‘Education and Dialogue of Religions. The Experience of Russia and countries of the Islamic World’ – this was the theme of the anniversary V International Summer School ‘Bolgarian Dialogue of Cultures’, traditionally held at the Bolgarian Islamic Academy. The organizers were the Fund for Strategic Dialogue and Partnership with the Islamic World, the Bolgarian Islamic Academy and the Russia - OIC Project Office for International Youth Cooperation. This year the event was held online.
Inter-confessional unity and crossroads of cultures
The theme of the school declared by the organizers acquires particular relevance in the context of acute global challenges facing humanity. This was said by Deputy Chairman of the Strategic Vision Group ‘Russia – Islamic World’ Farit Mukhametshin in his welcome address. The text of the letter was read aloud by Elmira Sadykova, Executive Director of the Fund for Strategic Dialogue and Partnership with the Islamic World, Head of the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue of the Bolgarian Islamic Academy, a member of the Group.
‘Over the centuries, Russia, home for millions of people practicing different religions, has formed a close interweaving of unique, multifaceted spiritual and socio-cultural ties. In its turn, the Group of Strategic Vision ‘Russia – Islamic World’ international non-governmental public organization, established at the initiative of President Vladimir Putin, is committed in its activities to finding new forms of dialogue, initiatives and solutions to maintain and deepen cooperation between our country and the Islamic world across the whole range of contemporary relations. Our special contacts with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its member states are aimed at the consolidation of joint international positions and trust between our countries’, the text of the letter said.
First Deputy Mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan Ilfar Khasanov also welcomed the offline and online participants of the Summer School. The religious figure expressed his hope that the conference would allow students to become more familiar with Islam and the Tatar-Muslim culture, as well as realize that Islam brought peace, humanity and education.
‘Everybody knows that next year Russia will celebrate the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by Volga Bulgaria. Islam was adopted in 922 on the banks of the Volga River, in the heart of modern Russia. Hence, Islam and Muslims are an integral part of the multinational and multiconfessional Russian society. All the indigenous peoples of Russia have contributed to the preservation of the state borders of our Motherland and its spiritual sovereignty, and to the development of strong social and economic space. Therefore, it is of great importance to get to know national cultures that have existed side by side for centuries and which form the multifaceted all-Russian mentality. This is also mentioned in the pages of the Quran’, Khasanov noted.
Young people are the most open part of society to everything new. The youth today are eager to expand their contacts, see no boundaries for communication, speak languages, and are democratic, more tolerant and accepting of other opinions and worldviews. And in order to preserve international and inter-confessional peace in society, it is necessary to respect cultural and historical heritage of your people and foreign cultures, Khasanov is convinced.
‘For centuries, the Tatars have been living on the border between the East and the West, Asia and Europe, the Russian-Orthodox world and the Turkic-Muslim one, which has led to emergence of extraordinary and prominent thinkers. Such a boundary condition has always stimulated the Tatars to develop in the context of crossing cultures and peoples’, the Deputy Mufti of Tatarstan concluded. He also reminded the audience of the fact that strong interreligious and international cooperation was formed and consolidated not only at conferences, but also at joint cultural and sporting events. For instance, most recently Mufti of Tatarstan Kamil Samigullin headed an inter-confessional expedition, within the framework of which a group of Muslim and Orthodox activists from Tatarstan made a successful ascent to the top of Mount Elbrus.
In his turn, Rector of the Russian Islamic Institute Rafik Mukhametshin agreed with the fact that the issue outlined in the title of the Summer School was very important and topical. ‘Dialogue of civilizations and dialogue of cultures in Russia have very deep roots. Young people have a lot to study in this area. And practical implementation of the dialogue of cultures one can find in an education system. To date, all opportunities have been created in the country for young people to receive a versatile religious education: there are 80 educational institutions; around 15 of them are higher ones. We have already reached the stage of adapting Islamic education to the conditions of the Russian multi-confessional community’, Mukhametshin noted.
