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Largest Mosque in Europe Inaugurated in Chechen Republic

The Chechen Republic inaugurates Europe's largest mosque. (SPA)
The Chechen Republic inaugurates Europe's largest mosque. (SPA)
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Largest Mosque in Europe Inaugurated in Chechen Republic

The Chechen Republic inaugurates Europe's largest mosque. (SPA)
The Chechen Republic inaugurates Europe's largest mosque. (SPA)

The largest mosque in Europe was inaugurated in the Chechen Republic on Friday during an event that was attended by numerous representatives of heads of Muslim countries and senior scholars.

Chechen President Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov hailed Saudi Arabia for taking part in the ceremony, saying it reflects the keenness of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on participating in all international religious events.

This stems from the Kingdom’s noble role of serving Islam and Muslims, he added.

He also congratulated Saudi Arabia on its successful organization of the Hajj pilgrimage this year.

The ceremony was attended by Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance Dr. Abdul Latif Al Al-Sheikh, Secretary General of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen and Muslim World League chief Mahammad al-Issa.

Al-Sheikh said the new mosque will become a landmark in Europe and beacon for spreading the correct moderate teachings of Islam.

Othaimeen hoped that all mosques would always be beacons of moderation and platforms to combat extremism and terrorism.

At Kadyrov’s request, Issa delivered the first ever Friday sermon at the mosque.

Dubbed “the pride of Muslims,” the mosque was built in the Islamic architectural style. It is composed of two floors and can accommodate 20,000 worshippers inside the building and 100,000 in its external yard.

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A Set of 1st Editions of Shakespeare's Plays Could Fetch $6 million at Auction

This photo issued by Sotheby's on Wednesday April 23, 2025, shows The First Folio of William Shakespeare, which contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, and is "the most significant publication in the history of English literature". It is one of four folios which are due to go on sale at Sotheby's in London on May 23, where they are expected to fetch between £3.5 million and £4.5 million. (Sotheby's via AP)
This photo issued by Sotheby's on Wednesday April 23, 2025, shows The First Folio of William Shakespeare, which contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, and is "the most significant publication in the history of English literature". It is one of four folios which are due to go on sale at Sotheby's in London on May 23, where they are expected to fetch between £3.5 million and £4.5 million. (Sotheby's via AP)
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A Set of 1st Editions of Shakespeare's Plays Could Fetch $6 million at Auction

This photo issued by Sotheby's on Wednesday April 23, 2025, shows The First Folio of William Shakespeare, which contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, and is "the most significant publication in the history of English literature". It is one of four folios which are due to go on sale at Sotheby's in London on May 23, where they are expected to fetch between £3.5 million and £4.5 million. (Sotheby's via AP)
This photo issued by Sotheby's on Wednesday April 23, 2025, shows The First Folio of William Shakespeare, which contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, and is "the most significant publication in the history of English literature". It is one of four folios which are due to go on sale at Sotheby's in London on May 23, where they are expected to fetch between £3.5 million and £4.5 million. (Sotheby's via AP)

A set of the first four editions of William Shakespeare’s collected works is expected to sell for up to 4.5 million pounds ($6 million) at auction next month.

Sotheby’s auction house announced the sale on Wednesday, Shakespeare's 461st birthday. It said the May 23 sale will be the first time since 1989 that a set of the First, Second, Third and Fourth Folios has been offered at auction as a single lot.

The auction house estimated the sale price at between 3.5 million and 4.5 million pounds.

After Shakespeare’s death in 1616, his plays were collected into a single volume by his friends John Heminges and Henry Condell, actors and shareholders in the playwright’s troupe, the King’s Men, The AP news reported.

The First Folio — fully titled “Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies” — contained 36 plays, of which half were published there for the first time. Without the book, scholars say, plays including “Macbeth,” “The Tempest” and “Twelfth Night” might have been lost. Sotheby’s called the volume “without question the most significant publication in the history of English literature.”

About 750 copies were printed in 1623, of which about 230 are known to survive. All but a few are in museums, universities or libraries. One of the few First Folios in private hands sold for $9.9 million at an auction in 2020.

The First Folio proved successful enough that a an updated edition, the Second Folio, was published in 1632, a third in 1663 and a fourth in 1685.

Although the First Folio is regarded as the most valuable, the third is the rarest, with 182 copies known to survive. It is believed the third book’s rarity is because some of the stock was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

The Third Folio included seven additional plays, but only one – “Pericles, Prince of Tyre” – is believed to be by Shakespeare.