The fire at Notre-Dame de Paris caused the «progressive community» to shed rivers of tears, although it turned out that there was no catastrophe. The structure of the building remained virtually intact, the most important relics were preserved, and the French government announced plans for its speedy reconstruction, with the help of both the governments of many countries and private benefactors. The latter have already pledged hundreds of millions of euros for this purpose.
In this context, the participation of some Muslims in the mourning seems rather inadequate, especially when it comes to Russia, where there are many historic mosques in much worse condition than the burnt Notre-Dame de Paris. Colleagues from the Tatar-Muslim project Fikerdәşlek reminded us of some of these mosques, which have been abandoned by the Islamic Ummah of Northern Eurasia, especially the Idel-Ural, where they are located.
For example, this is how the Third Cathedral Mosque of Ufa used to look, with the Khasaniyah madrasa and the Imam’s house. And this is how it looks now, under the threat of demolition. Or the Sixth Cathedral Mosque on Proletnaya Street, 23/1, in Ufa. In Orenburg, the Imam’s House, which is a cultural heritage site, looks like this. In the same city the oldest mosque, built in 1804, is now used as a residential building. Or, for example, the old two-storey wooden mosque built in 1868 in the village of Yanbarisovo in the Yanauylsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan now looks like this.
Therefore, it is certainly encouraging that there are Muslims today, especially in Russia, who are zealous about cultural heritage. However, it would be desirable for them to start taking care of their own mosques. And those who are willing and able to take care of the burnt cathedral in Paris will be found even without their help.