Approximately 3,000 Muslims participated in the first festive namaz on the occasion of the holiday of Uraza Bayram, which was held in the Cathedral Mosque of Crimea. This information was provided by the Religious Board of Muslims of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to TASS.
"About 3,000 people took part in the festive namaz. The main hall of the mosque can accommodate 2.5 thousand people and was filled, there were still people on the street, in total about 3 thousand people took part in the namaz. Traditionally, festive namaz were held in all mosques in Crimea," the organization stated.
During the namaz, Mufti of the Muslims of Crimea Emirali Ablaev noted that it was a great happiness to hold namaz in the Cathedral mosque. "It is a great happiness for us today that the Muslims of Crimea were able to hold the first festive namaz in the mosque, which we have been waiting for many years. <...> This mosque is given to us from the Almighty and a gift from the president of our country, so we appreciate it and Crimean Tatars, Crimean Muslims should always appreciate it and be grateful," the mufti noted.
According to him, the Cathedral mosque is actually functioning, but it should be officially opened by the president of Russia. "The official, solemn opening will be when the mosque will be opened by the president of the country. We are waiting for his visit," the mufti said.
The mosque in Simferopol has been under construction since October 2016. In May 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to complete its construction as soon as possible. The total area of the Cathedral mosque in Simferopol is 5.8 thousand square meters, capacity - about 4 thousand people. About 300 thousand people who profess Islam, mainly Crimean Tatars, live in the republic. In total, the population of the peninsula is about 2 million people. Over the last 10 years about 50 mosques have been built in the republic. In general, there are about 400 mosques on the territory of the region.
The Uraza Bayram holiday marks the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Devlet Geray/CC0
Based on materials from TASS