Before Friday prayers, Moscow security forces cordoned off the historic mosque on Bolshaya Tatarskaya Street. This is reported by the telegram channel «Caution, Moscow» and the correspondent of Msk1.ru.
Around the perimeter of the territory adjacent to the mosque, paddy wagons, light police cars and many riot policemen appeared. Metal detectors were installed at the entrance to the religious building.
The security forces were pulled to the mosque after reports of a possible Muslim protest in response to July police raids on houses of worship in Kotelniki, Odintsovo and Dzerzhinsky. Believers in the capital were outraged that the riot police officers, according to their co-religionists, used physical force and insulted them. In addition, the contents of a fire extinguisher were sprayed in the mosque in Kotelniki. On July 12, Muslims near Moscow recorded an appeal to Vladimir Putin, in which they said that the raids had taken place «by order of dubious people» and «threaten international peace.»
At a sermon today at a historic mosque in Moscow, its imam said over a loudspeaker that «there is no point in this [protests against the actions of the security forces].» After the prayer, according to the correspondent of Msk1.ru, the believers headed towards the subway and chanted «Takbir! Allahu akbar!» Some of the parishioners even helped the police remove the fences.
At the end of April, before Eid al-Fitr, some Muslim telegram channels called on believers to chant “takbir” in mosques after prayer in protest “against Islamophobia in Russia.” Since then, such calls have been heard before every Friday prayer.