On May 12, the Bolgar Museum-Reserve was visited by a delegation from the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) as part of the 17th International Economic Forum “Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum”. The delegation included Sheikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa al Khalifa, Chairman of the AAOIFI Board of Trustees, and Farhan Noor, Executive Director for Standards Implementation and Capacity Building. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Minister of Economy of RT Midkhat Shagiakhmetov accompanied the guests.
The visit began with a tour of the Museum of Bulgarian Civilization where the guests learned about the rich history and culture of Volga Bulgaria. Sheikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa al Khalifa was particularly interested in the official adoption of Islam by the Volga Bulgars in 922. He carefully read copies of the manuscripts by Ahmed ibn Fadlan and shared the information he had received. The tour continued with a visit to the Memorial Sign. During the tour, special attention was paid to the calligraphy in the interior of the building. All the verses from the Quran depicted on the walls were read and translated by the guest. The tour continued at the Bolgar settlement where the delegation learned about the history and architectural features of the preserved monuments of Muslim medieval architecture from the 13th-14th centuries.
The guests then visited the White Mosque and the Bolgar Islamic Academy. At the end of the visit, Sheikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa al Khalifa expressed his deep satisfaction with what he had seen. He emphasized that Bolgar is a unique place where the history of modern people’s ancestors and their cultural characteristics are closely intertwined with the religion of the people of this region