#7 Can the Islamic economy compete with the world economy? (narrated by Renat Bekkin)

The topic of Islamic economics is very popular today. Both in the East and in the West. And in the West it is studied more closely than in the Islamic world. Our guest, Renat Bekkin is a doctor…

#6 Why are Russian imams so rich? (narrated by Yuri Mikhailov)

Today, our guest at the program "Modern East" publisher Yuri Anatolyevich Mikhailov. His publishing house "Ladomir" published a few years ago an excellent two-volume edition of the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Biography of the…

#5 How did Orthodoxy and Islam come to us? (narrated by Igor Alekseev)

“Both Christianity and Islam were not introduced at the same time. If we take, for example, the Volga Bulgaria, then Islam penetrated there through trade, and, consequently, cultural ties. And only after...

Tariq Ramadan to give a lecture in Moscow

Influential Islamic thinker, Professor of Oxford University Tariq Ramadan will give a lecture in Moscow: "The Importance of Critical Thinking for the Muslim Ummah in the West and East." Tariq Ramadan is a name known all over the world. He is not just a philosopher, publicist, thinker. He is an obvious genius.

Arabic for everyone

Effective learning of the Arabic language is impossible without a quality teaching aid. The students of the Arabic language courses of the educational center "Medina" are very lucky in this sense. Especially for our students, a teacher with many years of teaching experience in the leading universities of the country, Alexandra Vadimovna Simonova, has developed a unique textbook "Arabic for All".

14 most ancient mosques in the world

These Muslim temples were built during the first 150 years of the formation of Islam, after the relocation of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to Medina.

1The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria: 96 AH

The Great Mosque of Damascus, better known as the Great Umayyad Mosque, is located in the old part of the capital of Syria, one of the oldest cities in the world. The mosque is a sacred place in Syria, as it contains a treasury with the head of John the Baptist (Yahya), revered by both Christians and Muslims. This is the largest building in old Damascus. In the Roman era, the Temple of Jupiter was located on this site, then, in Byzantine times, a Christian church. After the Muslim conquest of Syria, the church was turned into a mosque. Caliph Walid I, who oversaw its transformation, radically changed the layout of the building and the project was completed in 715. Parts of the outer wall remain from the Roman Temple of Jupiter. For the construction of the mosque, the best artists, architects, stone craftsmen from Athens, Rome, Constantinople, and the countries of the Arab East were invited. In total, more than 12 thousand workers worked on the construction of the Muslim temple.

2. Al Quba Mosque, Medina, Saudi Arabia, 1 AH

Al Quba Mosque is located outside Medina. It is considered the first mosque ever built and the fourth holiest mosque in Islam after the Forbidden Mosque in Mecca, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

The legend says that the first stone in its foundation was laid by the Prophet Muhammad himself after moving from Mecca to Medina, and his companions completed the construction.

Muslims believe that two morning prayers in this mosque are equal to a small pilgrimage. Little has survived from the ancient building of the mosque, as over time it has been rebuilt several times; The current white stone mosque was built in 1986.

3. Cheraman Juma Mosque, Kerala, India. Approx. 8 AH

Cheraman Juma Mosque is the very first mosque built in India. The mosque was built by Cheraman Peumal (the ruler of a small state) during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. According to legend, Cheraman observed the split moon - a miracle revealed by the Prophet. And after that he met with Muhammad and converted to Islam. The mosque was built in 629. It has undergone reconstruction and repair many times, but nevertheless, part of it has been preserved untouched since those ancient times, local residents say.

4. Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, Palestine. The current building is approx. In 86 AH.

