Mektebe "Rashida" (maktab) — a Muslim Sunday School at the Rashida Mosque in the village of Medyana (Myadyana) in Krasnooktyabrsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Region, part of the "Medina" Islamic cultural and educational complex [17][14]. In the list of the Region's Islamic educational institutions it is listed as a branch of the Nizhny Novgorod madrasa "Makhinur", which runs all of the Mektebe and summer schools of the region [2][3].
The village, the mosque, and the school attached to it
Medyana is a Tatar village on the slope of a high hill, 15 km south of the district center, Urazovka, 40 km from Sergach, and about 180 km from Nizhny Novgorod. Its entire layout consists of a few streets, and the minarets of the mosque, built at the entrance to the village, are visible from everywhere [15][18].
The school operates inside the "Medina" Muslim religious and educational complex, construction of which began in 1990. In 1992, with the participation of Muslim clergy and representatives of the embassies of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran, the cathedral Mosque, a madrasa, and an administrative and hotel building were opened; a little later the "Ya-Sin" monument went up [14].
The mosque's mihrab is oriented toward Mecca, and its floor plan resembles a five-petaled flower: three petals turn into domes, two into minarets. The ground floor holds the men's prayer hall, while the women's hall runs as a gallery on the second floor; the total area, including service rooms, is 3,500 sq. m. The walls are built of red and white brick, the domes are covered with copper, and the interiors are finished with ganch carving — a high-strength gypsum [16][17].
- The "Rashida" mosque is the main building of the complex; the mektebe operates at the mosque [17]
- a museum of the history of Nizhny Novgorod Tatars beneath the mosque, opened in 2001, is the only museum of the Tatar people in Nizhny Novgorod Region [17][10]
- the "Ya-Sin" monument in front of the staircase to the entrance: an openwork stele 25 m high, on whose six faces a prayer for all who died for the faith has been laser-cut [15]
- a Tatar National Cultural Center, rebuilt from a rural House of Culture [14]
- a state-of-the-art clinic, a rarity for a village [15]
- guest rooms beneath the mosque and models of buildings that were planned but have not yet been built: an Islamic institute, a museum of Islam, a hotel [18][15]
What is taught, and how
The mektebe is a weekend and holiday school: anyone who wishes, children and adults alike, can gain knowledge here, and to study it is enough simply to show up. The school tries to buy notebooks, pens, and colored pencils itself, and a beginner's Arabic textbook is lent out free of charge for the duration of the course [9]. The subjects are the same as in other rural schools of the Region: Quran reading, fiqh (Islamic law), and the history of Islam; to these are added practical lessons on how to perform ablution and namaz [4][9].
Curricula for the mektebe and summer schools are developed by the Mahinur madrasa and regularly revised. A plan specifies not only the subject and topic of each lesson but also the time allotted to it, so that the instructor neither rushes nor falls behind [6][9].
Groups are divided by age and level of knowledge: the main age category is children from 8 to 14, but there are adults as well. Between lessons there are tea breaks, active games, contests, and craft activities, and younger children are given coloring pages on Islamic themes [6][9].
Besides religious subjects, the mektebe covers akhlaq, Islamic ethics, and does so through real-life examples: if children quarrel, the situation is worked through right in the lesson [7]. According to the teachers' observations, the Quran goes fastest: the children pick up the suras and memorize them [7].
How the School Came About
Teaching children at the mosque in Medyan began long before the present school. A 1804 plan of the village shows two separate buildings, a mosque and a mektebe; at the Second Cathedral Mosque, which stood where the Ya-Sin monument now stands, a mektebe operated from 1848. By the beginning of the 20th century Medyan had five cathedral mosques; in 1937 one of them had its minaret removed, and by 1952 all of them had been destroyed [14][18].
The present mektebe is the same age as the new mosque: classes began as soon as the complex opened. In the first years the school operated only during the summer vacation, and the lessons were taught by visiting students of the Moscow Higher Islamic Theological College. Students from the capital still come to Nizhny Novgorod villages three decades later: for the 2026 summer programs, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region separately thanked the leadership of the Moscow Islamic Institute [12].
The school received mektebe status in 2001, the same year a branch of Mahinur opened in Medyan: the Medina madrasa, which became an independent educational institution in 2005 [3]. Since then the Rashida mektebe and the Medina madrasa have been listed side by side in the Region's register of Islamic educational institutions [2].
