Shali mosque's scale provokes doubts about justification of its construction

The capacity of the "Pride of Muslims" Mosque in Shali twice exceeds the size of the local population, and that fact does not bring any economic benefits for the city, blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov notes. The Chechen authorities need such construction projects to show their power, journalist Maxim Shevchenko believes.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 23, the opening of the "Pride of Muslims" Mosque in Shali became the main event of the celebrations on the occasion of the 68th birthday of Akhmat Kadyrov. Meanwhile, participation in the opening ceremony of the mosque was mandatory for public sector employees.

The BBC reports that according to public figure Maxim Shevchenko, the Ramzan Kadyrov's decision not to name the mosque in Shali by his name is justified from the point of view of PR.

According to Tumso Abdurakhmanov, the main problem associated with the construction of mosques in Chechnya is the amount of money spent on that purpose. The blogger notes that in Shali, where the mosque for 100,000 people has been built, half as many people live.

Commentators on social networks argued concerning the justification for the cost of the construction of the Europe's largest mosque in Shali (the mosque is able to accommodate about 30,000 people).

"I myself am a Muslim believer, but I think there are enough mosques in the Caucasus now, in particular, in Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia. It would be probably better to build schools, kindergartens or factories with the money," wrote Rasim Imamaev.

Some commentators did not agree with criticism of the construction of the "Pride of Muslims" Mosque. "I just can't understand those people who oppose the construction of the mosque. We must thank Ramzan Kadyrov. This is the pride for us," wrote mika miLedi.