On Friday, November 9, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin met Sheikh Humam Hamoudi, Chairman of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council .

From the Iraqi side, the meeting was also attended by sheikh Mahmoud Khalaf Jarad Al-Isawi, First Secretary of the Iraqi Embassy in Moscow, Dr. Abbas Falih Hassan, Assistant Chairman of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council , Ali Nabil Make Al-Hasani participated in the meeting.
From the Russian side, the meeting was attended by the first deputy chairman of the RMC Rushan Abbyasov, vice-president of the RMC Akhmed Azimov, the head of the administration of the Religious Board of Muslims of Russia Ildar Nurimanov, as well as experts of the RMC international department.

Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin spoke about the centuries-long relations between Baghdad and the Bolgar state, about the role of the Baghdad educators in spreading Islam in the Volga region, as well as the development of Islamic education in the modern history of Russia.

"Our connections with Baghdad and Iraq date back more than a thousand years. Centuries ago, scholars came to our lands to teach in our madrasahs and other Islamic educational institutions, to give knowledge to our Muslims and to strengthen their faith. Today we maintain friendly relations with our brothers from Iraq. This February we received a distinguished guest, Ibrahim Al-Jafari, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, who came to Russia with an official visit, " said Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin.

He also added that during the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim al-Jafari, they discussed cooperation of our Islamic organizations.

"We are open for cooperation with the Ministry of Awqaf and educational institutions in the area of organizing academic and practical conferences, publishing books, tourism. I am sure that your visit will also strengthen our relations. We are also trying to actively participate in the events organized by Iraqi Islamic organizations ", - said Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin. “We are proud of our close cooperation with Islamic countries. Today we had two delegations from Turkey. We have close ties with the North African countries, such as Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, etc. We also have close ties with Egypt, Iran, and GCC countries” – he added.

According to the Chairman of the Russia Muftis Council, today Russian Muslims have the opportunity to conduct Islamic events not only in Russia, but also abroad. "For about 20 years, we have been conducting the Moscow International Quran Reciting Competition. Another major international project is the Moscow Halal Expo exhibition. We would like Iraqi producers of halal products and services to participate in these events. Our Religious Boards of Muslims organize different theological conferences. This December the International Muslim Forum will take place in Paris, and in 2019 our academic and theological conference "Spiritual Silk Road ", which was first held in 2016 in Urumqi (China), will bring together experts in the field of Islam in Astana, Kazakhstan. I would also like to thank the cinematographers from Iraq who participate in the Muslim Film Festival in Kazan. All these activities are aimed at spreading true spiritual and moral values and humanistic ideas of Islam, " – he noted.

Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin also mentioned the Interreligious Council of the Russian Federation, which celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this year, was created upon the initiative of Russian Muslims. The religious leader of Russian Muslims expressed confidence that official meetings, organization of international events and cooperation would contribute to the rapprochement of countries and peoples.

In his turn, the Chairman of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council , Sheikh Humam Hamoudi, said he was impressed with the activities of Russian Muslims.

"We are happy to see that  Russian Muslims adhere to true spiritual and moral values and develop an interfaith dialogue. We also admired the Moscow Cathedral Mosque, which can accommodate over 10,000 believers "he said.

The chairman of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council  also stressed that both Iraq and Russia stand for  developing interfaith dialogue and conveying the true ideas of Islam in order to prevent terrorism and extremism.

At the end of the meeting, the parties exchanged gifts and expressed hope for further development of relations between Russia and Iraq.