Over 1,000 Tatar-Muslim clerics from 74 regions of Russia will attend the 15th All-Russian Forum of Tatar Religious Leaders titled “National Identity and Religion”. The youngest participant is 17 years old, and the oldest is 97, according to Danis Shakirov, Head of the Executive Committee of the World Congress of Tatars (WCT). The event will take place from May 14 to 16 in the capital of Tatarstan. For the first time, religious figures from Kherson and the Zaporizhzhia region will attend.

“Unlike previous years, the official opening of the forum will take place on Friday, May 16, at the Kazan Agro-Industrial Park, as our exhibition of the Russia Halal Expo industry and the ‘Tatar Bazaar’ will be held there. More than 50 entrepreneurs from across Russia will participate, promoting halal products. The plenary session, with the participation of the head of the republic, Rustam Minnikhanov, will be held in the morning at the Kazan Expo International Exhibition Center, followed by four discussion platforms,” said Shakirov.

Forum participants will discuss the following topics:

• “The Current State of the Halal Industry”

• “The Hanafi Madhhab as the Religious Foundation of Our People”

• “Love for the Homeland through Faith” (the role of religious figures in defending the homeland)

• “The 200th Anniversary of Enlightener and Religious Leader Kayum Nasyri: Educational Traditions among the Tatars.”

The discussion on the Hanafi madhhab has reportedly attracted the most interest. Over 600 hazrats (clerics) are expected to take part in this event.

The WCT also analyzed the age composition of the forum participants. At a press conference, it was revealed that the oldest attendee is 97-year-old active imam of the Tatarstan Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM), Kharis Salikhzhan (Salikhov), who serves as the head imam of the “Khäter” mosque under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Tatarstan. The youngest is Yusuf Ashirov, a 17-year-old son of Mufti Nafigulla Ashirov (SAM of the Asian part of Russia), who works as his father’s secretary, according to Marat Tukaev, First Deputy Head of the WCT Executive Committee.

Tukaev shared demographic statistics:3 imams were born in the 1930s, 43 in the 1940s, 208 in the 1950s, 206 in the 1960s, 246 in the 1970s, 201 in the 1980s, 73 in the 1990s, 19 in the 2000s.

“If you look at those born between 1970 and 2000, that makes up 589 people, which means more than half of the forum delegates are hazrats born after the 1970s. So, it’s not accurate to say the event is only attended by old babais (elderly men),” Tukaev remarked.

The largest delegation is expected from Bashkortostan, with 119 attendees. Regarding gender composition, of the 1,049 registered delegates, 902 are men and 147 are women — primarily teachers at madrasahs and Quranic courses.

On Sunday, May 18, all participants of the 15th All-Russian Forum of Tatar Religious Leaders will take part in the “Izge Bolgar Gathering.” This year’s focus will be on its religious component, particularly the event “Tawba” — a repentance ceremony for the sins committed over the year. Since 1989, this ceremony has been conducted by the Supreme Mufti of Russia, Talgat Tadzhuddin, near the Small Minaret of the Bolgar Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve.

Source: business-gazeta.ru