Bahrain participates in Moscow Grand Mosque opening

Moscow, Sept. 24 (BNA): A Bahraini delegation, led by the Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Khalifa, participated in the opening ceremony of the Moscow Grand Mosque, held here yesterday in the presence of the Russian President and senior officials from many countries. The kingdom’s delegation also attended the lunch banquet hosted by the Mufti of Moscow and All Russia, Sheikh Rawi Ain El Din, in honour of the participating delegations. Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Khalifa congratulated the Russian Mufti, and wished friendly Russia and its further progress and prosperity. He also offered him a copy of the Bahrain Quran book printed under the supervision of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs as per an order by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. He also presented him with Bahrain’s gift to the Moscow Grand Mosque consisting of 100 Bahrain Quran books. The Mufti of Russian expressed sincere thanks and appreciation to the Kingdom and its leadership for participating in the inauguration of the Moscow Grand Mosque. In a statement following the ceremony, Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Khalifa expressed the kingdom’s delegation’s pleasure at participating in the opening ceremony, extending congratulations to Muslims in Russia and all over the world. He valued highly the efforts exerted by the Mufti of Russia to promote the genuine values Islam, including co-existence, dialogue and moderation. He reiterated Bahrain’s constant keenness on supporting all efforts to achieve security worldwide, foster co-existence among peoples and promote the values of dialogue among civilisations, religions and cultures. Throughout history, the Kingdom of Bahrain has been a land of civilisations and an oasis of peaceful co-existence among religions and sects whose followers exercise their rituals freely and easily thanks to the directives of the leadership, he said, noting that under the leadership of HM King Hamad, Bahrain has hosted a number of international conferences on interfaith dialogue. He affirmed the kingdom’s keen interest to extend hands of cooperation regarding initiatives to serve human communities and achieve global peace, expressing readiness to cooperate with the Mufti of Russia and Muslims across Russia in various fields.