There are two most beautiful mosques in Jerusalem: one with a golden dome, the other with a gray dome. The first is called the "Dome of the Rock", the second is the al-Aqsa Mosque, or the Mosque of Omar - the third most important Muslim shrine. Its dome looks more modest, but the mosque itself is huge and can accommodate up to 5,000 parishioners for Friday prayers. Islam associates with this place the night journey of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem (Isra) and his ascension to heaven (miraj). At first it was a simple prayer house built by Caliph Omar in the 7th century, and half a century later the building began to be rebuilt, completed, restored after earthquakes, and finally, it acquired the scale and appearance that has survived to this day. Of course, over the past centuries, the mosque has undergone both destruction and mockery of the Templar crusaders, who used the building for their hostel, armory and stables. But the Turkish Sultan Salah ad-Din, who captured Jerusalem, returned the building to the Muslims. Since then, there has been a functioning mosque.

5. Masjid al-Nabawi, Medina, Saudi Arabia: 1 AH

The Prophet's Mosque is the second holiest site in Islam after the Forbidden Mosque in Mecca and the burial place of Muhammad. The mosque has been expanded nine times in the history of Islam. The first mosque on this site was built during the lifetime of Muhammad, subsequent Islamic rulers expanded and decorated the shrine. Under the Green Dome (the Dome of the Prophet) is the grave of Muhammad. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) were buried in Aisha's room, which from the very beginning was separate from the mosque. After the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) died, the companions buried him in a small room that belonged to his wife Aisha, next to the mosque. The mosque was separated from this room by a wall with a door. Many years later (or rather, in 88 AH), during the reign of al-Walid ibn Abdul-Malik, the emir of Medina, Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz, significantly expanded the territory of the mosque, and Aisha's room was inside the new territory. But despite this, the emir of Medina built two huge walls to separate Aisha's room from the mosque. Thus, it is incorrect to say that the tomb of the Prophet is inside the mosque. She, as before, is in Aisha's room, and Aisha's room is separated from the Prophetic Mosque from all sides.

6. Al-Zaytuna Mosque, Tunisia: 113 AH

The mosque is the oldest in the capital of Tunisia, covering an area of ​​5000 m². and has nine entrances. The ruins of Carthage served as the material for the construction of the mosque. The mosque is also known as one of the first and largest Islamic universities. For centuries, Al-Kairavan remained the educational and scientific center of Tunisia and North Africa. In the 13th century, Tunisia became the capital of the Almohad and Hafsid states. Thanks to this, al-Zaytuna University has become one of the main centers of Islamic education. The university's graduate was the world's first social historian, Ibn Khaldun. Students from all over the Islamic world studied at the university. Al-Zaytuna's library was the largest in North Africa and included tens of thousands of manuscripts. A large number of rare manuscripts covered knowledge in all scientific disciplines, including grammar, logic, etiquette, cosmology, arithmetic, geometry, and mineralogy.

7. Great Mosque in Xi'an, China: 124 AH

During the reign of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), Islam became widespread in China thanks to Arab traders. Many Muslims settled in China at that time. Many of them married representatives of China's main ethnic group, the Han. The Great Mosque was built at that time to commemorate the contribution of those people to the spread of Islam in China. The mosque is located in the hero city of Xi'an, the starting point of the Great Silk Road and a city with a large Muslim population. The architectural style of the Muslim temple is a mixture of traditional Chinese architecture and Islamic art. Numerous pavilions and four courtyards located between them are typical features of the Chinese style. The walls of the mosque are decorated with paintings, in which traditional Muslim motifs are clearly visible.

8. Great Mosque in Kairouan: 50 AH

The Great Mosque of Kairouan dates back to 670. It was built by order of Uqba ibn Nafi. Although the mosque was destroyed a couple of times and then rebuilt, today's structure stands on the site of the original mosque. As a kind of symbolic building of the city, the Great Mosque is considered the oldest shrine and the most important mosque of the Muslim West.

9. Great Mosque of Aleppo, Syria: Approx. 90 AH

The younger brother of the majestic Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, as it is called by the locals, the temple was erected on this site in the 13th century. According to legend, the tomb of the prophet Zakaria is located here. This cultural monument is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once this mosque was a place of rest and communication with God, but today it is ruins. During the civil war, serious damage was done: in 2012, a large fire broke out in the mosque, the south wall was blown up the following year, and to top it all, the only minaret was destroyed.

