Collective namazes on occasion of Eid al-Adha held in mosques of Southern Russia

Holiday namazes (prayers) on the first day of the Sacrifice Holiday in mosques of Southern Russia were supposed to be held in compliance with sanitary security measures, but not all believers in Dagestan, Chechnya and the Stavropol Territory came there in medical masks and observed the social distance.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Muftiate of Adygea and the Krasnodar Territory cancelled collective prayers in mosques because of the pandemic. In Chechnya and the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), it was recommended to observe the social distance and use masks during collective prayers.

The video of the collective prayer posted on the Instagram by the Dagestani Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM, or Muftiate) shows that at the entrance to the mosque everyone had his hands treated; and inside the mosque, Muslims sat at some distance from each other, not all of those who came were wearing medical masks.

"Unfortunately, this year the pandemic has made changes in the usual life; and Muslims around the world were temporarily unable to perform the Hajj. But this is no reason for despair," said Mukhammad-Hadji Rakhimov, the head of the SAM of the Stavropol Territory, as the Muftiate's website reports.

Due to the coronavirus, this year's pilgrimage to the Muslim shrines in Saudi Arabia took place without pilgrims from other countries, including those from Northern Caucasus.