Abu Abdullah Gulamullah,

Minister of religion of Algeria

The greeting speech to the participants of the International Conference "Russia and the Islamic world: Partnership for the Sake of Stability"

Moscow, September 24, 2009

All praises to Allah, the Lord of the World, Peace and Mercy be upon His prophet Muhammad,

The God gave me the opportunity to attend such an important event that is held in the friendly Russian Federation, and I am happy to realize that among the participants of the present conference are such prominent religious and secular scholars.

I highly esteem brother mufti sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin. This is not only for his heading Russia Mufties Council but because he devoted his life to serving his religion and his motherland.

Verily, religion and motherland are two sides of the same coin. One cannot accept one and forget about the other. To be a religious person means also to love one’s motherland. The love for the motherland will not be full without faith. Allah had placed the faith in our hearts in advance. As He says in the Holy Quran: “Recall that your Lord summoned all the descendants of Adam, and had them bear witness for themselves: "Am I not your Lord?" They all said, "Yes. We bear witness." Thus, you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, "We were not aware of this." (7:172)