“There is a question of installation, since the dome was installed directly with a crane. Now that a round platform has appeared near the mosque, it will be difficult for the crane to approach, ”Mufti of Bashkortostan Ainur Birgalin told BUSINESS Online today about the problems that builders will face when the dome of one of the Ar-Rahim minarets, after repair, will have to be returned to place. The 16-year-old main long-term construction of Ufa became the site of an emergency the day before, there were no casualties just because the facility is “at the stage of temporary conservation” and there were no people on the spot. About the incident, which still did not react to Radiy Khabirov, who is on a visit to Iran, – in the material “BUSINESS Online”.
“He was welded in very poor quality and without reinforcement”
Last night in the capital of Bashkortostan there was a high-profile incident, miraculously without human casualties. The Republican Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations published footage from the scene of the incident at about 6 pm Moscow time. “There was information that the dome fell from the minaret of the Ar-Rahim mosque under construction,” the ministry said. The employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations who arrived at the scene found that no one was injured, and “the integrity of the building was not violated.” Damaged scaffolding on an area of 70 square meters. m, the cause of the incident is being established, the department added. The authors attached an emoticon with wide eyes and a reddened face to the publication in the telegram channel of the department, either from surprise, or from shame.
A little earlier, footage appeared on social networks in which the wind blows the gilded minaret of the mosque. The structure falls and breaks the scaffolding. The pictures from the Ministry of Emergency Situations show that the minaret is seriously damaged. It will be restored within a few weeks, the chairman of the council for state-confessional relations under the head of Bashkortostan, Azat Fattakhov, promised soon. He explained that the structure fell due to strong winds, and the object itself was “at the stage of temporary conservation.” “The issue of transporting the damaged element to the manufacturing plant is being resolved, where, after studying, a decision will be made to repair or manufacture a new fragment,” Fattakhov added. According to the newspaper, the dome has already been removed from the scene.
A slightly different version of what happened was presented by the chairman of the Spiritual Muslim Board of Bashkortostan, Ainur Birgalin. The commission, which works in the mosque, after the initial inspection, found out that the fastening system was weak, “poorly welded”. “The dome itself was made of fiberglass, and it is relatively light,” the mufti of the Republic of Belarus told BUSINESS Online today. – It was assembled inside into metal squares (metal frame), which descended along the extension of the dome, perpendicularly attached to a round platform, and it, in turn, to the second platform already in the minaret. This metal frame was attached to the first platform by welding. But it was welded in very poor quality and without reinforcement. This was the reason for the breaking of the dome of the minaret and its fall. At the moment, the structure was taken away for restoration. But the question of installation arises, since the dome was installed directly with a crane. Now that a round platform has appeared near the mosque, it will be difficult for the crane to approach.”
According to Birgalin, the restoration of the dome weighing 3.2 tons will be carried out by Grant LLC, where this design was made at one time. Aleksey Donets, a company representative, told the newspaper that he did not yet have such information: “We are located 1,200 kilometers away. Or did you think we were supposed to arrive at night and take us somewhere quickly by air?”
In general, during the repair it is planned to strengthen the remaining three minarets, which are intact, added the Mufti of the Republic of Belarus.
“This is a sign from the Almighty”
The local Ministry of Emergency Situations has not yet reported anything about the causes of the incident. The prosecutor’s office of Bashkortostan also did not comment on the incident. The Iman-Bashkortostan Charitable Foundation, which is raising funds for the construction of the mosque, also did not give any prompt comment on the situation.
But, what is most interesting, there was no reaction from the active user of social networks, the head of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov, who is on a working visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Instead of commenting on the incident in Ufa, he preferred to tell on his telegram channel that the volume of investments in the economy of Bashkortostan by the end of 2022 is growing at a rate exceeding the Russian average.
