27 August 2016, 12:31
Mosque for 3000 visitors opened in Gudermes District of Chechnya
On August 26, a mosque named after Sheikh Yusup Baibatyrov was opened in the village of Koshkeldy. The new mosque can accommodate 3000 visitors, while the village is the home to 5500 people.
The construction of the mosque was started in July 2015 by order of Ramzan Kadyrov, and it was financed by the money from the Foundation named after his father Akhmat Kadyrov. The mosque is named after theologian Yusup Baibatyrov, revered in the republic. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by an official of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Chechnya.
Yusup Baibatyrov was born in the village of Koshkeldy in 1860, and he was a follower of Sufi Tariqat Naqshbandi.
"Yusup-khadji was an authoritative theologian, engaged in the proliferation of religion. After the Bolsheviks had come to power, he, like other religious leaders, faced problems. He had to migrate to Turkey, where he died in 1923," said the SAM official.
One month before the start of the construction of a mosque in the village of Koshkeldy, the head of the village and the local imam were dismissed by the Ramzan Kadyrov's order. Their dismissal was caused by the fact that during a visit to the village, the Chechen leader noticed garbage and weeds around the mosque.
According to the local administration, the mosque named after Yusup-khadji Baibatyrov is built in the Ottoman style, it has four minarets and takes about 2000 square meters.
The local residents have confirmed that the opening of the mosque was a great event for them.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Source: CK correspondent