As a Way to Rekindle

         The Qol Sherif Mosque is located in Kazan, the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia and was reputed to be -at the time of its construction- the largest mosque in Russia and in Europe -outside of Istanbul-. It was built in the Volga Bulgarian architectural style, with elements of early Renaissance and Ottoman architecture. Although the present mosque was completed in 1996, it was based on the design of the original mosque built in 16th century by Qol Sherif -its namesake-, who was a religious leader that served there and died with his numerous students while defending Kazan from Russian forces in 1552. The original mosque was destroyed in 1552 during the storm of Kazan by Ivan The Terrible and a was decided to get rebuilt as a way to rekindle Kazan identity. The new complex includes a library, publishing house and an office of the Imam -an Islamic leader of a mosque or community who leads the prayers during praying-. It can accommodate 6.000 worshipers and nowadays the mosque predominantly serves as a museum of Islam however during the major Muslim celebrations thousands of people gather here to pray and practice their religion. 

Azan:

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