Peace be upon you - an off-site meeting of the conference "Interfaith Dialogue in the Urals" in Nizhny Tagil.
On October 28, as part of the IV Interregional Scientific and Practical Conference "Interfaith Dialogue in the Urals," a field meeting took place at the City Palace of Children's and Youth Creativity in Nizhny Tagil, where discussions revolved around the spiritual consolidation of society, prospects for cooperation between authorities and religious organizations, and collaboration among traditional faiths in the Urals.
Kicking off the meeting, the city's head, Vladislav Pinayev, highlighted the event's importance and expressed hope that participants would suggest practical steps to strengthen the interaction between government bodies, the public, and religious communities. "These topics are very relevant right now. We're focusing on interfaith cooperation, organizing meetings, educational and leisure projects. We’re also working separately to counter disruptive factors in this area. I wish everyone a fruitful and constructive dialogue," he said.
The rector of the Church in honor of Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky, head of the diocesan missionary department of the Nizhny Tagil Diocese, Priest Alexey Bessonov, also underscored the significance of the forum's topic. He reminded everyone that despite differing religious views and approaches to family and everyday issues, the common values of love for our homeland and respect for our shared history are what bring us together, and these are important to preserve.
The imam-khatib of the Nizhny Tagil mosque, chair of the local Muslim religious organization "Makhallia," Sabir hazrat Timirbulatov, also spoke. He pointed out the necessity of spiritual and moral education for young people and thanked everyone for the positive interfaith relations that have developed in the city.
The conference saw educators and municipal officials from Nizhny Tagil, Verkhny Tagil, Kushva, Verkhny and Nizhny Salda, the closed administrative-territorial formation of Svobodny, Lesnoy, Krasnoural'sk, and other areas in central Sverdlovsk Region - over 300 people in total.
A number of experts spoke up: Alexey Starostin, an associate professor at the Theology Department of UGGU, Mufti Alfith Sharipov, Pavel Suslonov, a consultant at the Ethno-Religious Relations Department of Sverdlovsk Region's Internal Policy Department, and Roman Shizhensky from the Research Center for Religious Studies and Ethnopolitical Research. The reports discussed the religious situation in the Urals, spiritual benchmarks, the theological and cultural foundations of interreligious dialogue in modern Russia, and the problem of the spread of pagan ideas among the population.
The event was organized by the Internal Policy Department of Sverdlovsk Region, the Yekaterinburg City Duma, the administration of Nizhny Tagil, the Theology Department of the Ural State Mining University, the Yekaterinburg Metropolis, the Regional Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Sverdlovsk Region, the regional branch of the "Assembly of Peoples of Russia," the Ural Association "Center for Ethno-Religious Studies, Extremism Prevention and Counteracting Terrorism Ideology," and other public organizations. It was supported by the Federal Nationalities Affairs Agency.
Just a reminder, Islam as a religion started in the 7th century and has had a significant impact on the history and culture of many peoples. In Arabic, "Islam" means submission to the will of Allah, and today this religion has over a billion followers.
Wa aleikum as-salam.
https://islamnews.ru/2025/10/2