Rustam Minnikhanov and Mikhail Babich took part in the opening of the Bulgarian Islamic Academy

Today at the Spassky district of Tatarstan a solemn opening of the Bulgarian Islamic Academy has taken place. The ceremony was attended by President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Privolzhsky Federal District Mikhail Babich, State Councilor of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev, Head of the Federal Agency for Nationalities Igor Barinov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Alexei Pesoshin, Chairman of the State Council of RT Farid Mukhametshin, representatives of  various religious confessions, other officials, reports the press service of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Before the start of the event, Rustam Minnikhanov, Mikhail Babich and other honorable guests visited the hotel complex "Kul Gali" and got acquainted with the progress of construction work. We remind that the construction of the facility started in 2015. The complex is located beyond the historical rampart of the Bulgarian hillfort on the banks of the Volga River. The hotel will be able to accommodate up to 300 guests, for the convenience of which there is a spa, swimming pool, tennis court, park area, sports and children's playgrounds, underground parking for 220 people.

The President of the Republic of Tatarstan was informed that today the work is under way on the installation of a ventilation system, improvement of the adjacent territory, construction of an access road, construction of an outdoor pool, installation of sewerage systems, and general interior decoration of premises. The completion date is 2018.

Further, in front of the building of the Bulgarian Islamic Academy, the opening ceremony of an educational institution took place. The first floor was taken by the Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District Mikhail Babich. He read out a welcome telegram on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the course of his speech, Mikhail Babich noted that the creation of the academy will allow to complete the process of forming the three-level system of Islamic education: the madrasah - the university - the academy. Until now, such a full-fledged system in the country did not exist. Now, according to the presidential envoy in the PFD, Russian Muslims have the opportunity to receive the highest-quality religious education in Russia without traveling abroad.

"The opening of the academy will positively affect the formation of uniform standards of secondary and higher Islamic education, will allow to build coordinated educational programs. The Council for Islamic Education has already taken serious steps in this direction, "said Mikhail Babich. "One of the tasks of the Academy is the creation of an all-Russian Muslim theological platform for the interaction of Russian Muslim organizations and the development of common approaches to interpreting sacred texts and organizing the life of Muslims."

Having greeted the participants of the ceremony on the sacred Bulgarian land, Rustam Minnikhanov expressed his gratitude to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin for all-round support in the creation of the academy. He noted that the opening of the educational institution takes place during the days of the celebration of Kurban Bairam and congratulated everyone on this holiday.

"The opening of the Academy is a historic event for both Tatarstan and Russia in general, and for the entire Muslim world. Almost 11 centuries ago, our ancestors converted to Islam in the Bulgarian land. During this time our people passed a glorious and hard way, keeping faith in Allah and loyalty to the great traditions. For many centuries, Bolgar was a place of concentration of eminent scholars-theologians. Opening the Islamic academy in his heart, we revive the former greatness, "the President of Tatarstan underlined.

Rustam Minnikhanov said that the Academy building was built as soon as possible. So, in May of last year, the ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the foundation was held, and today the first students have already been accepted here. "In this regard, I want to express special gratitude to the first President of Tatarstan Mintimer Sharipovich Shaimiev, philanthropists and all those who contributed to this important work. Separately, I want to mention Alisher Usmanov, who took an active part in financing the project, "added the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.

"I hope the Bulgarian Academy will become one of the leading scientific, educational and spiritual educational centers, as well as a strong and consistent guide to traditional Islamic values," Rustam Minnikhanov said.

For the Muslims of Russia, Ancient Bolgar is a sacred place, Mintimer Shaimiev said, this is the place of voluntary acceptance of Islam in the present territory of the Russian Federation. He drew attention to the fact that Bolgar has always been a place of attraction for eminent scientists and a recognized center of the classical Hanafi theological school, as well as one of the recognized intellectual centers of its time along with Cairo, Istanbul, Baghdad, Samarkand.

"The Bulgarian Islamic Academy is called upon to preserve the unity of the Muslim Ummah, peace and harmony in the country, to revive the rich theological heritage and spiritual traditions of the ancestors.

The head of the Federal Agency for Nationalities Igor Barinov noted that  development of the system of traditional religious education and spiritual education is especially important in the conditions "when an actual ideological information war is unleashed  against Russia, whose goal is to undermine the moral health of the nation, to divide the Russian people according to national, confessional, and other signs. " In his opinion, education is one of the most effective spheres of counteraction to information aggression.

"A competent system of training and retraining of Islamic clerics, meeting the challenges of our time - our strategic task with you," Igor Barinov addressed the participants of the event. "We proceed from the premise that, apart from reducing the level of religious extremism, the results of our joint activity should be the formation of the domestic Islamic theological school, the increased competitiveness of Russian Islamic educational institutions, the progressive development of the educational process in madrassas and colleges."

Also, in the framework of the opening ceremony of the Academy,  chairman of the Coordination Center of the Muslims of the North Caucasus, Ismail Haji Berdiyev, presented the Order of Merit  of the Ummah  of the  North Caucasus to the President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and the State Councilor of RT Mintimer Shaimiev.

After a solemn transfer of the symbolic key from the builders to the management of the educational institution, the participants of the event moved to the academy's assembly hall. Here the rector of the Bulgarian Islamic Academy Rafik Mukhametshin told about the educational system of the new school and plans for his future work.