began to make an honorary imam in the surrounding villages by completing madrasa in his 20 years old.

Imam soon became a teacher of the Quran by taking the diploma of Imam Hatip and started to teach the Quran course in the Red Madrasa [Medresa Sor] of Sheikh Ahmedé Cezeri in Cizre.

Imam was always the first in the beautiful reading competitions reading of Qur’an. Then he made a change of duty in order to better serve Islam and became a mosque imam. He also built a mosque with the support he received from people of Cizre, where he also had his home. He had already built adjacent rooms to this mosque which carries his name and turned it into madrasa. There were students who came to take classes during the day, as well as the students who were boarding in this madrasa. Seyda, chatting with the mosque community almost every night, gave them fiqh [Islamic laws] and sirat [prophetic biography] lessons. He was teaching the Qur'an to those who did not know how to read the Qur'an.

On behalf of martyrdom anniversary of Sheikh Mohammed Zeki Atak's, his cause friend Molla Abdurrahim Timurtaş spoke to ILKHA said Molla Zeki was a scholar in love with the Islamic Dawah.

Sheikh Mohammed Zeki Atak, besides the Islamic identity, emphasized that he was a person who is precious, bold and in love with the Islamic cause, Timurtaş said that he is always looking for a way to move his cause further.

Sheikh Muhammad Zeki has always made visits to trades, telling Timurtaş that how he met with him.

Timurtaş said, "We were three scholars in Cizre. There was no unity to carry out the Islamic cause. There was someone in need to spread the religion around with the idea of collecting the young people and Islamizing them. We were looking for something like this but we could not find it. We were ready for the cause of Allah's religion, far from world interests, and we said 'lebbeyk' together."

"Your Dawah is very beautiful, but your burden is too heavy"

Timutaş stated that Molla Zeki was struggling to tell Islam in towns, village, "We traveled in towns and villages. We even went to the side of Seyit Hasan-ı Gerikî, one of the best scholars of our region. There was no Muhaddith or scholar like him in our region till to the Iraq regions. We told him about the Dawah. He told us that our Dawah is great but our burden is too heavy. We also knew how heavy this burden was."

He built a mosque in the neighborhood to serve Islam better

At that time, Timuraş said that there was only one Qur'an course in Cizre and that Molla Zeki was the sole teacher of that course. "At that time there was only one Qur'an course in Cizre which Cizre’s population was 70 thousand. Sheikh Zeki then built a mosque in his own neighborhood. The name of the mosque which is still present is Şehit Şeyh Muhammet Zeki Mosque [Martyr Sheikh Mohammed Zeki]. After this mosque was built, he started his Islamic studies in that neighborhood. Today, Alhamdulillah people from 7 to 70 are all ready for the Islamic Dawah and are altruistic in the neighborhood. The attacks on October 6-8, 2014, and 2015, were in that neighborhood."

Responding to PKK's distributing leaflets

Timurtaş reminded that the PKK was disturbed by Molla Zeki's explaining of Islam and that they threatened him many times and carried out attacks on his house. Timurtaş also said, "Molla opened a bookshop in the last dawn of his life as well. He became imam in the mosque that he had built himself. He constantly raised students in the mosque, with 10 to 15 students. He was always raising his students for the Islamic cause. PKK was disturbed by his activations and started to cause problems. My shop was opposite of his bookshop. One day were having our teas together in front of his book shop together. A man from PKK brought a notice and put it on the table. Molla Zeki hasn’t read the note and tore it on the face of the person who brought the report. The man said ‘You could read it’, Molla Zeki responded and said, ‘there is no need to read, I know what you are.’ He really had no fear of anyone."

PKK fired crossfire on Molla Zeki 

Describing moments in which Sheikh Zeki was martyred, Timurtaş said “People that his community and the people of the surrounding area advised to Molla that he should not go out at a time at close to his martyrdom time. Because he was being followed too much. He did not leave the house on these recommendations. At the day he was martyred in, he passed by my shop with two of his students. Cizre's Dortyolu was the center of the PKK. PKKs, who were about one kilometer away from his house, held both sides of the road. PKK fired cross-fire from both sides of the rampage road, and Seyda was hit there by the stomach and martyred there. PKK also banned his funeral. PKK has threatened the people who went to Seyda's funeral. But as his closest friends, we took the him to the graveyard and buried him there with Takbirs and Salawats.”

"O scholars, you have grown up with the Qur'an, but you are not with the Qur'an"

Timurtaş stated that they are pleased with the martyrdom of Sheikh Zeki on Islamic Dawah but still being upset despite of 25 passed years, Timurtaş ended his words with the words of Sheikh Zeki: "O scholars, you have grown up with the Qur'an, you gained honor and valued with the Qur'an, you became imam under favor of Qur’an, you became the forerunner of the people through the Qur'an, and when the Qur'an gives you so much value, you are not worthy of the Qur'an today, so what answer will you give to Allah?" (ILKHA)