A total of 427 Russian students have enrolled this year at the Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz Department for Islamic Studies at Moscow University to study the Holy Qur'an, the Prophet's Traditions and Sayings and monotheism. Among the courses taught are Introduction to the Holy Qur'an, Arabic Language, Ethics and Arabic and Islamic Culture. Professor Dimitry Frolove, who teaches the Holy Qur'an course, said the course aims to provide non-native speakers of Arabic with the skills they need to read and understand the Holy Qur'an. “Students are taught the rules of recitation, syntax and morphology,” he said. Over the past four years, the department has offered curricula for philosophy students at the university who wish to study the Arabic language, Professor Frolove added. “The department also offers programs to students from the schools of arts, history, journalism, social sciences, and foreign languages and translation.” The department has issued several books including the interpretation of some chapters of the Holy Qur'an, Professor Frolove said. “We have a professor from the Russian Sciences Academy, three full professors, eight assistant professors and five teachers.” The department, during the last 12 years, was able to graduate several students who have learnt the Islamic creed and Arabic language, and subsequently these graduates are capable of teaching non-Muslims about the true Islam and its tolerance and justice. The department has so far graduated 1,700 students at the level of various courses. This is an unprecedented achievement by any other international university. The department is currently preparing a group of researches in Islamic studies. __
