Mosque Invites Stray Cats and Kittens Inside for Warmth and Shelter

Istanbul, Turkey, is well known for its large stray cat population as they roam freely in the city’s streets. Turkey’s winters can get very cold and often times too cold for the little fur baby kitties. Imam Mustafa Efe may be known for leading prayers in his Istanbul-based mosque, but there’s something else the world’s now learning about him: he’s a devoted animal lover.

Imam Efe opened his mosque’s doors to the many stray cats and kittens that roam Istanbul’s streets. He hopes the feline “guests” (as he calls them) can find warmth and safety in his mosque.

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Istanbul, Turkey, is known for its huge stray cat population. These cats roam the city’s streets freely and the cats even randomly nap whenever they feel like it!

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However, the weather over is not always warm, and sometimes it gets way too cold for the little fur baby kitties. Cats can find shade in warm weather but in the brutal cold, cats don’t always fare so well.

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That’s why one mosque opened its doors to anyone seeking warmth and shelter, including stray cats. Imam Mustafa Efe began welcoming the stray cats in the mosque in 2015, and since then, many people in the world are now aware of his generosity and kind heart towards both cats and humans alike.

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Imam Mustafa refers to the cats as “guests” of the mosque, and he sure does make the kitties feel right at home, something every cat (stray or not) deserves. One of the cats even decided to raise her littler of kittens in the mosque.

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The little cat family was spotted in the video below where the mother is seen carrying her kittens, one after the other, into the inside of the mosque then right upstairs to the minbar, which is basically the platform where the imam delivers sermons.

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“The kitty has found the heart of compassion and mercy,” wrote Imam Efe in a Facebook post. The best thing you can offer a stray cat is a little bit of compassion and mercy, and that’s all they’ll ever need in this world. Being all on your own is hard, and this mosque is helping these stay babies find comfort once again. Imam Efe confirmed that the “guests” of his mosque are constantly taken care of and are pretty grateful they have a place they can call home.