ADDRESS
by Supreme Mufti shaikh-ul-Islam Talgat Tajuddin, Chairman of the Central Moslem Board for Russia and the European CIS

ADDRESS
by Supreme Mufti shaikh-ul-Islam Talgat Tajuddin,
Chairman of the Central Moslem Board
for Russia and the European CIS

Your Holiness, Honorable Patriarch Alexy II;
Esteemed members of the Presidium and participants in the distinguished assembly:

Allow me greet you on behalf of the Central Moslem Board for Russia and the European CIS and its twenty five regional Moslem boards and on behalf of the Council of Muftis in Russia and the European CIS. Peace to you, the mercy of the Most High and His blessings.

It is a great honour for us, delegates of the Central Moslem Board for Russia and the European CIS, to participate in this historical forum held on the threshold of a third millennium. Over four centuries we, Orthodox Christians, faithful Moslems and followers of other traditional religions, have lived in one united state. Destiny and the will of the Most High have brought us together. One thousand one hundred years ago our predecessors voluntarily embraced Islam on the banks of the great River Volga in the ancient Bulgary, just as our Orthodox compatriots voluntarily embraced Orthodoxy one thousand one hundred and one years ago. This is why we call Russia the Holy Russia, since whatever is adopted by the will of the Most High is a holy cause. It is profoundly symbolic that the Most High has willed that one sixth of the globe should become our Motherland. We have not come from somewhere in Africa or Antarctica or other country, but our predecessors have lived in this land for hundreds and thousands of years.

It is destiny that has brought us together. Indeed, we believe that even a breeze cannot blow but by the will of the Most High. We have not chosen our homeland by ourselves, but by the will of the Most High, and our neighbours have been given us by His will. We have lived together for over four centuries. Our forefathers shared the joys and sorrows of our Motherland. Therefore, your celebration is our celebration, your joy is our joy. We cordially congratulate all Christians, especially the Russian Orthodox Church, on this blessed celebration. At the same time, it is a celebration for the Moslems as well, for we believe in One Creator and all His messengers. In the Koran, a special chapter is devoted to the blessed mother of Jesus Christ, Mariam. And the Prophet Muhhamad, too, may Allah bless and greet him, told us that all the messengers of the Most High – Adam and Abraham and Noah and Moses and Jesus Christ – were engaged in building one edifice of moral and ethical principles, and he (Muhhamad) was only the last brick in this edifice. We believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. A Moslem is not considered to be a true Moslem if he does not believe in it. Therefore, the Birth of Jesus Christ is a great feast for us; the faithful Moslems and the Orthodox have celebrated it together for hundreds of years. And Easter is as great a holiday for us as it is for you. Look at the Moslem feast Kurban-Bairam, when a sacrifice is made during hadj. This a feast associated with Abraham. Our feasts, our blessed dates, our shrines are connected. There are more things that unite than divide us. And the Prophet Muhhamad, may Allah bless and greet him, said: “Beware of the earth, your mother, do not divide it. If you divide it, cut it into pieces, it will swallow you”. Therefore, whatever confession or religion we may belong to, faith is one for all humanity. God is one for you and for us. When we say that we believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, we believe that He will unite all people and lead all humanity under the banner of truth to the grace and mercy of the Most High. Therefore, all those who cooperate on this way and sincerely seek to unite people and call them to brotherhood for the sake of truth and goodness are our brothers. We and our Orthodox compatriots as well as people of other traditional confessions in our country have experienced what few countries and nations in this world have experienced. We have survived more than seventy years of atheism. This was a heavy burden and a great trial, and perhaps even a blessing from the Most High.

Some of our “friends” and people of the “same faith” believed that after the seventy years of state atheism a spiritual vacuum would be formed in our country, and some of them have tried to fill it. Our “Moslem brothers” came from the South, from the West, from the East, and only white bears were left to be awaited from the North. But thousands of churches of God and hundreds of mosques, which are being built and opened in our country weekly on the donations of the people who offer their daily bread for building them, show that Russia is the Holy Russia, and the spiritual vacuum has never existed. If anyone has the illusion that this “vacuum” has to be filled, he is in serious error. And I would like to apologise sincerely for what has happened in Chechnya and Dagestan, for the troubles and afflictions which have been brought by people disguising under Islamic slogans. In fact, they do not deserve to make an apology for, for they are comers who also wanted to fill the “vacuum” and bring discord and division in society, stirring up Christians against Moslems, causing a clash between Jews and people of other traditional confessions. Offering charity and promises here and money and travel opportunities and even weapons and other means there, they have tried to violate the balance, and they have succeeded in some places. As a result, people suffered in Chechnya and Dagestan and people were killed in Moscow and Volgodonsk and in other cities.

Some mass media are now trying to present the developments as a conflict between Islam and Christianity, which is essentially wrong. Our compatriots, Christians and Jews, know that Russian Moslems have never been parasites on the body of Russia. For over four centuries the Moslems stood side by side with the Orthodox in the forefront of the defenders of our Motherland, fighting Karl the Great, Napoleon and Hitler. If anyone takes into his head to repeat what happened in Yugoslavia, we will show our unity in face of a threat from outside, for we want our children and grandchildren to live as our forefathers lived. The Prophet Muhammad, messenger of the Most High, may Allah bless and greet him, said: “You will never enter the paradise unless you believe in the Lord, but you will never believe unless you love one another. Spread pace, tranquillity and good respect for one another, and you will believe and love one another, believe in God and enter the paradise”.

Therefore, entering a new millennium, we rejoice again in the fact that history is moving and life is going on. However great the number of problems in our country may be – and they may be greater today than they were in the times of state atheism – the faith in the Most High is gaining strength; morality and spirituality are reviving; and in these good works we stand side by side with you, believing and trusting the Most High Creator and hoping for His mercy, His grace and His help. We hold His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the supreme pastor of our country, in great and warm respect. We honour his good initiatives and love him for his holiness, kind heart and good intentions, which have always helped people to find truth, happiness and peace during hard times in our country. We appreciate his wisdom and hope that this conference will contribute to ever greater rapprochement among our peoples. The clergy of various confessions in our country should consider it their sacred duty to meet, talk to one another and learn one another, so that our peoples and followers of our confessions may live in harmony and mutual understanding in this world and thus attain the mercy of the Most High.

Congratulations!