Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Kurban Bayram
Akhmed Azimov, the head of the Moscow office of the Russian Congress of Caucasian People
In the name of myself and the Russian Congress of Caucasian People I'd like to congratulate Muslims all over the world,
all over Russia, all over the Caucasus, on the great holiday of Kurban Bayram.
This is a holiday celebrated by Muslims all over the world; this holiday marks the end of the Hajj season.
Today we held a special service in the Central Mosque of Moscow.
The spiritual leader of Russian Muslims, the Supreme Mufti sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin, has addressed believers with a special sermon.
In his speech, the Supreme Mufti quoted the words of the President, the Prime Minister and the leaders of the republics of the Russian Federation, who have congratulated Russian Muslims.
The Mufti paid special attention to the main idea of the holiday, its humanistic underpinning; he stressed the point that Islam is a peaceful religion.
Furthermore, he touched on such important issues as the building of mosques.
Some parts of contemporary society react inappropriately to the building of new mosques.
He explained that there is no threat in it, on the contrary it is a main factor of stability in our society.
Muslims are native residents of our country, there are more than 20 million of them in Russia and more than 2 million in Moscow.
About 30 ethnic groups in Russia are Muslim. It is an indispensable part of Russian civilization.
Thus, there is a great necessity in the construction of new mosques. The Mufti named the main reason of the enmity as ignorance.
He encouraged society to learn about religions. I agree with him. The point of this festival is the consolidation of nations.
It elicits the core teaching of Islam - we don't want human sacrifice.
As we all know, God replaced a human sacrifice with a sacrificial lamb. This festival demonstrates the similarity of our religions.
The holy prophets of Islam are Abraham, Musa, Moses, Isa (Jesus). Islam greatly respects other confessions and religions.
Moreover, the festival reveals a readiness for sacrifice for the love of God, neighbours, relatives and values.
This is what our society lacks today. We should instil it in our fellow citizens, whatever their faith.
Unfortunately, there is too little mutual support and cooperation in our society.