International conference  «Russia and Islamic World: Partnership for Stability » ( Moscow,  September 24 , 2009 г.)

First Deputy Minister on Islam and Vakfs’ Affairs of Kuwait Adel al-Falyah

In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate!

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!  Peace and prayer be to Prophet Mohammed,  Allah blesses him and greets him, his family and his companions!

Dear brothers and sisters!

Dear participants of the conference !

Peace be with you, merci and blessing of Allah!

I came here on your kind invitation and I would like to pass – on behalf of the state of Kuwait- our friendship, our appreciation, our desire to cooperate, our appeal to tolerance. In other words, I am speaking about all that has been characteristic of our state throughout its history in regard of friendly civilized states in the spirit of Islam that prescribes the attitudes of love and brotherhood,  to spread the spirit of tolerance and civilized coexistence, the spirit of unity of humankind, the unity of different parts of one world; in the spirit of Islam that has qualified cooperation and coexistence among people and nations to be the principles of relations between peoples and civilizations.

Recognizing the differences between individuals and the peoples, taking into consideration the relations of Muslims with people of all nationalities and civilizations, proceeding from the fact that we are all brothers as we all belong to humankind, I am calling upon all Muslims to cooperate, to coexist and establish relations with other people so as to spread the ideas of Good in relations with all people regardless of their faith, sex and color of the skin.

Dear participants of the conference !

Let me tell you, that with all its richness the Arab language cannot express the happiness that is overwhelming my heart now, when I participate in the conference «Russia and Islamic World: Partnership for Stability », that discusses the questions of broadening cooperation between Russia and Islamic countries in such areas as science, culture, economy, education, promotion and strengthening the relations with the Islamic world.

The reason behind my happiness is that this forum embodies the hopes and believes that – I hope – will be practically implemented. This hopes appeared when the epoch of the Soviet Union ended and we were among those who were the first to come here believing that Islam with its ideology of temperance could contribute to the stability in relations between peoples and countries.

My believes later have strengthened and turned into deep conviction.  Islam by definition is an intercivilizational appeal not limited to ummah that it has established. Islam embraces all humankind without giving preference to any of its elements or to any group or community. The Almighty Allah said:

« We have made you peoples and tribes so that you would know each other »

The Almighty explained his aim by sending his envoy, the Prophet Mohammed, peace and prayer be with him:

«We sent you only as a sign of our merci to the worlds »

 «Merci» in the global sense of the word is revealed in the all-embracing cooperation among the peoples, that in its turn includes the following areas :

 - cooperation to protect and strengthen social justice, of universal human values and guarantees of freedom for all  people, bearing in mind the fact that all world religions cherish these principles;

- cooperation in struggle against the threats that humanity is facing (wars, pollution, drug-addiction etc);

- cooperation in developing natural resources in compliance with the will of the Almighty (for the Muslims) and in compliance with universal human values (for the non-Muslims) in the interest of future generations, for the sake of peaceful coexistence that will reveal itself in inter-civilizational cooperation, in its tangible and creative aspects.

Esteemed Participants!

The strategy that we have approved is aimed at promoting the contribution of Islam to stability in Russia and providing support to Russia (after the first stage is over) in three areas:

- promotion of the ideology of temperance to achieve social reconciliation and base all relations among  individuals on humanistic ideas, especially taking into consideration the fact that in Russia there live people of different races, faiths moral orientations and ideas.

- participation in social projects of the Russian society through charity, various forms of assistance, providing support to programs and projects initiated by Spiritual organizations, giving a new breath to socially important projects – education for the elder generation, elimination of illiteracy, healthcare, professional courses for females, support for the homeless, active participation in the solution of such social problems as fighting the crime, drug addiction, behavioral deviations. All those measures are to establish fraternal relation between the people, strengthen the security, oppose egoism, build a decent society, based on cooperation between its members, to develop a system of social guarantees, to bring into life the moral principles of Islam – I mean such principals as sincerity, devotedness, the need to do good to one’s neighbors.

