GROZNY, October 6. /TASS/. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Tuesday presented a strand of Prophet Muhammad’s hair to Moscow’s Grand Mosque, which recently reopened after ten-year reconstruction.
Kadyrov handed over a glass reliquary with the hair to Ravil Gainutdin, the head of the Russian Mufti Council, at a ceremony at the Heart of Chechnya mosque in Grozny.
"Moscow is the Russian capital, a home to over two million Muslims and over 40 embassies of Muslim countries," Kadyrov said. "Therefore, the [Moscow] mosque should have the great relic."
The mosque will provide entrance for those willing to see the relic up to late in the evening. According to the Russian Mufti Council press service, up to 2,000 people will be able to come to the mosque on Tuesday.
"This part of our beloved Prophet has been safely delivered," the leader of the Russian Mufti Council, Ravil Gainutdin who was heading the delegation transporting the relic from Chechnya said. "We are so nervous today, as this day is a new era, new history for us," he said, expressing his hope that "the part of Prophet Muhammad will contribute to peace and friendship among peoples."
Islam tradition does not stipulate worshipping so the strand of Prophet Muhammad’s hair is displayed to the general public. The hair is kept in a glass pod placed in specially made reliquary.
Mosques in the cities of Tver, central Russia, and Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, also possess strands of Prophet Muhammad’s hair.