Having ascended the throne, Empress Catherine II made religious tolerance her home policy. It applied not only to Catholics and Protestants, who found a patron in her, but also to Muslims. In 1767, she visited Kazan, where she met with representatives of noble Tatar families. They complained that after Kazan Khanate had become part of Russia, many mosques were destroyed, and they were not allowed to build new ones for several centuries. With empress’s permission, the foundation stone was laid for the mosque in Kazan called the First Jameh Mosque.
The funds for its construction were donated by the entire Muslim community. Recorded in the archives are the names of just 62 people from noble families, but there were many more benefactors including from low-income families. In total, Kazan residents collected about 5 thousand rubles. The funds were used to purchase construction materials, and Vasily Kaftyrev was invited as the architect. It was that rare case in the history of Islam, when a mosque was built not by a Muslim, but by an Orthodox Christian, who, on top of that, ventured to deviate from the canons of traditional oriental architecture. The mosque building was designed in the Russian Baroque style that was trendy at the time and more typical of Orthodox churches and municipal buildings.
The mosque that now bears the name of Tatar educator Shigabutdin Mardjani has had a lucky fate. It was not destroyed during the revolution and the First World War, was largely spared the ravages of the Second World War and was not closed down by order of the local town committee of the Communist Party. In Soviet Kazan, it was the only functioning mosque where namaz – the act of prayer – was performed several times a day.
One of such moments is captured on the photograph. In the center there is imam Ismail Mushtari, who was an iconic figure not only in the Kazan community. From 1954 to 1956, he was the leader of Moscow Muslim clergy, imam of the Jameh Mosque, which in several years turned into an Islamic education centre. Ismail Mushtari is considered to be one of the last sheikhs of Kizlyau brotherhood, a branch of Naqshbandi tariqah. He was an ishan, which means that he had the right to teach murids. Regrettably, no records of whether he had any spiritual disciples, and whether any of them had become a sheikh have survived.
It is likely that the Silsilah (the document confirming the spiritual connection between the guide and his students) bearing the names of Ismail Mushtari, his predecessors and followers was safely hidden, as the sheikh was under constant KGB control.
The funds for its construction were donated by the entire Muslim community. Recorded in the archives are the names of just 62 people from noble families, but there were many more benefactors including from low-income families. In total, Kazan residents collected about 5 thousand rubles. The funds were used to purchase construction materials, and Vasily Kaftyrev was invited as the architect. It was that rare case in the history of Islam, when a mosque was built not by a Muslim, but by an Orthodox Christian, who, on top of that, ventured to deviate from the canons of traditional oriental architecture. The mosque building was designed in the Russian Baroque style that was trendy at the time and more typical of Orthodox churches and municipal buildings.
The mosque that now bears the name of Tatar educator Shigabutdin Mardjani has had a lucky fate. It was not destroyed during the revolution and the First World War, was largely spared the ravages of the Second World War and was not closed down by order of the local town committee of the Communist Party. In Soviet Kazan, it was the only functioning mosque where namaz – the act of prayer – was performed several times a day.
One of such moments is captured on the photograph. In the center there is imam Ismail Mushtari, who was an iconic figure not only in the Kazan community. From 1954 to 1956, he was the leader of Moscow Muslim clergy, imam of the Jameh Mosque, which in several years turned into an Islamic education centre. Ismail Mushtari is considered to be one of the last sheikhs of Kizlyau brotherhood, a branch of Naqshbandi tariqah. He was an ishan, which means that he had the right to teach murids. Regrettably, no records of whether he had any spiritual disciples, and whether any of them had become a sheikh have survived.
It is likely that the Silsilah (the document confirming the spiritual connection between the guide and his students) bearing the names of Ismail Mushtari, his predecessors and followers was safely hidden, as the sheikh was under constant KGB control.