-preservation of territorial integrity of Russia through such notions as “citizenship in Islam” based on patriotism –  that is an inborn feeling of everyone (On the will of the Almighty)  because a human being by his nature is created and brought up to love his place of birth. All world religions link this natural love for one’s Motherland – that is deeply rooted in human soul with recognition of the right for this love. Citizenship is a sort of a contract between a citizen and the society in compliance with which a citizen is to respect his society and believe in it, understand his belonging to this particular society, support all its elements, such as: language, history, values, traditions and take care of the Motherland’s achievements ( security, development, progress, territorial integrity) oppose any alienation, appeals for splitting the country – in other words, against all that leads to disintegration and does no good to the  members of the Islamic society

- setting up a base for cooperation, strengthening interaction between Russia and the Islamic world in economic, social, cultural, academic and all other spheres, based on the spirit of Islam, as was said by the envoy of Allah, Allah bless him and greet him:« Believers in their love, merci and sympathy are like one body. If a part of the body is sick, other parts will be destroyed and struck by insomnia and fever"

This integrity revealed itself in Russia’s desire to join the Organization of Islamic Conference because Russian political leadership understood the role of the Islamic world and its influence on the renaissance of Russian society.

- participation in the dialogue of civilizations between representatives of different forces of the Russian society, considering the fact that Islam has created an integral system of interaction of peoples and civilizations based on tolerance as a common rule, that helped Muslims build their relations with non-Muslims.  This tolerance is based on the believe in the unity of humankind, believes in values and ideals that people have always cherished. These are the ideals of Good, Justice, Piety, Sincerity, Devotedness, Honesty, Courage, Readiness to help. Imam Ali said about it:

«People can be divided into two categories: your brother in faith and the one who is close to you in morals»

- abidance by such values as respect for the contribution of different nations to civilization; we believe that multiplicity is the source of force; after we accept these values we must look for new ways that would allow to accept the specific character of all peoples and nations in the Universal model of civilization that we all seek to achieve..

- opposition to extremism that, который distorts the religion and destabilizes the situation in various countries.

As for the practical actions in this direction, we have carried out in Russia a number of international conferences, including:

- Conference on Education and Islamic Culture in Russia and the CIS countries (1994 г.);

- Conference «Islam and understanding between peoples and religions in the changing world » in Moscow

( 1995 г.);

- Conference «The role of Muslims in the renaissance of the Russian society » (1999 г.);

Conference «Islam and international relations »

( 2000 г.) ;

- Conference «The future of Muslims of Russia in the next millennium» to celebrate the 1455 anniversary of Islam in Russia (2000г.) ;

Alongside with that we conducted many different seminars aimed at strengthening stability and peaceful co-existence among different forces in Russian society, including:

- the first seminar for Muftiis (1998 г.) ;

-the second seminar for Muftiis (2000 г.) ;

-seminar on Vakf and Zakyat (1998 г.) ;

-a training for heads and rectors of educational establishments of Russia (1999 г.) ;

-a seminar on religious education (1999 г.) ;

- seminars on strengthening the notion of “citisenship” to answer the accusation of Chechen extremists (2009 г.) ;

Dear participants !

 Kuwait has become a symbol of love, brotherhood and internal dialogue after the country has accepted the principle of temperance as the basis for peaceful co-existence and interaction of civilizations for all people, regardless of their  faiths and “mazhab”. Kuwait is promoting this principle together with the peoples of the world by establishing the relations of brotherhood and partnership of civilizations with all peoples and countries of the civilized world.

As a result we achieved the stability that people all over  the world have been seeking.

Dear brothers and sisters!

Dear participants of the conference!

 Rounding up on behalf of the Emir of Kuwait, the government of Kuwait and our people and also on behalf of the Ministry of Vakfs, I would like to pass to you our high assessment of your activity,  our love for Russia and admiration of its achievements, and wish you every success in the course of strengthening brotherhood and peaceful coexistence between the peoples of the world.

 I would also like to thank the organizers of this conference for their hearty welcome, hospitality and excellent organization of the work of the forum.

Peace be with you, merci and blessing of Allah