A delegation of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Saratov region headed by Mufti Mukaddas Bibarsov went to Kazakhstan with the first official visit.

On March 2, the mufti of Saratov took part in the Forum of Alims of Eurasia called "The Islamic civilization in Eurasia: past, present, future". The conference brought together the representatives of the legislative and executive authorities of Kazakhstan, Islamic scholars, religious figures, leaders of Islamic organizations from more than 20 European and Central Asian countries. At the end of the forum, a delegation from the region visited one of the largest mosques in the post-Soviet space - the Khazret Sultan mosque  in Astana.

The delegation also met the Supreme Mufti of Kazakhstan Serikbay Oraz. Mukaddas Bibarsov spoke about the activities of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Saratov region, noting that the Kazakhs were the second largest ethnic group in the region (more than 80,000).

Serikbay Oraz and Mukaddas Bibarsov agreed to maintain cooperation between the Religious Board of Muslims of Kazakhstan and the Religious Board of Muslims of the Saratov region, and signed a corresponding document. It stated that the parties would share their experience, participate in various conferences, cultural and educational events, and work together to promote the halal industry.


During the visit to Alma-Ata, the delegation visited the Egyptian University of Islamic Culture "Nur-Mubarak" and signed a memorandum of cooperation with its principal. The agreement provides students from the Saratov region with an opportunity to study in Nur Mubarak. The students will be able to study Islamic disciplines, as well as Arabic and Kazakh languages.

"This year we are planning to send the first students to Nur-Mubarak, which is actually a branch of the reputable Al-Azhar University. The advantages of this Islamic university are the similar Post-Soviet culture, similar Islamic traditions and religious rituals. The absence of a language barrier is also a very important aspect, since Russian remains one of the communication languages, ", said the mufti.

The Muslims of Saratov visited Kazakh mosques and attended meetings with representatives of the Salikali Urpak public fund and producers of the Oner Kyrandari creative group.

"This was my first visit to Kazakhstan. We visited modern cities with a developed infrastructure. At the same time, we could see that national and religious traditions were maintained. I was amazed with the hospitality of local people. I was also pleased with the level of religious awareness, which could be seen in the number of people coming to the mosques for daily prayers and the number of young scholars practicing their religion, " — said Mukaddas-hazrat Bibarsov.