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1674 | Land along the river is allotted to 29 service Tatars; the village of Medyana is known from this year [14][1] |
| 1848 | A mektebe begins operating at the village's Second Cathedral Mosque [14] |
| early 20th century | Five cathedral mosques operate in Medyana [14][18] |
| 1937—1952 | The minaret is removed from the mosque; by 1952 all of the village's mosques have been destroyed [14][18] |
| 1989 | The Muslim religious association "Medina" is formed under the leadership of Faiz Gilmanov [14] |
| 1990 | Construction of the Medina complex begins, based on a design by the architect Ilyas Tazhiev [14] |
| 1992—1994 | The Rashida Mosque is built: by some accounts it was ceremonially opened in 1992, by others it opened its doors to worshippers in 1994 [14][1][15] |
| 2001 | The Medyana school is registered as a branch of the Makhinur madrasa, becoming the Medina madrasa; a "Ya-Sin" monument is erected in front of the mosque, and a museum of the history of the Nizhny Novgorod Tatars opens beneath the mosque [3][14][17] |
| 2005 | The Medina madrasa becomes an independent educational institution [3] |
| October 2010 | After the bankruptcy of the patron's company, an arbitration court transfers the mosque to the balance sheet of Krasnooktyabrsky District [10] |
| 2019 | A meeting is held in the village on preserving the mosque's status as a spiritual and Tatar cultural center [11] |
| 2024 | New crescents are raised on the dome and the 34-meter minarets; the mosque turns 30 [1] |
School Name
The mosque and school are named after Rashida Gilmanova, the mother of the entrepreneur and philanthropist Faiz Abdrakhmanovich Gilmanov, a native of the village who covered the costs of building the complex [18][14]. He himself was born on the very spot where the mosque now stands: the site was formerly occupied by an old log Maternity Hospital No. 3 [1].
The first sketch was prepared by an architect recommended by Mufti Talgat Tajuddin, and the sketch was approved in Moscow by Mufti Ravil Gaynutdin. Then Ilyas Tazhiev, the author of the memorial mosque on Poklonnaya Hill, brought his own design — and that is how the mosque came to have the shape of a flower [1]. "...after all, a woman is pleased to receive flowers, and I decided to present it in stone," Tazhiev himself explained the idea [16]. According to Gilmanov, construction and finishing dragged on for almost 22 years: the artist Gocha Shoshiashvili spent twenty years decorating the interiors, and around a hundred artists and craftsmen came from Samarkand, Bukhara, and Dushanbe [1][14].
It was in 1989. My mother Rashida called me and said that money was being collected in our native village for the construction of a mosque.
I myself wanted the mosque in Medyan to be a gift to my mother and my fellow villagers. For our children and grandchildren. So that it would radiate joy and light.
A School in a Municipal Building
The mosque, which houses a mektebe, has an unusual fate. For about fifteen years Gilmanov maintained both the mosque and the club and clinic he had donated to the village, but his business fortunes took a turn for the worse. His company was declared bankrupt, the mosque was part of its charter capital, and the court placed the building under attachment. The mosque was twice put up for auction at 600 million rubles — no buyer was found, and the Arbitration Court of Nizhny Novgorod Region transferred it to the local municipality [10].
Since October 2010, the mosque has been on the books of Krasnooktyabrsky District — a rare case for Russia. The patron, however, continued to bear the costs himself: utility payments alone came to 60,000–70,000 rubles a month. In 2011, at the Medyana museum of the Tatar people, Ravil Gaynutdin, Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, presented Gilmanov with a medal "For Merit" [10].
In 2019, a State Duma deputy, the deputy minister of internal regional and national policy, the head of Krasnooktyabrsky District, and the leadership of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region gathered in Medyana: the subject was preserving the Medyana mosque's status as a spiritual and Tatar cultural center. Gayaz Zakirov, chairman of the Administration, reminded those present that the mosque must above all serve its intended purpose — worship [11].
In summer, the school becomes part of a regional network
Medyana is among the villages where summer Islamic schools were already operating in 2005: two months, open to anyone, with a program of Quran reading, fiqh, and the history of Islam, plus cultural and sports-and-recreation components [4].
In 2015, such schools operated in sixteen villages of the Region, including Medyana; instruction lasted from three to seven weeks, and more than 500 people passed through them [5]. By 2022 there were already about a thousand of them — twice as many as seven years earlier; in Medyana, classes began in mid-June [6].
The Rashida mosque itself, meanwhile, is also a travel destination: students of summer schools from other districts come to see it — in 2015, children from Shubino stopped in Medyana after Boldino [7][5].
