17:18, 18 March 2015

Buynaksk: mosque-goers initiate ban on selling alcohol

Banner taken from the bar by initiative group of parishioners of the central mosque of Buynaksk, March 7, 2015. Photo: Central mosque of Buynaksk website, http://almasjid.ru/rabota-po-snyatiyu-s-prilavkov-spirtnyx-napitkov-i-zakrytiyu-piv-barov-v-bujnakske/

An initiative group of parishioners of the central mosque of Buynaksk has urged shop and bar owners to stop selling alcohol.

A message about the above group of people was received by the SMS-service of the "Caucasian Knot" on March 13. "In Buynaksk, an initiative group under the leadership of Imam Salman-Haji urges to remove alcoholic beverages from shop shelves and close bars. Several bars are already closed," wrote the author of the message.

Salman Haji, the Deputy Imam of the central mosque of Buynaksk, said that the anti-alcohol agitation is carried out by volunteers from among the mosque-goers.

"This is not a permanent group of people, its membership is changing; therefore, it's difficult to say about the number of initiators. They are mainly young people, but there are older ones as well," Salman Haji told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his story, as a result of this work, four beer bars have been already closed; and several stores have stopped selling alcohol.

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

Author: Aida Magomedova

Source: CK correspondent