Meanwhile, residents of the republic are actively discussing what happened online. The most popular comment under the video of Mufti Birgalin from the scene of the emergency is: “This is a sign from the Almighty. Build this mosque already. And now with a good test. It’s a shame for the republic, what year one mosque can’t be completed”.
“Shaimiev is hailed as the man who saved Russia, but Rakhimov did it!”
Recall that the history of the main long-term construction of Ufa, which has become a symbol of the failures of Bashkortostan in the last fifteen years, began in 2007, when the construction of a new cathedral mosque began at the intersection of Salavat Yulaev Avenue and Communist Street. The first stone in the foundation of its foundation was laid in honor of the 450th anniversary of the republic’s entry into Russia. The project of the religious building was created by the design institute “Bashkirgrazhdanproekt”, the developer was “Altyn-Kurai”. It was assumed that budget funds would not be spent on the construction, only donations from individuals and legal entities.
However, already in 2009, construction was suspended due to the theft of part of the donations and resumed already in 2013 at the initiative of the Ural Foundation, which was headed by Murtaza Rakhimov, who had left the post of President of the Republic of Belarus at that time. However, his disagreements with the then head of the republic, Rustem Khamitov, did not allow the construction to unfold. Already at the end of 2022, the current leader of the Republic of Belarus Khabirov, who had previously promised to complete the construction of the mosque, said that another 2–4 billion rubles were needed to complete the work, but the authorities would not have such money in the coming years.
“Everyone would need a mosque if a suitcase with money suddenly fell from the sky”
BUSINESS Online experts evaluate yesterday’s incident in Ufa and reflect on the reasons why Ar-Rahim remains the main unfinished building in the republic.
“Everyone would need it (the mosque – ed. note) if a suitcase with money suddenly fell from the sky,” political strategist Andrey Potylitsyn told our correspondent. – That’s the problem. Khabirov, for example, would be happy if she was completed and he would stop being stalked about for her. Because in 2018 he loudly announced that the mosque would be completed. When he came in 2018, he immediately said: “I will complete everything, don’t even hesitate!” Now he says: “There is no money.” And, of course, reproaches fly to him. This is the political component.
A mosque will always come in handy for believers, especially such a beautiful and large one. That is, passive believers. No one is going to chip in for the completion of construction, but you can pray. Also interested. And, of course, there is the spiritual administration of the Republic of Belarus and also purely commercial interests – builders who would also not mind completing something if the suitcase with money falls. ”
But there is no money, states the interlocutor of “BUSINESS Online”. “The state does not have the right to finish this construction, they now have other problems in bulk – the NWO will not finance itself. And so on. The Spiritual Administration of Muslims does not have such money. The Umma, the community of believers, is also unable to generate 4-5 billion rubles,” Potylitsyn is sure.
At the same time, there is a way out of the situation – federal money, but this does not suit the republican authorities. “There is a certain fund for financing Islamic projects (apparently, we are talking about a fund for supporting Islamic culture, science and education, through which the Russian authorities finance many Muslim projects – ed.), which is formed from the capital of Suleiman Kerimov,” continues Potylitsyn. – It’s a federal fund. It is so very kosher, in the sense that it is blessed by the federal authorities, personally by Vladimir Putin, and this money is moderated by Mr. Gainutdin, the Supreme Mufti of Russia. On behalf of Suleiman Kerimov and for the glory of Allah. But the local Bashkir authorities are afraid of the appearance of Suleiman Kerimov’s money here, in the region. Because they reasonably believe that the arrival of this money on behalf of the fund and Gaynutdin will entail a request for a certain influence in the region.”
“I think that this will in no way affect the authorities of the region politically,” says Elza Maulimshina, head of the Bashkir branch of the VOOPIIK. – But legally, for builders – yes. Because the check found that the fasteners of the minarets were made by the builders just the same with a defect. About the resonance of this event. How to say… We naturally discuss all this behind the scenes. The people are discussing. Both chats and social networks. The unfinished mosque stood for several years…”