On 15 December the 11th Muslim International Forum on “Religion, identity and integration, and the transformation of values” started its work in the British capital. Participating in the conference were leaders of Muslim communities and muftis from Russia, Albania, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Iran, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Finland, Estonia, and other countries.
The 11th Muslim International Forum on “Religion, identity and integration, and the transformation of values” opened with the reading of verses from the Sacred Qur’an and a prayer. After this, the spiritual leader of Russia’s Muslims, mufti sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, gave a speech welcoming the participants of the conference. He reminded those gathered that the events unfolding in the Middle East today involve not just the countries in the region but all the leading world powers, and said that “the consequences of the Middle Eastern drama are being felt across the entire Eurasian continent in the form of terrorist attacks, the migration crisis and other complex social and political developments.”
Mufti sheikh Ravil Gainutdin stated his belief that “the outcome of the Syrian war, which is the culminating and bloodiest finale of the ‘Arab spring’, will have a defining meaning for the construction of new approaches and principles for the organization of states and the international sphere throughout the world in the 21st century.”
“What path will our religious thought and our Muslim ummah choose to travel in the 21st century: will it choose the example of Daish or that of Qur’anic humanism?” asked mufti Gainutdin. “Our Forum has been organized precisely in order to discuss just these questions in an honest and open manner.”
Dr Shuja Shafi, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, and Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh (Russian Orthodox Church) also gave welcoming speeches to the participants of the MIF.
The work of the Forum will take place over three plenary sessions: “Identity and integration”, “The fight against extremism and radicalism”, and “Countering Islamaphobia”. The principal themes proposed for discussion were: traditional values and morality based on the Abrahamic tradition; Qur’anic humanism; the dialogue and collaboration of religions; and ecological problems and the way to solve them. Participants’ talks will focus on the problem of DAISH (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) and the efforts of theologians to deconstruct the ideology of this organization. In addition, the speakers are expected to touch on the problem of refugees in the context of integrating them into the host societies.
The organizers of the Forum were the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation and the Secretariat of the MIF, with the support of the Muslim Council of Britain, the Council of Muftis of Russia, and the Religious Board of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The Muslim International Forum is organized annually by Russian Muslims to discuss the future of Islam and Muslim communities in the context of current events. 2015 is the first time that the conference has taken place outside of Russia, thanks to the efforts of the secretariat of the MIF and the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation, headed by mufti sheikh Ravil Gainutdin.