Hawzah News Agency (Kazan, Tatarestan) - Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, who at the invitation of the President and religious authorities of Tatarstan, has made a trip to Kazan, the capital of the Russian Federation's autonomous Republic, in a meeting with Sheikh Kamil Samigullin said, "I am very content that the number of mosques in Tatarstan has grown to 600, because these houses of God on earth are centers for protecting Muslims against the attacks of the hegemony and evil's front.” 

Grand Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, stressing that If nations were to deepen their understanding of religious teachings, they would be able to resist the invasion of the enemy and false ideas, added "The reason that the extremist and Takfiri thoughts, such as ISIS (or Daesh) and al-Qaeda influence some people in Muslim countries is due to ignorance regarding the content depth of religion."

Referring to the successes made on the Iraqi and Syrian fronts against Takfiri and ISIS he emphasized, "We should not be convinced with the victories achieved in these countries and the continuation of cultural and religious efforts to protect the people against the assumptions and deviations of these groups are still a fundamental necessity."

Pointing also to the continued efforts of some hegemony's affiliated countries and America to provide financial and political support for the Takfiri groups he stated, "If in centers such as Chechnya, Iraq and Syria, more seriously and before the extradition of extremist thoughts, cultural work have been done the costs would be less; hence, the nation's intellectual immunity must be preceded by the intrusion of these deviated thoughts, since prevention is less costly and more effective than treatment.

"Pure Islam is the Ultimate Salvation of Muslims Emphasizing the important role of the scholars and cultural centers of the Islamic world in the present situation he said, "What can save Muslims today is the pure Islam, whose interpreter is the Infallible Imams (a.s.), they and their valuable teachings are the centerpiece of unity and dynamism of all Muslims."

"Today that the growth and attention to spirituality among Western and Eastern youths is rising, the dominant and hegemonic powers want to introduce religion as a personal matter in the Islamic world that does not appear to be involved in any of the political, social, economic etc., aspects, while what we learn from the verses of the Qur'an and the Prophet's conduct is the call for the ruling of religion in all areas of life" in another part of his statement, Grand Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi stated.

"Razavi Holy Shrine and the cultural treasures of Astan Quds Razavi belong to the entire Islamic world and all Islamic religions and we are ready to expand cooperation with all the cultural and religious centers in the region, including Tatarstan and other Muslim regions of the Russian Federation" he expressed, highlighting the great spiritual capacity and the rich cultural resources of Astan Quds Razavi as a major religious and cultural international center.

Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Raeisi also invited him to expand cooperation and engage with Astan Quds Razavi in response to the announcement of Sheikh Samigullin's enthusiasm to get acquainted with the extensive capacities of the Astan Quds Razavi in traveling to Iran and Mashhad.

Wahhabism is Threatening the Muslim World as a Disease. 

Also during the visit, the Grand Mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan welcomed the Grand Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, presented a report on the state of affairs in the Republic and said, "In the past four years, we have published 200 book titles, a specialized newspaper in Russian and Tatar and one for mosque imams, through which we have been able to confront the influence of Wahhabism and extremism in addition to introducing Muslims to their religious assignments."

"We have created a special site to deal with Wahhabism and extremism, because Wahhabism like a disease is a threat to Islam" he asserted.

The Root of Wahhabi Thinking is Westerners 

Sheikh Samigullin, furthermore, condemned the beliefs of ISIS and al-Qaeda as a result of Wahhabism and added, "All the problems that exist today in Chechnya and in different countries originate from this ideology, Sunni and Shia origins in Islam; however, the root of Wahhabi thinking is Westerners."

"If this thought was not extreme and had no negative effects, and if we taught true Islam, today the status of Muslims would be much higher than today" he commented.

Noting the fact that 26% of all mosques in Russia are located in this Republic, the Mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan said, "We are the first Islamic institution in Russia to receive the status of religious advice from the United Nations."

"We hope that within the framework of the Islamic Academy we have established, we could communicate internationally with scientists and major religious centers of the Islamic world," he continued.

Shaikh Samigullin, expressing his contentment and enthusiasm for expanding cooperation with Astan Quds Razavi, asked Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Raeisi to provide the people and thinkers of the Tatarstan Republic to benefit from the cultural treasures of Astan Quds. 

According to the report, after the end of the visit, which took place at the site of the Qol Sharif Mosque of Kazan city, the Grand Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi visited various parts of the mosque and performed the noon and evening prayers at it.