Russian Muslims pray for Palestinians and Iraqis under occupation

By Damir Ahmed, IOL Correspondent

MOSCOW , October 29 (IslamOnline.net) – Muslims in Russia continue celebrating the peaceful days of Ramadan with prayers, opening up new mosques and clearing stereotypes rampant since the school hostage tragedy in September.

A new mosque opened in Benza, eastern Russia , during the Islamic holy month after eight years of construction.

Projects were also launched in Ramadan to meet the needs of the 23 million Muslims dispersed across Russia .

In Kazan , the capital of Tatarstan Republic , the Peace Trade Center was opened to serve hijab-clad Muslims.

“The growing demand for the Islamic code of dress has led us to open the center to reach out to hijab-clad women,” said Salfiya Maqsoudova, one of the project founders.

Traditional dishes typical of the holiest month of Islam, as dates and raisins, could be also found on sale in several Russian cities, including Nijni Novgorod in Central Russia .

Prayers

Living far afield from Muslim countries of the Middle East , Russian Muslims seek to keep up a link with the concerns of other people of the same religion across the world.

They pray for Iraqis and Palestinians, both suffering under the yoke of foreign occupation.

Russian Muslims pray for the restoration of all occupied Palestinian lands, according to the Russian news agency Novosti.

It added that Muslims have launched a fund raising campaign for helping Palestinians, who face almost-daily Israeli aggressions that usually leave heavy death toll and a trail of massive destruction.

The president of Ingushetia Republic , south of Russia , also issued a number of extraordinary decisions, including a ban on wine and smoking in public during Ramadan.

Sharing Iftar

Muslims have also launched a sharing iftar initiative, in which non-Muslims are invited for the meal -- a chance the community leaders hope would help clear stereotypes on Islam and Muslims.

“We seek to highlight the teachings of our religion which call for tolerance with people of other faiths,” said president of Mufti Council of Russia, Ravil Gaynutdin.

A number of internet articles also started surfacing, urging an end to abuses of Muslims.

Russian Muslims have been under increasingly racist and violent attacks that take different forms from raping and body assaults to attacks on mosques, especially in the wake of the bloody end to the Beslan school crisis in September.

On September 16, a Muslim woman was found in a remote area in the eastern city of Asbest raped and tortured to death.

This Ramadan, Russian Muslims are also praying to God to their country from other tragedies such as Beslan.

But they have repeatedly complained about social persecution and official ignorance despite their relatively high number.

Russian leaders said they resent being ignored like that, though there are 23 million Muslims, out of a total population of 144 millions.

Muslim leaders have complained that Russian President Vladimir Putin ignored congratulating the “Russian Mufti Council” on the Ramadan occasion for the second year running.