Rector of the Bolgarian Islamic Academy Aynur Timerkhanov also addressed warm greetings and good wishes to the multinational youth. ‘Over these years, hundreds of young people from dozens of countries – Russia, China, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunis, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan and CIS countries – have participated in the work of the International Summer School. The Bolgarian Dialogue of Cultures Summer School rightfully justifies its status as an international venue for the dialogue of cultures and civilizations, for introducing foreign participants and students to the rich spiritual potential of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan’, Timerkhanov highlighted.
According to the Rector of the Bolgarian Islamic Academy, it is education, including religion one, plays a significant role in effectively countering contemporary challenges and threats, including the ideology of extremism and terrorism. ‘Of course, this education should be based on traditional foundations combined with modern realities and demands of the time. This process should be aimed, first of all, at consolidation of the civil identity of young people and cultural-civilizational and interreligious dialogue and harmonization of interreligious relations through overcoming spiritual ignorance and intolerance’, the speaker concluded. He spoke in more detail about the activities and current achievements of the Bolgarian Islamic Academy.
In his turn, Shamil Kashaf, Research Fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Scientific Advisor of the UNESCO Chair on Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, their Specific Cultures and Interreligious Dialogue in the Northern Caucasus (Derbent), Counselor to the Mufti of the Chechen Republic, recalled the great work done by the Group of Strategic Vision ‘Russia – Islamic World’, headed by President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov. ‘In 2019, Rustam Minnikhanov presented the updated strategy of the Group and reminded that out of 1 billion 700 million Muslim people on the planet, more than 20 million of them live in the Russian Federation. And they do not live in spiritual isolation with co-religionists or in religious alienation of society, on the contrary, the 1000-year history of the state and the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by Volga Bulgaria demonstrate that Russia has strong spiritual and moral religious pillars, including Islam’, Kashaf added. He stressed that the experience of the Strategic Vision Group should be scaled and transmitted to a broader audience.
Young people are key actors in intercultural dialogue
Youth events have an effect when they are conceived, thought through and implemented by the very youth. Timur Suleimanov, First Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan, is convinced of this. ‘In order for youth projects to be in demand, young people should be involved both in the process of project development and its implementation. In this direction, we are actively cooperating with the Youth Forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its Eurasian Centre’, Suleimanov stressed. The speaker reminded that since 2007 the Republic of Tatarstan had been actively cooperating with the youth wing of the OIC. ‘We are convinced that international youth cooperation is one of the priorities of state youth policy and a promising direction for its development. In 2020, the Russia – OIC Project Office was established in Kazan. Thus, we are becoming a resource platform for young people from different regions of the country in the sphere of communication, scientific capacity building, and opportunities for participation in international projects’, Suleimanov concluded. He also reminded that next year the elections of the youth capital of the OIC would be held, for which Kazan was also a contender.
In his turn, Elmeddin Mehdiyev, Director of the OIC Eurasian Centre of the Youth Forum, highlighted the importance of the Tatar venue, which is predominantly populated by representatives of Islam, who have been friendly to representatives of other religious beliefs for centuries.
‘Dialogue within the OIC – Russia can serve as a good platform for establishing closer cooperation between representatives of different religions and cultures. From our part, we are ready to take part in the organization of such events and share our experience’, Mehdiyev assured.
A person without any spiritual foundation will be lost in the world
According to Doha Assi, MP and Member of the Foreign Relations Commission and the Commission for Culture, Media and Archaeology of the House of Representatives of the Arab Republic of Egypt, there is a new trend in the world today. ‘A person without any spiritual foundation can get lost in the world. This is the reason why your work is so important. We need to establish an effective interreligious dialogue. We must understand, know and respect each other in order to live together. And such Summer Schools as the ‘Bolgarian Dialogue of Cultures’ are very effective for all of us,’ the representative of Egypt is convinced.
