Today, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin, head of the Russian Muftis Council and the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation met the principal of the Azerbaijan Institute of Theology, Jeykhun Mammadov. The meeting was also attended by the first deputy chairman of the RMC, the principal of the Moscow Islamic Institute Damir Mukhetdinov, the head of the RMC administration Ildar Nurimanov, the head of the press service of the Perm muhtasibat Safa Karimov.

The Mufti noted that this meeting was held in order to strengthen fraternal relations and cooperation in the field of science and education. “We are delighted to know that academic relations and fraternal bonds between our countries have been developing,” said the religious leader. He mentioned the presentation of the monograph by Damir Mukhetdinov “The History of Islam in Russia”, which recently took place in Baku with the participation of senior officials of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, deputies of Milli Mejlis (parliament) of Azerbaijan, members of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as principals of leading universities.

“Like all other republics, Azerbaijan tries to protect its people from the ideology of extremism and terrorism. This ideology is a big tragedy for Muslims. We all work together to preserve peace and stability and to protect our youth from these dangerous ideas”.

Jeykhun Mammadov thanked the mufti for the meeting and spoke about the activities of the Azerbaijan Institute of Theology. He mentioned that the institute trained experts in two fields: Islamic scholars able to work as imams and clergy members in mosques, and religious scholars able to work in the relevant state structures. Apart from religious subjects, secular subjects, such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, logic, etc., are also taught at the institute. The classes are currently taught in the Azerbaijani language, but the administration is also intending to introduce English, Russian and Arabic languages in the near future.