President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, in an interview with Kabar news agency, spoke about the $55 million mosque being built by businessman Abdukadyr Khabibulla.
Abdukadyr Khabibulla is building a five-star hotel on the site of the demolished Naryn restaurant. At the time, Sadyr Japarov announced that the businessman would build a $55 million mosque as a gift to the Kyrgyz people.
According to the president, this will not just be a mosque; it will also have a madrassa.
«Children will live there and receive religious education. At present, Islam includes many branches — around 10–15 are identified, and some of them are destructive. We want to bring order to this. In today’s conditions, religious literacy is an important issue for the state. Previously, young people traveled abroad to obtain religious education, and since no one supervised this process, some of them were led in the wrong direction. Now, until the age of 18, we will educate and guide children ourselves,» Sadyr Japarov said.
He added that graduates of the madrassa will continue their studies at the Islamic Academy in Tokmok.
«We are doing this so that, in the future, the country will have a unified system of religious education. There are about 4,000 mosques in Kyrgyzstan, and we will appoint madrassa and academy graduates to serve as imams there. This is a step toward reducing the influence of false teachings, division, and confrontation in religion. If necessary, the republic will allocate funds for these purposes,» the president noted.
Sadyr Japarov also said that Abdukadyr Khabibulla will develop the hotel as his business project, while the mosque is his gift to the people.
«We must create conditions for investors. If he wanted, he could simply build a hotel and develop his business. But the fact that he is building a mosque for several thousand people, along with the madrassa and dormitory, is his voluntary contribution to society. There is no personal interest here. He will complete the mosque and hand it over to the Kyrgyz side, and has promised to help maintain the facility in the future,» the head of state concluded.