10. Al-Haram Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: before Islam.

The protected mosque is the largest mosque in the world, surrounding the main shrine of Islam - the Kaaba. It is designed to receive 4 million pilgrims during the Hajj. The modern mosque, after many reconstructions, is a pentagonal closed building with sides of different lengths and a flat roof. In total, the mosque has 9 minarets, the height of which reaches 95 m. The existing mosque has been known since 1570. During its existence, the mosque was rebuilt several times, so little remains of the original building.

11. Juma mosque in Shamakhi Azerbaijan: 125 AH.

The Shamakhi Juma Mosque, which is one of the most ancient Muslim churches in Azerbaijan, in the South Caucasus and the Middle East as a whole, was built during the time of Caliph Khalid ibn Valiyadin, in 743, in honor of the arrival of his brother Muslim ibn Valiyadin in Azerbaijan. According to some sources, the Khazar Khagan, defeated by the armies of the Caliphate, converted to Islam in this mosque.

12. Mosque of Two Qiblas, Medina, Saudi Arabia: A.D. 2

Of course, in Moscow you can find all the major world religions: officially, more than a thousand religious organizations representing more than fifty directions are registered in the capital. As for Islam, it is represented in the city by 25 associations, and worship is held in 4 mosques. We will tell about the largest of them.

History reference

On the territory of modern Russia (in the Caucasus and the Volga region), Islam spread shortly after its appearance and throughout the history of the state played a significant role. The first mosque in the Caucasus was built in the 8th century. For example, Thaba-Yerdy, according to some sources, the oldest Christian church on the territory of modern Russia, was built in the VIII-IX centuries, it is located in Ingushetia.

Well, the first stone church of the Old Russian state - the Church of the Tithes - was built in Kyiv in 996-1240.

Of course, the Golden Horde, which professed Islam, played its role in the spread of Islam. Therefore, after the unification of Russian lands by Ivan III, part of the Muslim khanates joined the Russian state, after which the number of Muslims in the country increased significantly.

One of the largest in Europe

The largest mosque in Moscow is located near the Olimpiysky sports complex. The Moscow Cathedral Mosque is the largest not only in Moscow, but also in Russia, as well as one of the largest in Europe.

The main prayer house of Muslims first opened in 1904, but a little more than a hundred years later it was demolished (it is even a little surprising that the mosque did not suffer such a fate in Soviet times, when many Orthodox churches were demolished).

In 2011, the old building was demolished and the construction of a new religious institution began in its place. And in 2015, the official opening took place.

Old building

Here is what the old mosque looked like:

It was designed by the architect Nikolai Zhukov, and it was built at the expense of the Tatar merchant Salih Yerzin in 1904. In general, this mosque in Moscow was not just an architectural monument, it became a monument to the religiously tolerant policy of the government of the early twentieth century. The mosque has witnessed many important events in the history of Moscow Muslims, and even in Soviet times, service in it did not stop.

Here, Moscow Muslims during the Great Patriotic War raised funds for a tank column for the Red Army and read a telegram of thanks signed by Stalin, all the rulers and prominent personalities of Muslim countries who visited the USSR went here. And it was within these walls that the imams of the 20th century, revered by the Muslim community, served.

Construction of a new building

Of course, for more than a century the building of the mosque fell into disrepair, so it was decided to carry out large-scale repairs, but in the end the mosque was completely dismantled and a new building was rebuilt. Suleiman Kerimov, a businessman from Dagestan, was the main sponsor, and financial support was provided by parishioners who made donations, the Turkish government and Russian millionaire Mikhail Gutseriev.

