The Bolgar Islamic Academy, which opened in 2017, is a scientific and educational center where the main professional educational program of higher religious education at the level of master’s and doctoral studies is implemented and scientific research in various branches of Islamic theology is carried out.
The city of Bolgar in the Republic of Tatarstan was not chosen by accident as the location of a world-class Islamic scientific and educational center. Here are the origins of traditional Islam, which for centuries determined the course and character of the development of spiritual culture of many Muslim peoples of Russia.
Bolgar, the capital of Volga Bulgaria, in ancient times was the largest city in Eastern Europe, the center of trade, science, politics, and arts. In 922, during the reign of Almush-khan, with the participation of the Baghdad embassy, Islam was declared the state religion in this land, and Volga Bulgaria became the northernmost Muslim outpost.
The Bolgar Islamic Academy is a federal project supported by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. Putin.
Its establishment was initiated by three centralized spiritual centers of Muslims of Russia: the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims of Russia (Ufa), the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation (Moscow), and the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan).
The project was implemented in its present form, including the material and technical part, through the efforts of regional authorities headed by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan R.N. Minnikhanov.
The mission of the Academy is to unite the Muslim Ummah of Russia on the basis of the revival of the Russian theological school and the development of Islamic education, while the strategic goal is to become and function as a leading Muslim scientific and educational, spiritual and educational and expert-consulting center. The Academy’s key objective is to train highly qualified and competitive scholars and theologians and religious figures who are called to constitute the personnel elite of the Muslim ummah of Russia.
The first meeting of the Academy’s Board of Trustees was held on February 8, 2020. The meeting was chaired by the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration S.V. Kirienko. It outlined priority tasks to ensure the conditions for the full and effective functioning of the Academy.
The Academy implements three-year professional educational programs of higher religious education for master’s and doctoral studies in the direction of «Training of ministers and religious personnel of religious organizations» (field of «Islamic Sciences», profile «Islamic law», «Islamic theology», » Quranic studies», » Hadith studies»), as well as a master’s program in the direction 48 04 01 «Theology» (profile «State and confessional relations in the context of Islamic theology»). Thus, Academy students have the opportunity on a competitive basis to receive two diplomas simultaneously — in secular and religious areas, which significantly increases their competitiveness.
In 2019, for the first time in the history of Russia, the Council for awarding the degree of Doctor of Islamic Sciences was created on the platform of the Academy. The Council includes famous scholars and theologians of the Islamic world from Russia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, UAE, India, and Bahrain.
Doctoral dissertations in the fields of «Islamic law», «Islamic theology», » Hadith studies» and » Quranic studies» are accepted for consideration and defense. The results of defenses are approved by the Academy’s Board of Founders. It should be noted that dissertations are written and defended in Arabic.
The Academy successfully implements the «Visiting Professor» project, within the framework of which leading Russian and foreign Orientalists, scholars of theology and representatives of other related scientific fields regularly hold special courses and give lectures. The list of such experts includes professor of Islamic studies at the Faculty of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, USA) Knysh A.D., professor at the Higher School of Economics Syukijinen L.R., professor, Chairman of the Council on Islamic Education and Rector of the Russian Islamic Institute Mukhametshin R.M., a scholar from Syria Muhammad Taufik Ramadan al-Boutiy, and others.
Activities in the educational process are aimed at acquiring knowledge about constitutional rights, the history of their state, the freedom and duties of citizens. As part of such educational activities, events dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, tolerance, the fight against corruption, the anniversaries of religious educators, etc. are organized. Students prepare speeches, presentations, conduct flash mobs, etc.
Particular attention is paid to the formation of a healthy lifestyle. The Academy sports club successfully operates, students and employees regularly participate in competitions of different levels and take prizes.
From year to year the popularity of the Academy is growing among young people with an interest in the Islamic sciences, and the geography of the regions of the Russian Federation, which are represented by applicants, is expanding. Today, 134 students from 26 regions of Russia and six foreign countries are studying at the Academy.
Every year the Academy holds a preparatory Summer School for applicants. The program includes lectures on the methodology of scientific and theological research, Islamic disciplines, and practical classes with a native speaker in Arabic.
Currently, the average job placement rate for graduates of the Bolgar Islamic Academy is 93 percent, including 92 percent in their field of study.
The Academy has a considerable experience in holding scientific and educational events aimed at consolidating the intellectual potential for the revival and popularization of the local theological heritage.
The largest scientific and practical project of the Academy is the annual International Bulgarian Forum «Theological heritage of Muslims of Russia», which in recent years brought together on its site more than 1500 participants from dozens of countries around the world.
The Academy has organized active work on the study of domestic Islamic heritage.
In a short period of time, a collection of more than 1,300 manuscripts and rare editions of Islamic themes in Arabic, old Tatar, and European languages was assembled and used in research papers. An electronic database of manuscript sources is being compiled. With the assistance of the Academy’s foreign partners, access to over 100,000 digitized manuscripts in 40 countries was gained, and over 3,000 manuscripts on Islamic topics that are in demand for the research work of students, teachers and researchers.
A laboratory for the restoration and digitization of manuscripts has been created and equipped with the latest equipment and has been functioning since 2021.
We launched our own modern printing house.
The activity of the Information-Publishing Center established in 2020. The Information-Publishing Center is aimed at promoting the Academy’s key role in the revival and development of the national theological heritage. The main task of the Center is the preparation and publication of scientific publications (journals «Bolgar» and «Vestnik of the Bolgar Islamic Academy») and printing products: collections of conference articles, monographs, teaching aids, promotional materials, etc.
The Academy actively supports and expands international partnerships with Islamic centers and universities, including the World Council of Muslim Communities (UAE), Damascus University (Syria), Mohammed bin Zayed University of Humanities (UAE), Al-Bayt University (Jordan), Egyptian University of Islamic Culture Nur-Mubarak (Kazakhstan), and others.
The Academy today is developing dynamically, expanding the vectors of its activities, actively building capacity for the implementation of significant projects in the field of Islamic education and theology, aimed at improving the quality of religious education in accordance with modern requirements of society and the Muslim Ummah.