In her speech, she also shared Egypt’s rich experience in the sphere of interreligious dialogue, since before the emergence of Islam, most Egyptians had been Christians. ‘Now there are both Christians and Muslims among Egyptians. Our citizens understand that they are Egyptians, citizens of one country, regardless of their religious or national identity’.
Doha Assi concluded her speech with suggestions for establishing interreligious dialogue and resolving possible conflicts. In her opinion, folklore plays an important role and needs to be studied in detail.
Religion is one of the ways of learning about the world
Such forums are intended to consolidate interreligious harmony in Russia and establish strong scientific, humanitarian and cultural ties with the Islamic world. This was stated in the welcome address by Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan and Tatarstan, which was read by Father Alexey Kolcherin, Vice-Rector of the Kazan Orthodox Theological Seminary.
‘Young generation needs to know their own religion, culture and traditions. This is why it is necessary to develop the system of higher and secondary spiritual education and to raise the level of scientific research work. The Bolgarian Islamic Academy, with which we actively cooperate, is a positive example in this regard. This direction shapes, among other things, the image of spiritual thinking of our society’, the address said.
As the representative of Tatarstan’s Orthodox population noted, representatives of traditional religions of the republic had a rich positive experience of interaction in scientific, educational and cultural spheres, which actively promoted interethnic and interreligious harmony in our society.
Abdulatif Bahrawi, Chairman of the Russian-Moroccan Friendship Association, also spoke about the importance of education in establishing dialogue between religions. According to him, accumulation of the experience of society allowed the formation of such a phenomenon as culture. ‘Education is a process of transmitting knowledge accumulated in culture to new generations. But at the same time we should not forget about self-education. I would like to note that education and dialogue of religions allows us to say that religion, first of all, is one of the opportunities for every society member to learn about the world from a certain angle, relying on the system of principles, ideals and beliefs which it offers. For many, religion is a hope and a pillar, which positively influences society. The desire for dialogue is also at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate, enshrined in its constitution and in the resolutions of its various programs’, Bahrawi told the Summer School participants.
It is noteworthy that in the modern world, UNESCO’s program is dedicated to inter-confessional dialogue, aiming at the promotion of dialogue between different religions and spiritual traditions. ‘Conflicts arise either from ignorance, or misunderstanding of cultures and traditions. The program is focused on the interaction between various religions, spiritual and humanistic values, and on the need to learn more about each other, which will teach people to respect other cultures’, the expert concluded.
XXI century is the time of religious renaissance
According to Jordanian and Palestinian journalist Marwan Sudah, holding a summer school such as the ‘Bolgarian Dialogue of Cultures’ is a vivid indicator of Russia’s success and prosperity in the atmosphere of rapprochement and tolerance between believers of different religions and nationalities. Speaking about Jordan’s history, the expert noted that the country was full of bright examples of coexistence and tolerance between people of different faiths and religious beliefs, culminating in the initiatives of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein to celebrate the World Interfaith Harmony Week. This is now an official UN event held during the first week of February every year.
‘In Jordan we look at the challenge of coexistence and tolerance from an international, global and humanitarian perspective. It seeks to maximize the process of harmony, dialogue and rapprochement between religious people, to establish the atmosphere of peace, harmony and friendship in all countries. Respecting the differences on different issues between our society members, we note that this is the source of further success on the path of humanity, which seeks, in the world of conflicts between political systems, religious and national interests, to achieve peace for all people’, the speaker shared his experience.
Marwan Sudah explained that Jordanian society was based on solidarity and love, on coexistence of different religions, civil institutions and nationalities. For instance, among Jordanian citizens, there are representatives of different religious beliefs and, in addition to Arabs there are Assyrians, Circassians, Chechens, Abkhazians, Turkmens, Armenians, and other nationalities.
Our century is unique in that we are living in the age of migration crises, civilizational rifts and natural disasters. If the XX century was the age of clashes and political concepts, today is the time of religious renaissance. Natalia Maslakova-Clauberg, representative of the International Public Fund ‘Russian Peace Fund’ in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Executive Director of the Inter Kultur Forum Company in Switzerland, is sure about it. According to the international expert, it is now when such concepts as ‘Islamic terrorism’, ‘Islamic extremism’, and the hostility factor began to be attributed to Islam. The migration crisis in Europe has also played a part in this.