In 2015, the grand opening of the main mosque of Moscow took place, it turned out to be majestic and very beautiful. So, the building has six levels, and the total area has increased by almost 20 times. And if earlier the area of ​​the mosque did not exceed 1,000 square meters, now its premises have grown to 18,900 square meters, and it can accommodate up to 10,000 people.

In addition, ramps and elevators have been installed here for people who find it physically difficult to climb stairs.

Well, outwardly, the Moscow Cathedral Mosque harmoniously combined Muslim traditions and some features of Russian architecture. So, the minarets are similar in shape to the towers of the Kremlin.

It so happened historically that Russia is a multinational country. And, of course, in Moscow, its cultural diversity is represented on the largest scale. This is expressed in a large number of Orthodox churches, Catholic cathedrals, synagogues and, of course, mosques.

In total, there are 4 large mosques in Moscow: the Moscow Historical Mosque, the Inam and Yardyam complex of mosques in Otradnoye, the Memorial Mosque, the Moscow Cathedral Mosque.

1. Moscow historical mosque

The Moscow Historical Mosque was founded in 1823 in the historical center of the Zamoskvoretsky Tatar community and is the oldest mosque in Moscow.

This mosque dates back to the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, when this place was the yard of Prince Shulamit-Murza, a translator of the Foreign Collegium, and a mosque stood in the yard. In a fire in 1812, the mosque, along with other Moscow buildings, was destroyed. The Tatar community was able to obtain permission to create a prayer house on this site only at the end of 1823, provided that the building does not have any external signs of a mosque and does not differ from ordinary houses.

Only in 1880 was permission received to rebuild the mosque with a dome and a minaret. In the 1930s, the mosque was closed; in the Soviet years, it was used as a military enlistment office or a workshop. The resumption of the activity of this mosque in Moscow took place only in 1993.

Now the mosque has its own website, channel on Youtube and pages in other social networks and a subsidiary project - an electronic madrasah, where everyone can learn the basics of Islam.

The address: Moscow, st. Bolshaya Tatarskaya, 28, building 1,2

1. The complex of mosques Inam and Yardyam in Otradnoe

A complex of traditional religions is located on a small square in Moscow's Otradnoye district. It is also called Little Jerusalem or New Jerusalem.

The complex includes the chapel of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon the Healer, the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas of Myra, the foundation stone of the Buddhist stupa, the Darkei Shalom (Ways of Peace) synagogue, an educational and administrative complex and two mosques under one roof - the Tatar Yardem and the Azerbaijani Inam .

The Moscow Shiite mosque Inam was opened in 1999 on the initiative of the first president of Azerbaijan, Ayaz Niyazi oglu Mutalibov, and its name means “faith” in Azerbaijani. The Inam Mosque is an important part of the spiritual heritage of Muslims.

The Sunni mosque Yardyam was opened in 1997. Its name is translated from Tatar as "help". At the mosque there is an educational and administrative building, where students get acquainted with the basics of the Islamic faith and its history, study Tatar and Arabic. Also, the Hilal Charitable Foundation, an educational center, a halal products store, and funeral services operate at the mosque. For Muslim events, the mosque has a conference hall and a Muslim cafe.

Both Moscow mosques - Inam and Yardyam - can accommodate a total of about 3,000 people to attend Friday sermons and other worship services and perform namaz.

The address: Moscow, st. Khachaturyan, 8

1. memorial mosque

This mosque was erected in one of the most memorable places in Moscow - on - and is dedicated to the memory of Muslims who died in the Great Patriotic War. In its original appearance, the mosque combined the Tatar, Uzbek and Caucasian architectural traditions.

In 1997 the mosque was solemnly opened. The ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Moscow, as well as the heads of Kazakhstan, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and numerous guests from the CIS. The parishioners of this mosque in Moscow are Tatars, Vainakhs, Dagestanis and Turks. Services are held in both Arabic and Russian.

