Dagestani authorities report 20,000-strong nationwide mawlid

Today, the Makhachkala Juma-Mosque has hosted the all-republic's mawlid condemning the caricatures on Prophet Muhammad. The participants have treated the publication of caricatures as a provocation aimed at strengthening anti-Muslim sentiments.

As estimated by Dagestani authorities, the mawlid was attended by 20,000 believers.

The head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov, who initiated the mawlid, told the crowd that "the people who had published the caricatures were ignorant."

Some participants of the mawlid have regarded the event as "a PR campaign held against the background of the recent rally in Chechnya."

According to Makhmud from Buynaksk, the faith "should be in the soul; and there's no need to expose it." "In Chechnya, they held a grand event, which was attended by about a million Muslims. In Dagestan, they decided not to be outdone and also indicate their stand somehow. There's nothing wrong in a mawlid, but there's no need to arrange such PR campaigns," Makhmud told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 19, Grozny hosted a mass action "We love Muhammad" initiated by the Chechen religious leaders. According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the rally was over 800,000 strong, while the local MIA claimed over a million, with the total population of the republic, as of January 1, 2014, making 1,346,000 people. On January 17, two mass rallies were held in Ingushetia.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.