On a cold day in March, thousands of Muslims perform Friday prayers outside the mosque's oldest Tatarskaya Bolshaya Street, downtown Moscow. They were praying in the snow-covered streets. Car horns sounded in the street and local communities trying to cross the line.
The same scene occurred in all mosques in Moscow, amounting to four, when tens of thousands of Muslims perform Friday prayers. More than two million Muslims currently living and working in Moscow. And became one of the countries with the largest Muslim communities in Europe and no longer can fit an existing mosque in the city.
The Muslims, who are mostly young immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Central Asia and Caucasus. Poverty and conflict forced them to try his fortune in Russia, they mostly come from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to work and get a new place to live in Moscow.
"There are a lot from our country," said Ulugbek, a migrant from Uzbekistan. "We should be thankful that there is a mosque in Moscow. City is not prepared by the arrival of millions of us who all of a sudden."
But others think that the authorities ignored the needs of the Muslim population. Fakhritdinov Hasan, imam historic mosque in Moscow, said that there are not enough facilities. "We ask the authorities to allow us to build a new mosque, but they ignored our wishes," he said. "Now people have to pray outside in the rain or snow."
Tatar mosque which is the oldest in Moscow has turned into a new building. But even then still not be able to accommodate the worshipers.
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