Friday namazes held in Chechnya under law enforcers' control

Collective Friday namazes (prayers) in Chechnya were held with a small number of believers; the number of them in mosques was limited due to the safe distance rule. Law enforcers monitored the observance of sanitary standards by believers, residents of the republic told the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Mufti of Chechnya, Salakh Mezhiev, and Ramzan Kadyrov announced the June 12 Friday prayers in all the republic's Juma Mosques.

On June 12, the Juma namaz, which became the first for many mosques in more than two months, was held with the participation of a small number of believers and under the law enforcers' control.

Mokhmad, a resident of the Oktiabrsky District of Grozny, prayed in the mosque of the Michurin swelling settlement. "I was today at the first Juma namaz in our mosque since the beginning of the quarantine. There were relatively few people there, all in medical masks. At the entrance, policemen were on duty; they treated hands of every entrant with antiseptic. Inside, white ropes were stretched across the floor to separate the parishioners. The Murid showed people where to stand. The mosque was about 20-25 percent full," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The evening news programme of the "Grozny" ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Company) showed a story about Ramzan Kadyrov, who, together with his retinue, visited the mosque named after Khamzat, Prophet Muhammad's Uncle. The video shows the head of Chechnya sitting on the floor of a mosque, shoulder to shoulder with the State Duma MP, Adam Delimkhanov, and the Mufti, Salakh Mezhiev, and listening to the sermon given by his adviser, Adam Shakhidov. None of them was in a medical mask, although some of those present in the mosque were in masks.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 12, 2020 at 11:16 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.