Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday opened one of the biggest mosques in Europe.
He quoted the Holy Quran during official opening of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque, according to the Russkaya Sluzhba Novostei (Russian News Service).
“I’m confident that the Cathedral Mosque will help unite the efforts of not solely the Muslims, but also the adherents of other faiths, in the name of good deeds,” Putin stated. “The Koran says: ‘Endeavor to outdo each other in good deeds.’”
“This mosque will become an extremely important spiritual centre for Muslims in Moscow and the whole Russia,” Putin said in a televised speech.
“It will be a source for education, spreading humanist ideas and the true values of Islam.”
The new mosque – built on the site of a smaller one built in 1904 which was demolished in 2011, have capacity for 10,000 worshippers. It is still one of only six mosques in the city.
The Moscow Cathedral Mosque, which is Europe’s largest Muslim place of worship, has reopened in the Moscow after a ten-year restoration.
Putin was joined by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.