On December 12, 2024, the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) hosted a dialogue session entitled “Russia – Islamic World: Intercivilisational Dialogue”. The event was held as part of the 10th meeting of the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World” (GSV) on the topic “Interaction between Russia and the Islamic World in the Era of Emerging Multipolarity”.
The session was attended by members of the GSV, representatives of IIUM and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as religious figures and scholars from Russia and Muslim countries. The central topic of discussion was the experience of Intercivilisational interaction between Russia and the Islamic world, as well as proposals for the development of bilateral cooperation in various areas, in particular, in the field of education. The participants of the session devoted considerable attention to discussions about the concept of "ummah" in the context of the modern world and Islamic tradition.
It is important to note that the event began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between IIUM and the OIC Youth Forum, which laid the foundation for cooperation between the parties in the social, cultural and scientific fields. OIC representative Mohamed Salah Tekaya during the session, he noted that education must be used as a tool for achieving mutual understanding in the process of Intercivilisational dialogue.
In his opening speech, IIUM Rector Dr. Osman Bakar spoke about the Centre for Civilizational Dialogue which he founded in 1996 at the University of Malaysia. At various times, the Centre has hosted representatives from Iran, Turkey, the Middle East and now Russia. “These are extremely important visits for Malaysia, as our country is multinational, multi-religious and multicultural”, - Dr. Bakar stressed.
The first question from the session moderator, IIUM Vice-Rector, Professor Mohammed Aslam Hanif, addressed to the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alikber Alikberov, touched upon the historical retrospective of the development of relations between Russia and Islamic civilization.
After the collapse of the Golden Horde, an Islamic medieval state that occupied the territory of modern Russia, many Tatars became part of the Russian aristocracy. The cohabitation of Muslims and Christians became a unique experience of historical interaction, Alikberov said. The Russian orientalist noted an important detail that distinguishes Russia from European countries.
"In the West, the Quran was published and translated into local languages in order to study Muslims and govern them. In Russia, the Holy Quran was first published under Catherine II to meet the spiritual needs of Muslims in the Russian Empire", - Alikberov said.
The comments to the answer contained interesting theological parallels. Professor Omar Jah, a representative of the Gambia and a graduate of IIUM, compared the Russian Federation in the context of the current geopolitical situation to the Eastern Roman Empire, a religious state that defeated the Persian pagans. This is described in the 30th surah of the Holy Quran, “The Romans”.
“Respect, innovation, prosperity, trust, sustainability, care – these are the pillars of modern Islamic finance”, - said Professor of the Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, IIUM Rusni Bintu Hasan, in her speech. Malaysia is a leader in Islamic banking; IIUM is an international centre with expert knowledge. Professor Rusni expressed confidence that Russia and Malaysia will be able to establish cooperation between universities on educational issues in this area.
Director of the International Center for Strategic, Military and Security Studies (Tunisia) Badra Gaaloul shared her opinion on the concept of the ummah: “There are more than a billion of us in the world, but today there is a real problem of the division of the ummah”. According to Gaaloul, a clear example of disunity is the lack of unity in the resistance to the Zionist regime of Israel, which is seizing the lands of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
To the surprise of the moderator, the discussion of the concept of "ummah" became central to the session. Thus, the Secretary General of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic schools of thoughts, Hamid Khavali Shahriari spoke about his book dedicated to this concept. According to Mr. Shahriari, the roots of the problems of the modern ummah lie in the lack of proper nurture.
"Education may be average, but upbringing must be higher", - said Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ramazan Abdulatipov. The diplomat expressed a reproach towards modern higher education institutions, which neglect the issues of nurturing a traditional worldview in the younger generation. In this regard, Mr. Abdulatipov emphasized the important role of dialogue in Intercivilisational interaction.
“The concept of ‘ummah’ refers not only to Muslims, but also to other communities, including Christians. Personally, I understand the concept of ‘ummah’ as a community with the same goals”, - commented Professor of the National Islamic University, Chairman of the Global Center for Moderate Islam Din Shamsuddin.
“According to the Quranic tradition, the ummah can be not only a community of people, but even insects, such as ants", - noted Vitaly Naumkin, Scientific Director of the Institute for Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The scientist called this a classic example of exceptional Islamic humanism. Naumkin called for an exchange of scientific publications between the Russian and Malaysian scientific communities .
"The problem of division is also the problem of our sinful life, our separation from God", - shared Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan and Tatarstan in his speech dedicated to the implementation of dialogue between confessions. His Grace noted that the first Holy Quran in Russian was published on the initiative of the professors of the Kazan Theological Seminary.
The Metropolitan approached Professor Bakar with a proposal for cooperation between the Kazan Seminary and IIUM, and also introduced his colleague, Metropolitan Sergius of Singapore and Southeast Asia, whose speech brought a new note to the dialogue.
"The historical experience of my country helps in my service", - said the head of the Patriarchal Exarchate in this region. Given the wide scale of activities, Metropolitan Sergius considered it expedient to form a permanent working group on the dialogue of Islamic organizations and the Russian Orthodox Church in the countries of Southeast Asia on the basis of IIUM.
Head of the Iraqi National Project Party Jamal Khamees (Al-Dhari), in turn, shared his personal experience. Previously, Iraq lived as a single nation, but after 2000, when the US army occupied it, Iraqis were forcibly divided into Sunnis, Shiites, Arabs, Christians, and so on. This was largely due to the external media that came with the US troops and influenced the Iraqi youth.
"Today, unfortunately, there is a lot of fake information. People are even afraid to come to this or that country, because they don’t know what is really happening there", - said Mufti Rushan Abbyasov, Deputy Chairman of the Religious Board of Muslims of Russia. However, such practical meetings, exhibitions, lectures serve to promote common values despite the disinformation. It is worth noting that Rushan Hazrat gave a lecture on "Islam in Russia" at IIUM in 2022.
At the end of the session, IIUM Rector Osman Bakar voiced proposals regarding cooperation in the field of Islamic education, including a focus on the analysis of the basic verses of the Quran and the continuation of Intercivilisational dialogue. In this regard, he advocated the formation of master's programs in each of the participating countries to study the concept of "ummah". At the same time, it is necessary to determine a single global center in one of the capitals: be it Kuala Lumpur, Kabul, Tehran or Kazan.
“The priority for our Group (GSV editor’s note) is precisely the dialogue of civilizations, and the next most important issue is education, science, culture and relations with universities”, - summed up the session, Deputy Chairman of the GSV Farit Mukhametshin. He also noted that the Group's plans include enough events for joint work outside the Russian Federation, and now it is possible to inform colleagues from Malaysia about them for the purpose of more substantive preparation.