The III All-Russian Scientific and Theological Conference “Readings  the named  after  Shigabutdin Mardzhani” “The Muslim Civilization of Eurasia: the Concept of Ummah Development”   have started in Moscow. The event is dedicated to: the 200th anniversary of Shigabutdin Mardzhani, the 200th anniversary of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the 200th anniversary of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the 230th anniversary of the founding of the Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly.

The conference is attended by representatives of academic Islamic and Oriental studies, employees of religious organizations and religious educational institutions and centers of theology, leading scholars of research and educational organizations, experts in the field of history of Muslim theology and Russian Islam, including young researchers, government officials and public organizations of various regions of Russia, foreign guests.

As the head of the Muslims of Russia, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, noted in his speech, Mardzhani’s true greatness lies in the fact that it took place both as a theoretician, and as the spiritual and moral authority of his time, and as imam and teacher.

“Shigabutdin hazrat Mardzhani, as a theorist, pointed out to contemporaries the weaknesses of their view of the world and the focus of their theological studies, suggested another – adequate to the realities of his time paradigm of understanding the sources and key theological texts of Islam. At the same time, as the imam, the leader of opinions and spiritual authority, called upon to embody the good and avoid the bad by his own example, he put into practice his own life a fundamentally new strategy for the development of the Muslim community regarding world civilization and the historical process, ”the religious leader emphasized.

According to him, the processes of modernization, primarily mental, which had been foreshadowed by Mardzhani, would be impossible and incorrect to describe in the categories of the struggle of the old and the new, the true and the distorted. “The breakthrough of Mardzhani was that, going beyond the pattern that had dominated for centuries, he pointed to the path of searching for the very essence of religion and faith,” he said.

The Shigabutdin Mardzhani readings are intended to examine theological research and discussions of the modern Ummah through the prism of the intellectual heritage of the largest representatives of Russian Muslim thought in the 19th and 20th centuries, thus actualizing the achievements by the Russian Muslim theological school. Within the framework of the 3rd Mardzhani readings, it is supposed to refer to the experience of Russian Islam in discussing the directions of the development of the Ummah, the formation and development of ideas, institutions and personnel to ensure a decent future for the Muslim community. Within the framework of breakout sessions, a substantive discussion will be held on the prospects for the development of Muslim theology, pedagogy, psychology, book publishing, and other spheres of the humanitarian circle.

Conference organizers: the Muslim Spiritual Board of the Russian Federation, the Council of Muftis of Russia, the Secretariat of the International Muslim Forum, the Moscow Islamic Institute with the participation of the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov St. Petersburg State University, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences with the support of the SAFMAR Charitable Foundation, the Foundation for the Support of Islamic Culture, Science and Education and the Medina Media Holding.

As part of the Shigabutdin Mardzhani readings, the following is scheduled: a plenary session, six sections, a meeting of mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin with plenipotentiary representatives of the head of the RF State Duma, two art exhibitions (“Illustrated manuscripts“ Makam ”al-Hariri” and “Mufti of the Russian state: from the empire to the federation “), the presentation of books and publications of the PH” Medina “.

Following the conference, a resolution will be adopted.

Press Service of the RF  RBM