Chechnya marks Prophet Mohammed's birthday in a big way

Celebrations in honour of Prophet Mohammed's birthday continue in the Chechen Republic. The main celebratory actions started on February 25 at 6:00 p.m. and lasted all the night long.

A representative of the Spiritual Department of Moslems of Chechnya told in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that clergymen from Algeria, Brunei, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia, Jordan, Cameroon, Lebanon, Palestine and Turkey came to celebrations of Prophet Mohammed's birthday.

Today, the main mosque of the republic - "Heart of Chechnya", capable to house 10,000 believers, and the adjacent square were overcrowded: people took part in the morning pray and religious rites dedicated to the Moslem holiday.

The start of the holiday was announced at dawn by long fireworks in the sky of Grozny and other major cities. The "Crozny" republic's TV Channel, which broadcasts via a satellite show the celebrations live.

Because of huge masses of people, the traffic in the central Grozny was stopped, while public transport and even private taxis carry passengers today all over the territory of Chechnya free-of-charge.

As reported by the press service of the President and the Government of Chechnya, in cities and districts of the republic needy people, orphans and invalids are given foodstuffs, meat and money.

Under Ramzan Kadyrov's order, parents of newborns on February 25 and in the first half of the following day will get 30,000 roubles per family. The newborn boys should be named Muhammad, and girls - Aminat (the name of Prophet Mohammed's mother), Aishat, Khadishat (names of his wives), or Fatima, Rukiyat, Zainab and Umm-Kulsum (names of his daughters). According to the Ministry of Public Health of Chechnya, as of 9 a.m. on February 26, 67 children were born into the republic.

The "Novye Izvestia" writes, with reference to eyewitnesses, that for the first time the Prophet's birthday is marked in such a big way in Chechnya.