Fatima Achouri MOSCOW – Complaining about lack of enough worshipping houses for the growing religious minority, Russian Muslims are leading a new fundraising campaign to fund a fleet of trailer cars to serve as mobile mosque in the capital Moscow.
“Today 2 million Muslims in Moscow are forced to content themselves with only FOUR functioning mosques in the city,” writes Alsu Khafis, the author of the Mobile Mosques project posted on the popular Boomstarter website, Radio Free Europe reported on Friday, February 13.
“The rhythm of the modern city and the small capacity of mosques do not allow practicing Muslims always to perform their regular prayer.”
The Russian capital is home to an estimated two million Muslims.
Facing a sharp lack of proper mosques, many Muslims were forced to pray in business centers, Muslim homes and warehouses.
Moreover, the building of new mosques has been facing protests, including comments given by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin in November 2013 that the Russian capital has enough mosques.
In a bid to overcome the rising problem, a new crowdfunding initiative was posted online to raise funds to buy a fleet of trailer cars.
The cars, which have them transformed into mobile places of Muslim worship, will accommodate a minip-rayer space, and also be fitted with a special ablution compartment for Muslims to make wudu’.
The mobile mosques will then travel around the capital, serving Muslims who summon them, free of charge.
The project aims to raise 850,000 rubles and hopes to resolve Moscow’s mosque conundrum by stationing six trailer-mosques at business centers around the city.
Islamonline
