The fame of the Orthodox churches and monasteries of Nizhny Novgorod has long gone beyond the city and even the country. Every year they are visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists, and historians and scientists continue to study the ancient monuments of sacred architecture of this region. Meanwhile, the Nizhny Novgorod region also houses more than 60 Muslim shrines, and the number of followers of Islam is growing every day.

The modern building of the mosque named after Mufti Of Abdulwahid Soleimani and the original Tatar Tauba Mosque are crowned by the main Muslim abode of the region, the Nizhny Novgorod Cathedral Mosque. The grand opening of the luxurious Mohammedan red brick mosque took place in 1915, and since then Nizhny Novgorod has been filled not only with the ringing of church bells but also the adhan from the mosque minaret, calling the faithful to prayer.

Although, after 18 years, the mosque started housing a military hospital and later, a warehouse, it was not forgotten by the locals. They spent years asking to return the sacred place to them. So in 1988, the national government finally returned it to the Muslim community of Nizhny Novgorod. At the same time, an elementary religious school, maktab, was opened at the mosque. In 2003, it was named Ihsan (meaning "charitable deed" in Islam). The Cathedral Mosque got its appearance in the Ottoman style with such elements of Russian architecture as carved battlements on the walls thanks to the famous architect Pavel Dombrovsky, who built about 100 churches in Russia. Like all mosques, it has two entrances, for men and women, and despite its light and elegant appearance, it can accommodate more than 5,000 believers. There is a women's prayer hall on the first floor, and on the second floor, there is a men's hall, where the imam reads sermons. Another smaller room is located on the balcony of the third floor. It offers a marvelous view of the central city Sennaya Square.