When we had been in Ölgii (Mongolian Өлгий, Kazakh Өлгей) [1], we were also able to visit the main mosque of Ölgii,. I thought at first that the name Bas Mufti (Chief Mufti) had something to do with the mosque, but it's probably the name of a Muslim brotherhood or umbrella organization of which I haven't been able to find more data. Ölgii itself is the capital of the Bayan Ölgii Aimag (Mongolian Баян-Өлгий аймаг, Kazakh Баян-Өлгей аймағы), which is located in the extreme west of Mongolia and borders to both Russia and China. The city is located at an altitude of 1710 m. It also has an airport and, interestingly, there are not only flights to Ulaanbaatar or Ulaangom, but there are also irregular flights to Almaty in Kazakhstan. This has something to do with the fact that mainly Kazakhs live in this aimag and they are usually Muslims, which is why there are also some mosques there.
There used to be a mosque long ago, but not only Buddhism suffered during the Stalin era, Islam fared just as badly. The mosque was destroyed and the imams killed. During this period, Kazakhs were also forbidden to speak Kazakh. Today, in the Bayan-Olgii aimag, Kazakh is the language for everyday communication and Mongolian is used only for inter-ethnic interactions and official communication.
Besides the main mosque there are four more in Ölgii today. The mosque was built in the 1990ies. Women are also welcome in the mosque but should cover their hair. I met a very devout Muslim in the mosque who wanted to convert me right away. The mosque is blue and has slender minarets [2]. Inside it is stylishly designed.
But it still annoys me a bit that I couldn't find out more about the „Mongolian Muslim Societies Federation „Бас Мүфти“ Шашны Байгууллага“ [3].
Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96lgii_(city) Interestingly, the English Wikipedia article says the Kazakh form of Ölgii is Өлке, but I think the German article correctly states this as Өлгей -
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96lgii, also https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajan-%C3%96lgii-Aimag
[2] https://discover-bayanolgii.com/olgii-city/
[3] Searching on Google with БАС МҮФТИ leads to the Kazakh chief mufti.
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