The mektebe school year ends with a celebration. The Region holds the children's festival "Shakertlyar Bayrame," and Nizhny Novgorod hosts a regional competition of maktab students: in 2019, at the Cathedral Mosque on Kazanskaya Embankment, about a hundred participants gathered from Nizhny Novgorod (the mektebe "Ikhsan" and "Furkan"), Dzerzhinsk (the "Arafat" maktab), Bor, Krasnooktyabrsky District, and the village of Safadzhay in Pilninsky District [8].
Today
The parish of the village is headed by Imam Ramis Ashrafetdinov — he was chosen before construction was even finished and sent to study at a madrasa in Naberezhnye Chelny [1]. The Medyana Mosque remains a place where the region's clergy gather: in June 2023 the annual meeting of imams of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region was held here [19]. In August 2026 the first deputy chairman of the administration delivered a khutbah in Medyana and led the Friday (jumu'ah) prayer [20].
Summer programs now open in almost every Tatar village in the Region; classes are taught by mentors who graduated from the Moscow Islamic Institute, the Russian Islamic Institute, the Mahinur madrasa, the Kazan "Muhammadiyya," and the maktabs affiliated with the spiritual administrations [12]. This network is coordinated by Mahinur — a school opened in 1994 on the initiative of Umar Idrisov [3].
A secular school also endures in Medyana: in 2012 the regional Ministry of Education intended to close it, but after a meeting with the chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region, the closure was abandoned — the school preserves the Tatar language and culture among young people [13].
The complex is open to visitors: the mosque and museum receive guests Monday through Saturday, with Sunday as the day off; admission is free for everyone, not only Muslims; guided tours of the mosque and museum are offered [18][17]. News of the parish and the Region's mektebe is published by the IslamNN website — the information channel of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region [2].
Sources
- dumrf.ru — Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation — report from the 30th anniversary of the Rashida Mosque, memoirs of its creator Faiz Gilmanov (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN, website of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region — list of the region's Islamic educational institutions — Islamic Educational Institutions of Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — background on the Makhinur madrasa, which runs a network of mektebe and summer schools across the region (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — on the summer Islamic schools of 2005: where they operate and what subjects they teach — Summer Islamic Schools 2005 (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — results of the 2015 summer Islamic schools across the region — Report on the Work Done in the Summer Islamic Schools in 2015 (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — on the children's Muslim camps of 2022, the number of pupils, and the age of the groups — Children's Muslim Camps Are Being Held in Villages and Selos of the Nizhny Novgorod Land (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — accounts by teachers of the summer Islamic schools about the daily routine and subjects — Summer Islamic Schools in the Selos of Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — the 2019 regional competition of maktab pupils and the list of participating schools — Annual Regional Competition Among Pupils of the Maktabs (Sunday Schools) of Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — report on the summer Islamic mektebe schools: who teaches and how the day is organized — On the Summer Islamic Mektebe Schools of Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — on the transfer of the mosque to the District's balance sheet and on the award to its builder — The Builder of the Only "State" Mosque in the Russian Federation Was Presented with the Medal of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — 2019 meeting on the status of the Medyana mosque — A Meeting Was Held in the Selo of Medyana in Krasnooktyabrsky District (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — on the summer Islamic sites of 2026 and visiting teachers — Summer Islamic Sites Have Started in Nizhny Novgorod Region Since July (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — on the fate of the rural school in Medyana in 2012 (archive)
- web.archive.org — Medina portal of the selo of Medyana (web archive copy) — history of the mosque and complex, pre-revolutionary mosques and mektebe — History of the Rashida Mosque (archive)
- web.archive.org — Medina portal of the selo of Medyana (web archive copy) — history and description of the selo — History of the Selo of Medyana (archive)
- web.archive.org — Medina portal of the selo of Medyana (web archive copy) — description of the mosque and the architect's account — The Rashida Mosque (archive)
- autotravel-nn.ru — Guide to Nizhny Novgorod Region — the Rashida Mosque and the mektebe attached to it — The Rashida Mosque in Medyana (archive)
- klubok-ok.ru — Klubok guide — the selo of Medyana, the Medina complex, the road, and opening hours — Medina Tatar Spiritual Center in the Selo of Medyana, Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
- dumrf.ru — Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation — meeting of imams of Nizhny Novgorod Region in Medyana, 2023 (archive)
- islamnn.ru — IslamNN — trip of the First Deputy Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region to Medyana, August 2026 — First Deputy Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region Fyanis-khazrat Salakhetdinov Made a Trip to the Selo of Medyana (archive)