Eid al-Fitr is an annual Muslim holiday after the end of fasting in the month of Ramadan. It gathered a huge amount of people on Sunday in Moscow. “In recent years a wider interest in religion and traditions has been observed among Muslims. The number of mosque-goers is growing,” VK was told by the head of Cultural and Educational Programs of the Department of Socio-Charity and Spiritual-Educational activity under the Russian Mufti Council, Rashid khazrat Akkaziyev. The four mosques of Moscow cannot welcome all comers. We have problems with space in Friday prayers and holiday prayers. There is no room for the faithful in mosques. That is why the government of Moscow met us halfway and allocated us additional spaces for holiday prayers in Sokolniki and Luzhniki. Moreover, we are constructing the new complex of the Cathedral Mosque on the Prospekt Mira near the sporting complex of Olympiysky. It will be much more spacious than the previous mosque. However, this new mosque still couldn’t satisfy all demands of the faithful, and the issue is still a problem for us, for the Moscow administration, for the Muslims, for the Russian Mufti Council. The question is how can we place all comers in mosques of Moscow? If we look at China, the UK, and so on, we will see that there are many more mosques than in Moscow. We hope that in the future our government will consider the problem and satisfy Muslim demands, just like demands of other religions. Muslims are the second large traditional confession in our country.
Rashid Akkaziyev said that in favor of Ramadan the Russian Mufti Council set a pavilion which welcomed those who were fasting for they could end the fast and eat. Also Ramadan pavilion welcomed not only Muslims, but everybody, first of all the Orthodox faithful, who wanted to share a friendly supper. The pavilion doors were opened for everybody. This project is aimed not only at feeding those who fasted, but also approaching our peoples for mutual understanding and cultural exchange would be between traditional peoples of Russia. It is an important part of the Ramadan pavilion.
Speaking about the growth in the number of faithful, Rashid Akkaziyev stated: “It is difficult to define whether it grows due to the influx of new faithfuls or due to the growth of newcomers. It is true that significant migration from Muslim regions, including the CIS, is taking place. Of course the migration influences the number of prayers. At the same time we see a religious and spiritual revival among local Muslims, first of all among Tatars and the North Caucasus people. And our task – as the Russian Mufti Council and other official religious organizations – is to give people appropriate guidelines in order for them not to fall under the influence of various extremist movements.”
