Over 240,000 people celebrate Eid al-Fitr in mosques in and around Moscow

On July 17, the celebration of Eid al-Fitr in Moscow was attended by over 160,000 people; and by over 80,000 believers – in the Moscow Region. The number of participants of the festive sermon in the capital has decreased in comparison with the previous year, while the figure has gone up in the Moscow Region, the Council of Muftis of Russia reports.

As noted by Gulnur Gazieva, the head of the press service of the Council of Muftis of Russia, after praying believers began to disperse peacefully. The streets were clean. Everything went without provocations.

The RIA "Novosti" reports, with reference to the press service of the Chief Department for Moscow of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), that about 4000 policemen, internal troops servicemen, and volunteers were engaged for securing the safety of events.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that on July 17 Moscow saw large concentrations of Muslims in the areas adjacent to the mosques. The largest number of believers could be seen near the Cathedral and Historic Mosques.

The ethnic composition of Muslims was various: at the sermon one could see nationals of the republics of Central Asia, visitors from Northern Caucasus and countries of Southern Caucasus. Natives of Africa could be also noticed.

Among Muslims, one could hear calls to demonstrate restraint and regret about the imminent end of the month of Ramadan.

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