On June 19 the delegation of the Religious Board of Muslims of Russia and the Russian Muftis Council led by Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin met with senior officials of the US State Department, namely Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor  Michael Kelleher and director of the International Religious Freedom Office Dan Nadel .

The parties discussed many pertinent issues, including the ways of fighting against extremism. The US representative noted that many countries, both on the Eurasian and American continents, were trying to find a balanced approach to combating extremism, where government pressure and prohibitions would not push young people to radicalism and alienate them from the society.

Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin said that, in his opinion, it was the state’s duty to fight against manifestations of aggression, violence and enmity. He noted that after the imperial period and then the 70-year period of imposed atheism, Russia and some former Soviet countries were still in the process of creating and improving legislation on religion and freedom of conscience.

However, the religious leader of Russian Muslims said that fighting against religious convictions of Sufis, Salafis, Shia Muslims and others had no chance of success because an idelology could only be defeated with another ideology and not with prohibitions.

The head of the Russian Muftis Council spoke in detail about the humanistic principles mentioned in the holy Quran, including the ideas of coexistence, dialogue, cooperation, and morality. The necessary educational arrangements have already been made in Russia to raise a new generation of Islamic scholars who will convey these principles.

The representatives of the US State Department expressed great interest in what  Mufti Sheikh fact that the first mosque in New York (in Brooklyn) was built by the Tatars who came from the Russian Empire.

The State Department representatives mentioned the great experience and authority of Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin, his efforts aimed at developing interfaith dialogue and cooperation, as well as his attempts to bring cultures and peoples closer together.