Tatar Muslims Fast 20 Hours a Day
This is according to Rasoul Baqernezhad-Shayan, Iranian Consul General in the Republic, who told IQNA that during the four hours between Iftar (fast breaking time) and Sahar or Suhoor (pre-dawn meal), Tatar Muslims say prayers and read the Quran.
He said Muslims in this republic break their fast with dates, salt or boiled water, adding that they read the Quran's Surah al-Qadr during Iftar.
Baqernezhad-Shayan noted that bread, cheese and fresh herbs are an inseparable part of the Iftar table.
He said Tatar Muslims go to mosques after Iftar and aprt from saying prayers, read one Juz (section) of the Quran every night.
The Iranian consul general further referred to the status of Islam in Tatarstan, saying that the Tatar people embraced Islam in the year 922 A.D. during the reign of Bolgar dynasty.
They got acquainted with Islam after an Iranian, named Ibn al-Fadhlan Baqdadi arrived there to promulgate the religion, he said.
Baqernezhad-Shayan added that every year on June 21, Tatarstan celebrates the anniversary of the arrival of Islam in the republic more than ten centuries ago.
He said the president, prime minister and parliament speaker of Tatarstan as well as head of Russia's Muftiate Council and envoys from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey attend the celebrations in the city of Bolgar, some 250 kilometers south east of the capital, Kazan.
He went on to say that there are some 1500 mosques in the republic, including 52 in the capital city, and said some of the mosques date back to some 200 years ago.
http://www.iqna.ir/fa/News/1425742
