The ceremony took place on April 12th during Faizkhanov Readings in Saint-Petersburg.

Al Fakhr is an award administered by the Russian Council of Muftis and is translated as “Honor”. The motivation behind honoring Rector Gafurov was his contribution to the inclusion of Tatarstani historical heritage into the UNESCO World Heritage list and to developing Islamic studies in Russia.

Faizkhanov Readings is a conference dedicated to Oriental studies and saw its 14th iteration this year. Dr. Gafurov was one of the contributors.

He said, «Kazan Federal University is successfully rebuilding its Oriental studies in the 21st century. We are making accent on contemporary educational methods and educational technologies in language teaching and Muslim world studies in past and present. We are a major educational center of the Volga Federal District where of 30 million people live, about 6 million of whom are Muslim ethnicities. That's why it's important for us to monitor the ummah of Tatarstan and of the Volga-Ural region».

The Rector then suggested that Mikhail Piotrovsky (Director of State Hermitage, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of Saint-Petersburg State University) and Irina Popova (Director of the Institute of Oriental Manus­cripts of RAS) serve as founders of the Christian Frahn Medal and Award. This award will join Lobachevsky Medal and Tolstoy Medal in Kazan University and be aimed at significant works of Oriental studies. Ceremonies may be held in rotation in Kazan and Saint-Petersburg.

The offer is now under consideration by the interested parties.