Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Islamic Civilisation in the Volga-Ural Region: Ufa, 21-22 October 2010

The fourth symposium on the theme "Islamic Civilisation in Volga-Ural Region" was held in Ufa, the capital city of Bashkortostan, in October 2010. The previousones hadtaken placein Kazan, Tatarstan in 2001and2005respectivelyand Ufain 2008. Theirproceedings werepublishedearlier; thus with the addition of the present volume, a valuable body of articles in four volumes is now available on multiple historical, cultural and civilizational aspects of Volga-Ural region.

The experience of multi-faith coexistence in the Russian Federation andthedeep-rootedIslamic culture and heritage that is livingin some of its regions, among them Volga-Ural region, constitute a noteworthy dimension in the study of Islamic civilization in its regional achievements. Islam in Volga-Ural region is eleven centuries old; historical records starting with the travelogue of Ibn Fadlan in the tenth century provide evidence of inter-faith contacts developed from then on. IRCICA has been promoting research on this history and throwing light on the historical evidence at the background of the cultural relations that have been growing between the Muslim world on one hand and Russia with its Muslim communities on the other. To this aim IRCICA institutedamongothers this seriesof symposiums, which itorganizedin cooperation with thegovernmentsandacademic institutionsof countries in the region. These activities were encouraged by the Presidents of the host countries according their patronage to the symposiums and their governments' supportive and constructive partnerships. Thus the fourth congress was organized jointly by the Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Russian Federation, the Government of Bashkortostan, and Bashkir State University. H.E. President Rustem Zakievitch Khamitov, President of Bashkortostan Republic,gave hispatronagetotheeventandparticipatedin theopeningceremony. In addition tothe workingsessionson different topics