The Holy month of Ramadan began, and Crimean Muslims are fasting along with the rest of Islamic world. Religious figures from Turkey came to Crimea to spend Ramadan with their brothers and sisters in faith last year, and Turkish businessmen donated for iftar tents where fasting people received free treats, and the needy families were given packs of food.

– Ramadan will be held in completely different realities of course. Latest events influenced public moods greatly. This doesn’t mean we have problems with fasting and performing prayers. Crimean mosques will be open 24/7, and every Imam will be in his place. I think there will be, however, some difficulties with providing the needy people with packs of food and the elderly and ill people with material assistance. Donations for charity stopped coming to our bank accounts as the banking system itself stopped working. And then again, many of our compatriots from abroad came to Crimea on this month so they could spend it here with us.

A large iftar tent was settled in the Kiber-Jami yard (main Mosque of Simferopol – editor’s note) and some other cities and towns over the past years, where everyone in need was fed on a free of charge basis for 30 days.

The new circumstances will probably influence celebrating the Qurban-bairam (feast of sacrification – editor’s note) as well. Crimean Tatars from Turkey, Holland, USA, Canada, Romania, Austria, Germany came to Crimea last year in order to sacrifice sheep on the land of their ancestors. The feast was another great opportunity for strengthening ties between the people and diaspores.

– So you say visitors from Turkey aren’t expected this year?
– We are waiting for 4 teachers to arrive, all the necessary documents were filed. It’s impossible to say, however, whether they come or not. We’ve hosted 5 to 10 theologists from Turkey each year earlier, who helped us increase our knowledge in religion. At the same time, we have 22 teachers permanently living here, and we have problems with prolonging the duration of their staying here.

– As you have difficulties with receiving charity from Turkey, are there any similar proposals from Russia? From Tatarstan, for instance – their delegations became frequent visitors on the peninsula.
– We received none of such proposals from Russia. It’s not the biggest problem, anyway, as the charity may arrive from Russia. It’s wrong, however, to limit the diaspores in their wish to help. Several hundred grocery packs were given away last year so that the poor people could cook themselves some food for iftar. We are deprived of that this year, and there are hundreds of needy people left without this support in the times when prices for food increased dramatically.