The address: Moscow, st. Minsk, 2b

1. Moscow Cathedral Mosque b

This most famous and largest Moscow mosque is located in the very center of the capital. It was opened in 1904 and has not been closed since then - even in the Soviet years. Throughout its history, the Moscow Cathedral Mosque has remained a place of prayer and a link for Muslims throughout the country.

At the moment, this Moscow mosque is the largest in the capital (6 floors, total area -18,900 m 2) and can accommodate about 10,000 people.

The address: Moscow, Vypolzov lane, 7

According to available data, about 1.5 million Muslims now live in Moscow. Especially for them, in addition to mosques, there are Islamic cultural centers in Moscow. Here, Muslims can pray and communicate with other representatives of the Islamic faith.

On Prospekt Mira, the residents of the city remember it for its incredible popularity during the days of the main Muslim celebrations - Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Adha. These days, the surrounding neighborhoods were blocked, and they were filled with thousands of worshipers.

And this is not surprising. The former building of the temple was much inferior in size to the current one. Today, the Moscow Cathedral Mosque is one of the most interesting architectural objects of the capital. Its high minarets are visible far beyond the Olympic Avenue.

First mosque

More than a hundred years ago, there was a mosque on the site of the current luxurious building. The Moscow Cathedral Church was erected in 1904. The building will be built according to the design of the Moscow architect Nikolai Zhukov, mainly at the expense of the well-known philanthropist, merchant Salih Yerzin. This mosque became the second Muslim temple in the capital, but after the mosque in Zamoskvorechye was closed (in 1937), the address Vypolzov lane, house 7, became a symbol of Soviet Islam.

The temple received from Stalin himself, which was a telegram of thanks for helping the front during the Second World War. In addition, the visits of famous leaders of Muslim states in the post-war years to Vypolzov Lane reliably protected the religious life of the temple.

Sukarno, and other well-known politicians who sought the favor of the leadership of the Soviet Union, during their visits to the capital, visited not only the Kremlin, but also stopped by some advanced enterprise, and without fail a mosque.

Visits of distinguished guests to the mosque were quite difficult and often not according to the script. For example, in 1981, the leader of the Libyan Jamahiriya, who visited the mosque, did not follow the diplomatic protocol. Gaddafi asked the imams why there were no young people in the temple in the prayer hall, where you can buy religious literature in Moscow, and offered financial assistance to the mosque.

The Iranians left portraits of Ayatollah Khomeini on the window sills in the mosque, invited the imam of the Moscow mosque A. Mustafin to come to Tehran, although neither in the Soviet Union in general, nor Muslim religious leaders in particular, by that time had not yet decided on their attitude to the Islamic revolution.

Nevertheless, it is thanks to the international status of the mosque that it has survived. This made it possible to hold open prayers in the Soviet capital. The imams of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque became frequent guests at government receptions.

Imams of the mosque

Among the imams who served in the mosque in different years, the following should be singled out: Bedretdin Alimov (the first imam), Safa Alimovov, Abdulvudud Fattakhetdinov, Ismail Mushtaria, Akhmetzyan Mustafin Rizautdin Basyrov, Rais Bilyalov, Ildar Alyautdinov.

Today, six imams serve in the temple. Ildar Alyautdinov - Chief Imam of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque. He is assisted by Mustafa Kutyukchu, Rais Bilyalov, Anas Sadretdinov, Islam Zaripov and Vais Bilyaletdinov, the oldest imam (30 years of service). In Soviet times, it was the only mosque in the city that did not stop its work and regularly held services.

Construction of a new temple

By the end of the 20th century, the mosque was increasingly called dilapidated and in need of renovation or reconstruction. Under this pretext, they tried to demolish the building on the eve of the Olympics-80, it was saved only by the intervention of the Muslim community in Moscow and the ambassadors of some Arab countries.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the mosque received the status of a cultural heritage site, but not for long. Soon the status was canceled, recognizing the structure as dilapidated and subject to demolition. In addition, by this time the mosque no longer accommodated all believers even in Friday prayers.

