From 31 October to 1 November in the Bolgar Islamic academy with the assistance of the foundation for the support of Islamic culture, science and education held the III international scientific and practical conference “Islamic theology in the modern system of education: problems and prospects”.

The event was attended by representatives of research and educational organizations, theologians, religious and government officials. Participants were from countries such as the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Morocco, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar and Uzbekistan.

The final event was a round table on the theme “The demand for theology as a scientific and educational direction in the development of society”. Thirty-four reports were presented, and among the key issues discussed were such topics as the use of modern technologies in Islamic education, the problems of integration of Western and traditional theological education, the demand for theology as a scientific and educational direction in the development of society, etc. The round table was held at the end of the event.

Vladislav Sherstoboev, senior researcher at the сentre for Islamic studies of the academy of sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, presented to his colleagues the results of five years of experience in teaching the discipline of “sociology of religion” to master’s students of the Bolgar Islamic academy. According to him, we can talk about a high, but not equal level of training, which affects the different degrees of involvement and performance.

“The experience of observation shows that the demand for secular socio-humanities is very high and if the students have sufficient professional and life experience, it manifests itself in the craving for knowledge based on sincere concern for people and their problems regardless of their origin, which makes Islam a world religion. In order to equalize opportunities and improve competences, it is necessary to strengthen the fundamental and practical component of the educational process, including through the addition of such disciplines as comparative religious studies, courses in the classical history of philosophy in mandatory combination with the Islamic tradition, as well as special courses in philosophical anthropology and social philosophy,” Sherstoboyev suggested.

Summarizing the results of the two-day conference, the participants adopted a resolution. In particular, the document emphasizes that the establishment and development in Russia of Islamic education, including theology, plays an important role in ensuring the ideological sovereignty of our country, strengthening its morality and promoting unity around common traditional values.

It was separately noted that the study and popularization of the national theological heritage is one of the priority tasks facing the sphere of religious and theological education.