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May 17, 2013

President Ilham Aliyev attends the opening of the Shamakhy Juma Mosque

Opening of the Shamakhy Juma Mosque basically repaired and reconstructed following the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation took place, May 17.


President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening of the Mosque.


The ceremony was attended by muftis of the Caucasian Muslims, ambassadors of Islamic countries to Azerbaijan, members of the general public and religious persons.


President Ilham Aliyev met with the guests.


Acquainting himself with the Juma Mosque, the Head of State was informed of the restoration and reconstruction works carried out here.


It was informed that major repair and reconstruction works carried out at the Shamakhy Juma Mosque within the project “Address of Tolerance: Azerbaijan”  of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation started in March 2010. Required finance has been allocated by orders of the President of Azerbaijan issued in December 2009 and February 2013. President Ilham Aliyev and Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva had repeatedly visited the Mosque and made themselves familiar with restoration and reconstruction works being carried out there.


Along with restoration works, major improvement works have been carried out at the Shamakhy Juma Mosque State Historical and Architectural monument, by ancient cells being restored. With about one hectare of total area, the Mosque has been as much as possible returned to its initial view. The madrasah, cells and graves discovered in the Mosque’s yard during the excavation works carried out here while performing repair works during the 70s and 80s of the last century have been kept intact. The previous view of the Mosque and traditions of the Shirvan architecture school were paid maximum attention during the restoration and reconstruction works. Due to Shamakhy being located in a seismic zone, the Mosque’s foundation has been basically strengthened using reinforced concrete.


With minarets 36.4 metres high, the entry, middle large and right and left  domes have been delicately restored. The domes have been decorated with ornaments in an old architectural style.  The middle hall has been rebuilt in a national style. 1500 people may pray here at a time.


Major improvement works have been done to the Mosque’s yard, two basins built and 6 galleries created. The two-storied administrative building occupies 804 square metres of area. A conference hall and other subsidiary rooms have been created at the Mosque. The 520-sq.m. domestic building accommodates 250-person ceremony hall and a kitchen provided with state-of-the-art equipment. A rich library created here has been given for the devout’s use. The President viewed the photo stands reflecting the Mosque’s view after the 1902 earthquake, before and after the repair, as well as the reconstruction works.


The ceremony devoted to the opening of the Shamakhy Juma Mosque started with reading ayahs from Qur’an.


The Head of State addressed the ceremony.


Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Department Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazadeh, Mufti of the Russian Federation’s Garachay-Cherkez Republic, chairman of the North Caucasus Muslims Coordination Council Ismail Berdiyev, Mufti of the   Russian Federation’s Chechen Republic Sultan Mirzayev and the respected elderly of the district delivered a speech at the ceremony.


Then President Ilham Aliyev talked at a tea table with the guests participating at the inauguration of the Shamakhy Juma Mosque.


After the inauguration, a holiday namaz was performed.


At the end of the ceremony, ehsan (commemorative feast) was given at the ceremonies hall of the Shamakhy Juma Mosque.


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Being one of the oldest Muslim praying-houses in the territory of Azerbaijan and in the South Caucasus and Near East in general, the Shamakhy Juma Mosque was built in 743, during Khalifa Khalid ibn Valiahd in honour of his brother Muslum ibn Valiahd’s arrival in Azerbaijan. According to some sources, Khazar’s Khagan, who had been defeated by the Caliphate, accepted Islam in this Mosque.  A devastating earthquake, which occurred in Shamakhy, one of the biggest provinces of the Caucasus, in 1859 razed the city to the ground, therefore  the centre of the province was moved to Baku. Qasym bey Hajibababeyov, of a Shamakhy descent,  was entrusted with restoration of the Mosque after the earthquake. During the following earthquake in 1902, the Mosque was not destroyed. Thereafter, a decision was taken to perform restoration of the Mosque on the previous foundation. Restoration works were first performed by architect Ziverbey Ahmadbeyov, then Polish architect and engineer Josef Ploshko. The restoration works performed based on Ploshko’s little different and original design was not completed. Even in its incomplete form the Mosque could preserve its greatness.


During the March killings committed by Armenian armed forces in 1918, a genocide act was committed also in Shamakhy. The biggest killings were committed in the Juma Mosque. Seeing people finding shelter in the Mosque as God’s home, Armenians killed about 1700 people here. Not used for the designed purpose during the Soviet period for known reasons, the Mosque had faced the peril of being destroyed. In 1980, this historical monument was repaired following the initiative and by instruction of national leader Heydar Aliyev, who had approached development of Azerbaijan in all spheres, including preservation of national and moral values, with great attention and care.


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