In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful!

“Interfaith Relations between Kazakhstan and Russia”

Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

My honoured brother, mufti sheikh Ravil hazrat

Dear participants of the conference, ladies and gentlemen!

Let me welcome and congratulate the leadership of the countries, heads of Muslim regions of the Russian Federation with organization of the present conference.  I also greet the representatives of Muslim international organizations, representatives of science and culture of Russia and other countries, prominent public and religious figures, all the participants of the conference.

All your efforts aimed at enhancing international cooperation between Russia and the Muslim world in the fields of science, culture, economy and education are recognized by the world community. Moreover, in Russia focuses on the importance of the Muslim organizations, united in the Russia mufties council, to develop and strengthen relations with co- religionists from the CIS and other countries.

To my mind, we can say that this current conference is the continuation of the program of the president of Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Congress of World Religions, which was held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan three times, under the patronage of the President of our country, is a testament to what I said. This dialogue is needed for the sake of stability of all world religious.

Many of the commandments of Islam say about the importance of love and charity towards neighbours. This symbolized manifestation of love and devotion to God, because in Islam, true faith in God is impossible without justice, and love of neighbour. The Quran commands us to honour and respect all people, to have good opinion of others, to think about them only a good thing, leaving aside the bad thoughts. Thus, the moral tenets of the Koran reject false allegations about the aggressive nature of Islam. On the contrary, they demonstrate its peaceful nature aimed at strengthening the security of the international community.

Therefore partnership of religious organizations is very important for us, as it is an excellent opportunity to strengthen our peaceful cooperation. Besides, I would like to note, that our friendly relations with the Patriarch of All Russia Alexey II and the following leaders of the Orthodox Church has always been friendly.

And it makes us happy that Russia and Kazakhstan have more prerequisites for cooperation and neighbourliness than any others. Both of our religious – Islam and Christianity, preach goodness, mercy, humility, peace and harmony. The Holly Quran teaches us: “…and our god and your god is one and the same; to Him we are submitters”. (29: 46).

And we will continue seeking for the “cementing” force called “tolerance”, recognizing and respecting both global interests of our states and national identity, customs, original traditions of our nations.

Especially noteworthy are the brotherly relations between the Russia mufties council and the Muslim Religious Board of Kazakhstan. An example of this is the Protocol of cooperation signed in Almaty in 2007.

We are pleased with the fact that thanks to the efforts of heads of our states N.A. Nazarbayev and D.A. Medvedev we witness continuation of economic, political and cultural mutual integration, which leads to the naturally strengthening relations between our nations and working to their benefit.

We build our relations on the right way of good neighbourliness, friendship, inter-religious and ethnic respect. And we should follow it with confidence. Help us Allah.

Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!