Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque

The Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque (Russian: Мечеть Ахмата Кадырова, Mechet Akhmata Kadyrova; Chechen: Кадыров Ахьмадан цӀарах дина маьждиг) is located in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. The mosque is one of the largest in Russia[1] and is officially known as "The Heart of Chechnya" (Russian: Сердце Чечни, Serdtse Chechni; Chechen: Нохчийчоьнан дог).[2][1]

Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque
Front view of the Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque
Religion
AffiliationIslam
RiteSunni
Location
LocationGrozny, Chechnya
Geographic coordinates43.3178°N 45.6933°E / 43.3178; 45.6933
Architecture
CompletedOctober 16, 2008
Specifications
Minaret(s)4
Minaret height62-metre (203 ft)

The mosque is named after Akhmad Kadyrov, the first president of the Republic of Chechnya and father to the present day president of the Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. The construction of the mosque was commissioned by the mayor of Konya. The mosque's design includes a set of 62-metre (203 ft)-tall minarets which are based on the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul.

On October 16, 2008, the mosque was officially opened in a ceremony in which Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov appeared and conversed with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The mosque is located on the picturesque bank of the Sunzha River in the middle of a huge park (14 hectares) and is part of an Islamic architectural complex, which in addition to the mosque, consists of the Russian Islamic University, the Kunta-Haji, and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of Chechnya.

The mosque design is based on a classical Ottoman style, hence its design from Istanbul. The central hall of the mosque is covered with a huge dome (diameter - 16 meters, height - 32 m). The height of the four minarets is 62 meters making them one of the highest minarets in southern Russia. The Exterior and interior walls of the mosque are made of marble, travertine, while the interior is decorated in white marble.

The area of the mosque is 5000 square meters and which allows a capacity of more than ten thousand people. The same number of prayers can pray in the mosque adjacent to the summer gallery.

Features
Interiors of Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque

During the construction of the mosque, the latest and modern technologies have been used. The exterior and interior walls are of marble-travertine, and the temple interior is richly decorated with white marble, mined in the Marmara Adasi island in the Sea of Marmara (near Balikesir, Turkey). For patterned painting, synthetic and natural colors with special additives were used to increase the longevity of the colors (for a period of at least 50 years). Gold of the highest quality were deposited to produce the writing patterns displaying verses from the Quran.

There are in total 36 chandeliers. Their forms remind of the three holiest sites of Islam - 27 of them imitating the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Temple Mount compound, 8 are made in the appearance of the Green Dome in Medina's Masjid al-Nabawi and the biggest one measuring 8 meters in length and width, mimicking the Kaaba in Mecca. It took several tons of bronze and 2.5 kg of the highest quality of gold to create the chandeliers containing more than a million pieces and made of selectively designed Chechen ornaments and Swarovski crystals from Turkey.

The prayer niche in the qiblah wall of the mosque is 8 meters high and 4.6 meters wide and made of white marble. The niche creates the illusion of an infinite deepening of intersecting spaces. Calligraphy displaying verses from the Quran are skillfully woven into the overall pattern of the architectural decoration of the mosque. The main dome is inscribed with Surah 112 "al-Ikhlâs": "Say: He is God, the Single, Indivisible - God, the Eternal, Absolute. He begets not nor is He begotten - And there happens to be not a single one equal to Him."

The area of the mosque is 5000 m², height of minarets - 63 meters. The total area of the Islamic Center - 14 acres.

The temple has a high seismic resistance. The adjacent area has multiple fountains and an alley.

Russia 10

In 2013, Russia hosted the "Russia 10" competition, designed by a popular vote to decide what are the ten greatest visual symbols of Russia. After the mosque took second place at the end of the second round of the competition, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov announced that he would withdraw the mosque from participation in the competition. The head of Chechnya was forced to take such a step as the results of the voting, which, in his opinion, did not correspond to the actual number of votes cast. “We have every reason to be sure that the votes cast for the Heart of Chechnya mosque by the millions were not taken into account, despite the fact that the money went to the accounts of the operators MegaFon and Beeline,” Ramzan Kadyrov said. Throughout the entire voting, the Heart of Chechnya Mosque was in the lead among the participants, but on the last day it lost first place to the Kolomna Kremlin. More than 36.8 million votes were cast for the Heart of Chechnya and near to 37.5 million for the Kremlin.

The head of the republic Ramzan Kadyrov, offended by the results of voting on the Internet, announced a boycott of the federal mobile operators "Beeline" and "Megaphone". After that, unknown individuals threw eggs at the offices of these companies in Grozny.

Trivia

In this mosque, ten thousand Muslims can pray at a time. This means that the statement of mosque being the largest in Russia is not true, as e.g. Makhachkala Grand Mosque in Dagestan has space for 15,000 to 17,000 worshipers.[3][4]

In 2015, Gabon issued a commemorative coin with the image of CHF 1,000 mosques and Akhmat Kadyrov .

See also

References
  1. http://www.regnum.ru/news/1071117.html
  2. "В Грозном торжественно открыли мечеть им. Ахмата Кадырова, которую в народе назвали "Сердце Чечни"". 17 October 2008.
  3. "Central Makhachkala Jumah Mosque". Archived from the original on 2014-01-25.
  4. "Makhachkala organizes charity iftars - IslamDag.info". www.islamdag.info.
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