Tula State University has been successfully educating foreign citizens for 62 years. During this time, our university has developed a special multicultural environment where representatives of different countries can share their experiences and learn something new.

Foreign students enjoy learning the secrets of the mysterious Russian soul, admire works of art and literature, and never cease to be amazed by the diversity of colours of our nature. And, of course, they are eager to get involved in the active university life to the maximum extent possible. 

Abdulhalem Mustafa Mohammed Abdulhalem from the Republic of Iraq, a sixth-year medical student at TulSU Institute of International Education, is a passionate, caring, creative and successful in every aspect of his studies. The last quality is especially important, as it is difficult to study for a medical degree, and it is twice as difficult to combine all this with social work and implementation of various projects. But he succeeded everywhere.

Judge for yourself. Mustafa is the head of the IIE News Media Space for International Students and the IIE “Cultural Code” Intercultural Dialogue Space, translator of the official TulSU website into Arabic and English, participant of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum-2024, two international forums ‘Engineers of the Future’, the Forum of International Students “Russia has made us friends”, International History Schools in Yekaterinburg, Arkhangelsk, Tver and Vladikavkaz, the 11th All-Russian Congress of the Association of International Students in Kazan, organiser of Summer Linguistic Schools for the young researchers “Dive into Science!” in TulSU, winne of the Summer School of Journalism of the Ministry of science and higher education of the Russian Federation and the Student media rally “Our values” of the Ministry of education and science of Russia, blogger of the medical channel “Red Scrubs” (YouTube, Telegram.

The service record of the future doctor is really impressive. And all this is thanks to Mustafa's sincere desire to learn more about the culture, customs and traditions of our country, to immerse himself in its creative environment.

Russia in all its diversity won his heart. And Mustafa, as a grateful guest, decided to present the students of the Institute of Law and Management with a verbal gift in the form of a lecture ‘The Cultural Code of the Arab World’.

Future economists, financiers, lawyers and managers listened to him with bated breath. The Arab world, so distant, mysterious and colourful, was becoming closer and clearer....

Mustafa told the students about the Arab states and their symbols, about the Abrahamic religions practised in the Arab world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, about the classical Arabic language called Fuskha, as well as about the Palestinian, Iraqi, Egyptian and Tunisian dialects.

The students learnt that Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov, a famous painter of the Tula region, was connected with the Arab world. The plot of his famous painting ‘Christ and the Sinner’ refers to the story described in the Gospel of John. Polenov himself made two long journeys to the Middle East, and so on this canvas you can see the real faces of the Arabs.

And what was the students' surprise when Mustafa informed them that the words “admiral”, “alcohol”, “arsenal”, “giraffe”, “lemon”, “shop”, “syrup”, “trunk”, “tariff”, that entered the Russian language, are of Arabic origin. Well, with the words like ‘algebra’ and ‘number’ everything is clear. Everyone was told they were Arabic in school. But the others! Is it possible to imagine a Russian izba without a chest, and an armory Tula without an arsenal?! That's how firmly they have entered our language! 

In his lecture Mustafa paid special attention to hospitality and national character of Arabs, the role of men and women in the family. He also explained the difference between the hijab and the burqa and the ritual of meeting a boy and a girl.

At the end of the lecture, the speaker gave some tips on how to do business with Arabs.

- Don't write short and simple! - he said. - Be sure to use metaphors and allegories. Otherwise you will not be perceived as a serious partner.

Mustafa emphasised that it`s impossible to refuse the recipient directly. Negotiations and the signing of agreements should take place over a meal, in a restaurant, for example. Arabs respect punctuality, so precision is not only a courtesy of French kings. It is very important to know sign language. It is better to give Arab partners gold items, wristwatches and ties. And if you go to Iraq, be sure to take a Tula samovar with you. 

After the speech, students and teachers did not let Mustafa go for a long time. They kept asking him questions. The lecture exceeded all expectations. The Arab world was revealed in all its unique beauty. 

We should all be closer to each other. Isn't that right?

Tatyana Krikunkova

Photo provided by the hero of the material