Mosque, Security, and Radicalization: A Moscow Perspective

Yes, there is a new mosque, and hundreds of cameras watch over it. Nearly ten years ago, Abdul Karim, a Moscow resident from a Central Asian former Soviet republic, saw little reason to celebrate the recent unveiling of Moscow’s Cathedral Mosque, just steps from Prospekt Mira metro station in the north of the city. The colossal building spans 19,000 square meters, has 16 entrances, and can house up to 10,000 worshippers inside. It was opened with great fanfare by President Vladimir Putin about four weeks earlier, yet many in a city that unofficial estimates up to two million Muslims might live there still viewed it as insufficient. He thought aloud that it would not prevent the daily injustices faced by Muslims, and he waited for the imam to call the Isha prayer, the final prayer of the day.