Over 5,000 mosques built in Russia during the past decade

Over 5,000 mosques have been built in Russia over the past decade, the chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Ravil Gainutdin, said in Monday.

In his words, there were 154 mosques in Soviet Russia. "After the breakup of the USSR, in the conditions of democratic Russia, we got an opportunity to restore the destroyed mosques and educational establishments for Muslims and build new ones ," he said. Muslim organizations and mosques begin to appear even in those regions where there had never been such organizations and mosques before - in the central and northern regions of the country.

The mufti explained this by the fact that over the past few years, many migrants from former Soviet republics, as well as from Afghanistan and other countries have arrived in Russia.

"We should enlighten and educate our Muslims in the spirit of religious tolerance," he noted. "We give priority to training specialists at home", he stressed. In his words, the Muslims of Russia are sent to foreign centers for advanced training now. "We have good relations with the universities of Egypt, Morocco and Turkey," said the mufti. However, in his words, the citizens of many Arab countries also come to Russia for training.

According to the information provided by the Council of Muftis, up to 20 million Muslims - representatives of over 30 nations and nationalities - live in Russia now.