PYATIGORSK, December 2 (RIA Novosti) – A mosque named in honor of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and able to accommodate 10,000 worshippers will be built in the Chechen town of Shali, the republic’s government said in a press release.
The ceremony of laying the foundation stone and memorial capsule was held on Sunday, the press release said.
The mosque will be named for Ramzan Kadyrov in recognition of the president’s service to Islam, Khozh-Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya’s council of religious scholars, is quoted in the press release as saying.
“New mosques, madrasas, and Hafiz schools are going up all the time here. All state buildings have prayer rooms. That is a result of the efforts of our leader Ramzan Kadyrov,” he said.
“Chechnya has created the conditions and secured the freedom to study and confess Islam,” he said.
The mosque, which was designed by a team of architects from Uzbekistan, is expected to take three years to complete.
Chechnya is already home to a mosque that is among the largest in Europe. Opened in 2008, the Heart of Chechnya Mosque in Grozny, which is also named for Kadyrov’s father and predecessor, Akhmad Haji Kadyrov, can accommodate 10,000 worshippers.