"This is the second year in a row that the world is experiencing a difficult pandemic," said Professor Ravel Panjayev, Mufti of St. Petersburg, in a webinar at the 35th International Islamic Unity Conference. Man has a nature according to which he must be constantly reminded of the need to establish harmonious religious relations, to establish relations with good neighborliness, peace, friendship, unity and traditional and moral and religious values, tolerance and respect for religious and cultural traditions. Regardless of the need to discuss these issues, human beings are driven to aggressive actions and the destruction of their centuries-old history. This is while the world has been looking for civilization, culture and national traditions in all periods. Dialogue and communication take the form of cooperation in this world. In fact, these are known as the art of diplomacy.
He said that religious diplomacy has always promoted the spiritual and moral values of different civilizations, adding: "Russian civilization with its different cultures and languages, customs and traditions is very important to us." All these things are very important for the people of our country. These cases play one of the key roles in establishing political communication. We are ready to exchange experience and facilities to develop good and mutually respectful relations in all areas of mutual benefit with all parties. Today, in the context of political instability in the system of international and global relations, in which efforts are made to make unilateralism the dominant project, good relations are of great importance. In a world where the interests of nations are at stake and there are religious and national differences between Muslims and a policy of controlled chaos is used, friendly relations are very important.
"The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly condemned this policy and the model of a unipolar world," he said. Global challenges in the system of international relations and the issue of globalization have caused many changes in human societies, and this has led to the destruction of the system of human values that have been formed over several centuries. Terrorism is being replaced by human values. Organized crime and inter-religious differences, the problems of overcoming the gender divisions of society, the transformation of moral and spiritual values are spreading. In various fields, Islamic leaders have repeatedly called on everyone to beware of old and harmful linguistic and journalistic stereotypes.
"In many cases, terrorists are referred to as Islamists," said the Grand Mufti of St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, this type of tagging is still going on. In some cases, terrorists are referred to as Islamic terrorists, and extremists are called Islamic extremists, and jihad and jihadists are referred to as terrorist and sabotage attacks. In some cases, it has been seen that the word martyr is used for suicide terrorists. Of course, these people have nothing to do with Islam. We, in turn, warn them, but the result is still a play on these words. Muslims who love their country and their president and leaders are insulted.
He went on to point out that the pandemic and the resulting economic and social effects that have somehow transformed and complicated relations: "In the meantime, the religious sector is still under threat." In his speech, the Russian president noted that Islamic organizations have a very high capacity in the field of social issues and have played an important role in fighting the pandemic, supporting voluntary movements and providing assistance to those in need, regardless of They have been helped to obtain religious and ethnic affiliations. The reason for creating a pandemic is behavior contrary to human morality. He who does not accept God does not believe in the will of God and sees his will above the will of God and tries to determine the fate of all, this action of his causes such torments. The liberation of the world from the pandemic is directly related to the revival of spiritual traditions. This issue is reminiscent of Surah Al-Ra'd, in which God says: انَّ اللَّهَ لا يُغَيِّرُ ما بِقَومٍ حتَي يُغَيِروا ما بِأَنفُسِهِم. God does not change the destiny of any nation unless they change what is within them. It all depends on us how we wake up, who we interact with, what we say and what we read and what we do. Each person chooses his own path to heaven and hell.
"We must not allow traditional, moral, religious, or customs values to be distorted," he concluded. Religious motives should not be used to create problems and excuses for war. These religious motives should not be politically abused. We invite everyone to participate in religious dialogue and show that the goal of spiritual values is to achieve peace and foster mutual understanding and respect, and does not tolerate any use of force. Of course, the management of national traditions in high-risk regions of the world alone is not possible. Here we must rely on interfaith dialogue and in future dialogues focus on issues that require interfaith understanding and dialogue between interested countries. Together with the other parties, the cultural capital of Russia, St. Petersburg, launched an international interfaith conference in which we could discuss important religious issues.
