Speaking at the opening meeting jointly organized by Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan Religious Affairs Committees in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, President of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş said, “I would like to express my appreciation to be a participant of such an important organization held in the land of our forefathers and greet all of you from the bottom of my heart.”

Noting that Uzbekistan has a very important place in the Islamic culture and civilization, President of Diyanet Erbaş stated, “Throughout history, Uzbekistan had played host to the most precious treasures of our culture, raised many scholars, philosophers and preachers that enlightened the horizons of human kind.”

President of Diyanet expressed his appreciation to be visiting Tashkent which is among the most important cultural capitals of the Islamic world and underlined the importance of religion in terms of existence of a nation. Noting the importance of the meeting, President of Diyanet Erbaş made the following remarks;

“Those who lose religion lose their existence, too …”

Language, culture, geography, history and most importantly religion are the main values that make a community a nation; keep them strong and carry to the future. We see from history that those who lose religion lose their existence, too. Those who lose language lose their purpose; those who lose their culture lose their identity and those who lose history lose their memory, too.

“We are the members of a civilization that presented knowledge, science, love and compassion to seven continents from Mā warāʼ al-Nah …”

As the members of a faith, history, language, location and culture; we are the members of a civilization that presented knowledge, science, love and compassion to seven continents from Mā warāʼ al-Nah (Transoxiana).  It is extremely important for the future of our region, Ummah and human kind to introduce the richness this land which is among the sources of Islamic philosophy and ethics provided to science, knowledge and culture to our future generations.

“We have to introduce the original values of this soil to future generations in order to prevent abusive activities committed by organizations imitating to be religious…”

It is our responsibility to introduce the real and original values of this soil, scholars of this land such as İmam-ı Buhârî, Tirmizî, Mâtürîdî and Bahâeddin Nakşibend and high truth about our divine religion Islam to future generations in order to prevent organizations imitating to be religious that betrayed our state and nation on July 15 in Turkey by neglecting its own culture, causing division among the society and ignoring principles of Islam namely peace, serenity and brotherhood. In this light, it is very important for all religious organs of the Middle East and the Caucasus especially Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan to enhance their relations, establish a powerful foundation and develop cooperation in order to enlighten the society; form a united front and display a firm stand against terror organizations abusing religion, moral and cultural values.

“Today, the World is seeking to embrace principles, sharing ethics, fellowship justice of Islam and its life giving breath…”

Today, the World that has been experiencing one of the toughest periods of its history under the siege of giant problems such as wars, poverty, terror activities and despair is seeking to embrace principles, sharing ethics, fellowship justice of Islam and its life giving breath. But, unfortunately, the Islamic world is passing through troubled times, too. On one hand, there are some unresolved issues among Muslim communities and on the other hand, Islamophobia industry attempts to smear the name of Islam, the hope of human kind. Some organizations having no connection with the fundamental principles of Islam namely Quran and Sunnah claimed to commit terror activities and involve in division in the name of Islam and they have been staging the biggest enmity and harm to Islam which is the religion of peace and serenity, to our unity and solidarity and to the future of all human kind. Due to this reason, we need to work harder than ever in order to convey the correct religious knowledge, love and peace message of Islam to our society and all human kind, solve our issues in line with fellowship justice and enhance cooperation.

As the Presidents of Religious Affairs, we must enhance relations among ourselves, experience exchange and institutionalize religious education. Prior issues that we must focus on are the development of relations between faculties of theology, establishment of relations between various different education levels, organization of preparatory courses for religious officials, determination of a common editorial policy and maybe most important of all, progress of Eurasia Islamic Summit in order to produce more effective and productive outcomes.

The meeting was participated by Russia, Britain, Germany, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Playing host was Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, Azerbaijan Religious Affairs Committee President Mübariz Kurbanlı, Uzbek Religious Affairs Committee President Artık Yusupov, Azerbaijan Caucasus Muslims Administration Chairman Allahşükür Paşazade, Uzbek Muslims Administration Chairman Osmanhan Alimov. Attending were presidents of Religious Affairs of regional countries, General Director of the Islamic Research Center for History Culture and Art (IRCICA) Dr. Halit Eren and academicians from respected universities of participant countries.