In 2011, the old building was completely demolished. For several years, prayers were held in a temporary building. The construction was accompanied by numerous court proceedings between the authors of the project, Alexei Kolenteev and Ilyas Tazhiev, with the customer, represented by the Spiritual Board of Muslims. Nevertheless, in 2005 it was decided to carry out a large-scale reconstruction. And in 2011, construction began on the building of a new mosque designed by Alexei Kolenteev and Ilyas Tazhiev.

Moscow Cathedral Mosque: opening

On September 23, 2015, a long-awaited event for the entire Muslim world of Russia took place. The magnificent Moscow Cathedral Mosque opened its doors. The address of the temple is Vypolzov lane, house 7. This holiday brought together numerous guests. The solemn and very memorable ceremony was attended by President Putin, politicians, well-known representatives of science and culture. It should be noted that famous and honored guests in the mosque are not uncommon - both before and after the reconstruction, it remains the center of Islam in Russia, it is visited by many politicians, representatives of culture from all over the world.

Construction cost

The Council of Muftis reported that the Moscow Cathedral Mosque was built for $170 million. This huge amount includes donations from ordinary believers, as well as funds from large entrepreneurs. A book was published in their honor, all benefactors are listed by name.

The current mosque can hardly be called a reconstructed building. After all, only tiny fragments of the walls remained from the old building.

Architecture

The Moscow Cathedral Mosque occupies a huge area - 18,900 square meters (before the reconstruction, it was 964 square meters). To strengthen the structure, 131 piles were driven into its base, as a metro line was laid nearby, and Neglinka carries its waters.

There are several cultural and historical references in the architectural complex of the new mosque. For example, the main minarets, whose height is more than 70 meters, resemble in their shape the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin in the capital and the leaning Syuyumbike Tower of the Kazan Kremlin. This is no coincidence. The architects resorted to such a solution as a symbol of unity and friendship between the Tatar and Russian peoples.

The huge 46-meter dome of the mosque, covered with twelve tons of gold leaf, is surprisingly harmoniously combined with the general appearance of the "gold-domed" Moscow. The architects also took into account the original appearance of the mosque. Fragments of the old walls were reassembled, and they successfully fit into the new interior, while retaining their original appearance. The top of one minaret is crowned with a crescent moon, which at one time adorned the old building.

The Moscow Cathedral Mosque has certain features of the Byzantine style. The magnificent six-storey building is crowned with minarets, domes and towers of various sizes. The area of ​​the new building is 20 times larger than the original version. Today, prayer halls for women and men can accommodate about ten thousand believers. There are also special rooms for the ritual of washing, a large and cozy hall for conferences and meetings.

Leading Muslim imams conduct services in the new mosque, they also perform traditional rites.

Interior decoration

The Moscow Cathedral Mosque inside amazes guests with luxury and splendor of decoration. Exquisite patterns on the walls of the temple, thought out to the smallest detail decor elements are fully consistent with the traditions of Muslim architecture. The interior uses classic colors for Islam - green, emerald, white, blue.

The interior of the dome, as well as the walls and ceiling of the mosque, is decorated with paintings. These are the sacred ones that were performed by Turkish masters. The Turkish government donated magnificent front doors, extraordinary carpets (handmade) for the halls and luxurious crystal chandeliers to the cathedral mosque.

The mosque is illuminated by more than three hundred and twenty lamps, which are placed on the ceiling and walls. Their main part repeats the shape of the dome of the temple. The main (central) chandelier is a giant lamp. Its height is about eight meters, and this design weighs one and a half tons. It was created by fifty masters from Turkey for three months.

It should be noted that it is not necessary to be a Muslim to see the mosque. Here, as in the mosques of Istanbul and other large cities, the doors are open to representatives of different religions. But certain rules must be followed.

Women must cover their hair and their clothing must be tight and closed. Before entering, you should take off your shoes and try not to disturb the worshipers.