The Moscow Cathedral Mosque gathered ambassadors and representatives of 40 countries of the Islamic world for iftar today.

Speech of the religious leader of the Muslims of Russia Chief Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin at the iftar for the ambassadors of the Islamic world on behalf of the Chairman of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation “Ramadan - Bridge of Friendship”::

Dear Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors of Arab and Muslim countries to the Russian Federation!

Dear representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Russian Export Center, business circles and mass media!

Dear diplomats!

Dear brothers and sisters!

It is a great honor for me to welcome you in the walls of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque on the blessed days of the month of Ramadan at the evening of the feast! We organize iftars for ambassadors and diplomats of the Islamic world as a sign of our respect and many years of good cooperation, as well as to strengthen brotherhood among Muslims.

The relations between the Russian Federation and the world of Islam are experiencing an upsurge, which has almost no analogues in our history. The Islamic world has demonstrated friendliness towards our country, respect for our national interests and Russia's civilizational role in the world. In this geopolitically difficult period, the leaders of the Islamic world have shown respect for our national leader Vladimir Putin and understanding of his policy aimed at protecting the interests of Russia and its peoples, our identity, culture, traditions and Russia's security.

Preserving traditional and family values, striving for moral perfection, and strengthening interreligious and interethnic peace are the linchpins of our spiritual diplomacy today, and this resonates with religious leaders from around the world.

While the Western world, which has abandoned Christian morality and forgotten the commandments of the Gospel, shows open hostility and treachery towards our country, the world of Islam actively develops cooperation with Russia, invests in our economy, implements joint projects in science and education and achieves major successes in world diplomacy.

We, the Muslims of Russia, express our special gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Shrines, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, as well as Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, for providing a platform for Russian-American negotiations, which in itself is unprecedented in world history. We pray to Almighty Allah that the negotiation process initiated in the country of the two Islamic shrines will lead to the establishment of long-term and lasting peace, and that the goals set by the Russian president to overcome the most dangerous disease of Nazism and militarism will be achieved in the interests of the peoples.

Many outside Russia do not understand what is meant by the concept of “Russian peace”. But it is Muslims who are able to understand: just as we cannot imagine Saudi Arabia without Mecca and Medina, and the whole world of Islam without Al-Quds, it is impossible to imagine historical Russia without Novgorod, Kiev, Chersonesos, Moscow, Bulgar, Kazan, St. Petersburg and other historical centers. Likewise, Russia cannot be understood and realized in isolation from its eastern, Muslim roots. Vladimir Putin's initiative to join the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 2003 was not just wise, but visionary and strategic, and its importance is now on full display.

The very idea of Russia as part of the Islamic world, simultaneously with its status as the largest Christian power was born in the late 19th century in Crimea, in the mouth of the Crimean Tatar educator Ismail Gasprinsky. It was repeated by President Putin at the OIC summit in Malaysia. After two decades, today we congratulate Rustam Minnikhanov, the Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan, Chairman of the Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group, on the fact that for the first time in history a Russian city - the capital of Tatarstan, Kazan - has been declared the Cultural Capital of the Islamic World. As a member of the Strategic Vision Group and a native of Kazan, I have the honor to invite all of you to visit Kazan, this ancient city at the crossroads of the most ancient cultural and trade routes. Many of you have seen for yourselves during the BRICS Summit in October 2024 the hospitality of Tatars and Tatarstanis of all nationalities and religions, as dozens of heads of state, including President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, President of the United Arab Emirates Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian and many others have come to Kazan.

In recent years, not least thanks to the active work of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Marat Shakirzyanovich Khusnullin and thanks to the Kazan Forum economic forum, our economic relations have been actively developing. We welcome this kind of cooperation and being a religious organization we make a great contribution to the development of halal industry in Russia and export of high quality halal products to the countries of the Islamic world. This is facilitated by accreditation of our International Halal Standardization and Certification Center in many national accreditation centers, bilateral agreements with partners in the Islamic world.

Dear brothers and sisters!

In 2025 the whole world will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Victory in World War II. The President of Russia has declared this year the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland. For Russia and the CIS countries it is the Great Patriotic War, which left literally not a single home, not a single family in this vast Eurasian space. The memory of the great feat of ancestors even today lives in every Russian family and May 9 is the most popular, the most honored holiday. For many decades, starting from my parents' generation, on May 9 the song “Cranes” on the verses of the Dagestani poet Rasul Gamzatov sounds. And this song of the Muslim poet is listened to and sung by Russians with tears in their eyes.

Defense of the Fatherland and love for the Fatherland is an important value for all Russian Muslims and it was so during all domestic wars that fell to the share of our country. Many of you have already heard about the Hajj Kerim charity event and the generous donation of my dear brother Suleiman Kerimov, who allocated 5000 vouchers for Hajj. Today the organizing committee is actively working, accepting applications mainly from the participants of the Special Military Operation, their closest relatives. And from the applications we see how bravely Muslims of various nationalities - Tatars, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Chechens and Ingush, Dagestanis, Karachais and Balkars, Circassians, Meskhetian Turks, Uzbeks and Tajiks, and many others - fight and die for Russia. Their families live not only in the national republics, which are often called national outskirts of Russia, but also in the central European part of Russia.

Dear brothers and sisters!

Recent weeks bring increasingly disturbing news from Syria. In a special address of the Presidium of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation it was stated that we pray for the Syrian people, for the overcoming of the split between its different parts and call on all opposing sides to show restraint befitting believers. We call on the political leadership in Syria, which came to power after years of bloody civil war, to display the best qualities inherent in Muslims and to show the will for compromise, peace and harmony in order to establish calm and peaceful life on the blessed Syrian land.

We pray to the Almighty to grant peace and tranquility to our co-religionists in Palestine, who are spending the time of fasting in conditions of humanitarian disaster.

Dear brothers and sisters!

Let me once again congratulate you on the coming of the holy Ramadan and prayerfully wish that our fasts and good deeds will be accepted by the Lord of the worlds, and our peoples will live in peace, harmony, love and mutual respect by the grace of the Most High!

March 12, 2025, Moscow Cathedral Mosque