Universiade participants conduct the Friday salah

 

A few foreign delegations at the Games expressed a wish to see the sights of the Kazan kremlin and conduct a prayer service.  It should be noted that this was the first Friday salah conducted during the Summer Student Games in Kazan.  The visitors included about 50 athletes and officials from the national teams of Malaysia, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as numerous representatives of Russia’s Muslim community.  At the entrance to the mosque, which has a capacity to contain up to 1500 persons, the guests were welcomed by the main advisor of the Directorate on interaction with religious confessions of the President’s staff of the Republic of Tatarstan Nurislam Gilmutdinov.  "We are happy to greet the guests and the participants of the Universiade.  This is doubtlessly an important and symbolic event for us.  We are ready to offer maximal assistance to the believers who wish to fulfill their spiritual needs.”

The beginning of the salah was announced by the call of the imam, which could be heard far beyond the confines of the kremlin.  Afterwards the attendees passed into the prayer hall, where they listed to a sermon and read prayers.  At their completion each of the foreign guests was solemnly given the Muslim holy book, the Quran, printed in the distinctive Tatar script Tatar-basmasy.

 

For most of the foreign delegations this was the first visit to the Kazan kremlin and their first chance to see the Kulsharif Mosque, newly constructed in 2005 to commemorate the millennium of the city.  The senior trainer of the Turkmenistan boxing team, Sabir Kseykhanov, shared his impressions: “I have been to Kazan in Soviet times, and since then it has changed a great deal.  The boys and I enjoy it here very much.  It is the first time I see the renovated kremlin and the mosque – it is very beautiful and festive.  But the main reason we are here is the Friday salah, which has special significance during Ramadan."

According to the strict norms of Islam, missing one of the six daily prayers during the holy month of Ramadan is considered unacceptable.  However, in connection with the staging of the Universiade, the head mufti of Tatarstan Kamil khazrat Samigullin permitted the Muslim athletes to make up for the missed prayers at another time, when they should be free from sports competitions.

 

We remind, that for the believers’ convenience the Main International Center building in the Universiade Village houses a Religious Center, which includes prayer-rooms for the adherents of the six most widespread religions of the world: Islam, Orthodoxy, Judaism, Buddhism, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.  Each of the four halls of the Center is equipped in accordance with the religious canons of each represented confession.