Moscow mosque shortage prompts city parks prayer place proposal Moscow authorities are considering a plan to put about 100 prayer grounds in city parks in order to tackle the shortage of mosques brought on by the massive influx of migrants from Muslim countries. The proposed prayer places could serve as a temporary solution for a city whose official population stands at nearly 12 million yet only has four mosques. In comparison, London has 100 mosques for 8.3 million people, Beijing has 70 for 17 million residents and New York City has 140 for 8.5 million. In accordance with the plan, special places of prayer would be set aside in city parks for Muslims, making them both accessible for worshippers while also being far away from residential areas. The mosque shortage issue in Moscow once again became apparent last week after about 160,000 people gathered to celebrate the end of the Ramadan fast – the holiday of Uraza-Bairam. Although 10,000 less worshipers came out this year than in 2012, authorities were nonetheless forced to set up dedicated grounds in several parks and stadiums to accommodate everyone. In 2012 politicians, spiritual leaders and rights activists furiously debated a proposed plan to build more mosques in Moscow. Representatives from Russia’s Muslim community argued that in the absence of officially sanctioned places of worship, adherents could easily fall under the sway of extremists. Russian nationalists bluntly opposed the plan, saying that migrant workers should leave Russia upon completing their work and there was no need to accommodate their religious needs. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin ultimately announced that there were no plans for the construction of new mosques, adding that the excessive number of economic migrants was a ‘harmful thing’.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 13:13:38 +0000
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