Tehran-Moscow amicable ties promoting Islamic culture in Russia
Sadeq Dehqan
Staff writer
Friendly relations between Iran and Russia will benefit Muslims of both countries and help promote Islamic culture in Russia, said a Russian Muslim who participated in a Qur’anic exhibition in the Iranian capital.
“Whenever Iran-Russia ties have strengthened, their cultural communications and interactions have been promoted and the two sides have had a better understanding of each other’s situation,” said Mikhail Simonov.
The 30th Tehran International Qur’an Exhibition opened on April 1st and will continue until the middle of this month.
The Tehran International Qur’an Exhibition is organized annually by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance during the holy month of Ramadan, with the aim of promoting Qur’anic concepts and developing Qur’anic activities.
It showcases the latest Qur’anic achievements in the country as well as a variety of products dedicated to the promotion of the Holy Book.
More than 20 countries including Russia have participated in the international section.
Russia’s participation in the expo, along with Islamic states, might seem a little strange. But if we knew that Islam entered Russia in the 8th lunar century (after hejira), we might think differently.
Presently, Russia has up to 20 million Muslims, while Islam is the second biggest religion in the country. Most Russian Muslims live in the country’s southern regions, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Mikhail lives in a small city in the Republic of Dagestan and is studying seminary sciences in Iran. He says his city has a population of about 50,000, most of which is Muslim.
“I am taking seminary courses to boost my knowledge in this field. When I realized Iran had better conditions for learning religious sciences I decided to come here. I will return to Russia when I finish my education and will spare no effort to help those who want to promote their knowledge about Islam,” Mikhail said.
He said Muslims fast in the holy month of Ramadan and participate in congregational prayers in his city.
Mikhail, who has participated in the exhibition for the second time, said the expo was very attractive to him.
Iran has provided opportunities for Russian Muslims to promote their Islamic knowledge.
Majid Fayyazi is a member of the Ibn Sina Islamic Culture Research Foundation. The foundation was established in 2007, with the stated goal of bringing together the members of the academic and student community involved in studying different aspects of Islamic culture, science and philosophy.
Fayyazi said the foundation is, in fact, an Iranian institute, which has been registered in Russia and is cooperating with Russian universities in the field of Islamic studies. He said a publication named ‘Sadra’ has also been registered in Russia, which has so far published over 170 kinds of books in the field of Islamic and other sciences.
Fayyazi said ‘Sadra’ mostly tries to introduce Islam in Russia. ‘Sadra’ books are not published in the Russian language, but have been warmly welcomed by Russians.
He said some of these books have been sold across Russia through the cooperation of top Russian publishers.