‘There is misunderstanding and ignorance of what Islam is. Therefore, it is important to organize and develop interreligious dialogue. We must talk of what religion is and what role it plays in society. Today we are facing the situation when a lot of children are not familiar with the concept of God at all. Religious traditions are either born in families, or acquired. This is why it is important to explain to young generation the peculiarities of the world religions and the paths people follow to God. The main thing is to build this path and understand what Islam is’, the expert addressed the youth. Summing up her speech, Natalia Maslakova-Clauberg once again stressed the importance of establishing a dialogue with young people.
Interreligious dialogue
The importance of interreligious dialogue is spoken about everywhere, including at the International Summer School ‘Bolgarian Dialogue of Cultures’. But the term itself, which encompasses many ways of relating between believers, can be interpreted in different ways. This was said by Sergei Melnik, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue at the Bolgarian Islamic Academy, to the participants of the School.
‘There are four forms of interreligious dialogue: polemical, cognitive, peacekeeping and partnership. If we are talking about a polemical dialogue, it is based on arguments about whose religion is the truth. A cognitive form of interaction has a different approach. It is more about studying other religions, striving to understand what others believe in. The main difference of this approach is respectful acquaintance and research, comparing with one’s own views and making sense of the views’, Melnik explained.
A peacekeeping format of interreligious dialogue aims to explain how people of different religions can live in harmony and develop opportunities for a positive social climate. Participants in this dialogue reflect on how people with different views can live in peace and harmony. The result of such interaction is a positive contribution of religions to society and promotion of social well-being.
‘Another type of interreligious dialogue is partnership one, which implies active cooperation between believers and joint solution of problems in society. The main goal here is to promote traditional family values, cooperation in various spheres of society’, the speaker concluded, stressing the fact that it was important to establish dialogue between representatives of traditional religions for comfortable interaction.
Museum of Islamic Culture and Intercultural Cooperation
However, conversations and productive dialogues, conferences and scholarly meetings alone are not sufficient for effective interaction between followers of different cultures and religions. It is important to establish cooperation through cultural projects, exhibitions and intercultural exchange. One striking example of such work is the St. Petersburg Museum of Islamic Culture, whose activities and plans are described by the Deputy Director of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The museum’s activities were described by Mr. Efim Rezvan, Deputy Director of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, and a UNESCO expert trainer. According to him, Muslim businessmen expressed their readiness to help organize the exhibitions and the museum itself. However, according to the speaker, we should start with introducing literature related to Islam and the history of Russian-Arab relations, including at the dawn of the XIX century. For instance, a collection of photographs from the Russian Consulate General in Kashgar showing the holy places of Islam that existed at the time will soon be released. Each photo is accompanied by text in the Russian and English languages.
‘It is also planned to release a collection of articles entitled ‘Sufism after the USSR’. Several dozen specialists from all over the post-Soviet space participated in its preparation. The next volume will be dedicated to the study of Sufism in the years of the Soviet Union. Separately, I would like to announce the publication of a book dedicated to Islam in Ethiopia’, Rezvan shared the upcoming plans.
Another area of work is the preparation and holding of exhibitions commemorating memorable dates and important events. For instance, this year marks the 200th anniversary of the first document from Morocco and the 140th anniversary of the journey of the first Russian man to the inner lands of Morocco. We are talking about Prince Vyazemsky who travelled all over Asia on horseback. The museum team is also thinking in detail about the different formats for presenting the rich intangible heritage. ‘One of the latest discoveries I would like to share with you is the discovery of 16 folklore and music recordings dating from 1903-1905, which showcase Uzbek, Kazakh and Tatar tunes,’ Yefim Rezvan summed up the meeting.
Ilmira Gafiyatullina