Speech of Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin at the joint meeting of the Council of the Federation and the Russian State Duma under the chairmanship of the heads of both chambers of the parliament Sergey Naryshkin and Valentina Matvienko:

Dear Mrs. Matvienko
dear Mr. Naryshkin,
dear members of the meeting, brothers and sisters,

I would like to use this opportunity again to expess my sincere condolences and compassion in relation to the death of 224 people in a Russian airplane catastrophe over Sinai peninsula flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg as well as recent terrorist acts in Lebanon, France and other parts of the globe.

Many different definitions were offered within the last few days: beginning of World War III, pivotal moment in European history, clash of civilizations and others.

Beyond doubt, the goal of these terrorist acts is not physical extermination of people or material objects but ideological manifestation in which human lives, unfortunately, play the role of extendable materials.

Humanity is given a signal: our current political order is coming to an end! It is not about change of rules or subjects, it's about abolishing all rules and imposing sword law instead, followed by anarchy, terror and horror.

They are trying to make us believe that the universally acknowledged rules of human coexistence, the whole framework of cooperation of nations and states based on logical, clear foundations that took centuries to develop does not work anymore.

And if we do not agree with such prospects then it is our duty to remain unprovoked by the terrorists, stay untied and self-assured, assert our rights as human beings.

All humankind must today abandon all secondary issues and disagreements and present a united front against terrorists who defy God's laws and show no human compassion.

I am sure that God will punish Daesh criminals who sow mischief and lawlessness on our planet. God's retaliation for thousands of human lives is imminent.

I call upon all Russia's Muslims as well as our other compatriots to rally around our national leader Vladimir Putin, stand united in total rejection of terrorism and extremism, strengthen our Fatherland and pray for the cessation of violence.

Moscow, December 20