Islam in Azerbaijan

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  • Islam in Azerbaijan
    Islam Percent
    The Bibi-Heybat Mosque in Baku, Azerbaijan

    Shia branch (55-65%), while a significant minority (35-45%) are Sunnis.[5][3][6]
    Traditionally, the differences between these two branches of Islam have not been sharply defined in Azerbaijan.

    Most Shia Muslims in the country follow the Ja'fari school of Shia Islam, while Sunni Muslims typically adhere to either the Hanafi or Shafi'i school.[7] Due to many decades of Soviet atheist policy, religious affiliation in Azerbaijan is often nominal and Muslim identity tends to be based more on culture and ethnicity than on religion. Shia Islam is prevalent in the western, central, and southern regions of the country. Traditionally, villages around Baku and the Lankaran region are considered Shia strongholds. In contrast, Sunni Islam is dominant in the northern regions.[7]

    History

    Islam arrived in Azerbaijan with Arabs in the seventh century, gradually supplanting Christianity and pagan cults.[8]

    In the sixteenth century, the first shah of the

    Safavid Dynasty, Ismail I (r. 1486-1524), established Shi'a Islam as the state religion,[8] although a portion of people remained Sunni. The population of what is nowadays Iran and what is nowadays Azerbaijan were converted to Shia Islam at the same moment in history.[9]

    As elsewhere in the Muslim world, the two branches of Islam came into conflict in Azerbaijan.[8] Enforcement of Shi'a Islam as the state religion brought contention between the Safavid rulers and the ruling Sunnis of the neighboring Ottoman Empire.[8]

    In the nineteenth century, many Sunni Muslims emigrated from Russian-controlled Azerbaijan because of Russia's series of wars with their coreligionists in the Ottoman Empire.[8] Thus, by the late nineteenth century, the Shi'a population was in the majority in Russian Azerbaijan.[8] Antagonism between the Sunnis and the Shi'a diminished in the late nineteenth century as Azerbaijani nationalism began to emphasize a common Turkic heritage and opposition to Iranian religious influences.[8]

    Russian Empire and Soviet Union

    In 1806, Azerbaijan became occupied by the

    Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) and the resulting Treaty of Turkmenchay of 1828. In 1918, Azerbaijan declared independence from Russia and established the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic under its leading Musavat party, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union
    in 1920.

    Before Soviet power was established, about 2,000 mosques were active in Azerbaijan.[8] Most mosques were closed in the 1930s, then some were allowed to reopen during World War II.[8] The Soviet rule promoted an Azerbaijani national consciousness as a substitute for identification with the world Islamic community and Iran.[10][11]

    During World War II, Soviet authorities established the

    tsarist Muslim Ecclesiastical Board.[8] During the tenures of Leonid Brezhnev and Mikhail Gorbachev, Moscow encouraged Muslim religious leaders in Azerbaijan to visit and host foreign Muslim leaders, with the goal of advertising the freedom of religion and superior living conditions reportedly enjoyed by Muslims under Soviet communism.[8]

    During the

    Azerbaijani SSR, there were 17 mosques functioning in the country.[citation needed] In the 1980s only two large and five smaller mosques held services in Baku, and only eleven others were operating in the rest of the country.[8] Supplementing the officially sanctioned mosques were thousands of private houses of prayer and many secret Islamic sects.[8]

    The lone center of conservative Shia Islam, was the town of

    Islamic Party of Azerbaijan
    was founded in this town and its base was centered there.

    There is some evidence of Sufism in Azerbaijan.[12]

    After the Soviet Union

    A Mosque in Baku
    Gobustan, Azerbaijan

    Beginning in the late Gorbachev period, and especially after independence, the number of mosques rose dramatically.

    Qur'ans and religious instructors to the new Muslim states.[8] A Muslim seminary has also been established since 1991.[8]
    The growing number of religious Muslims resulted in the establishment of more than 2,000 mosques by 2014.

    After independence, the laws regarding religion are quite clear. In Article 7 of the constitution, Azerbaijan is declared a secular state. This point is driven home in Article 19 with the statement of the separation of religion and state and the equality of all religions before the law as well as the secular character of the state educational system.

    Religiosity levels

    Azerbaijan has been a

    secular country and is often considered the most secularized Muslim-majority nation.[13]

    A 1998 survey estimated the proportion of ardent believers in Azerbaijan at close to 7 percent, slightly more than the number of declared atheists — almost 4 percent — with the largest numbers falling into the category of those who consider Islam above all as a way of life, without strict observance of prohibitions and requirements, or as a fundamental part of national identity.[14] Another 1998 poll estimated the proportion of ardent believers in Azerbaijan at only 20 percent.[15]

    In a 2010 survey only half of Azerbaijanis answering yes to the question, "Is religion an important part of your daily life?".[16]

    Yet in 2017 Dobroslawa Wiktor-Mach noted an Islamic revival in the country: In 2010, the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC)'s "Caucasus Barometer" found out that for around 25% of the citizens religion was "very important" and for 43% "rather important" but just two years later, in 2012, as per the same organization those who considered it "very important" rose to 33% while those who chose "rather important" rose to 47% (16% selecting "less important", 2% not important and 1% not knowing.)[17]

    Radical Islam

    There is a certain rise of

    religious sects from different countries.[18][19][20][21] However it works against a headwind of traditional secularism. According to Svante Cornell
    :

    Azerbaijan can rightly claim to be among the most progressive and secular Islamic societies. Aside from having been the first Muslim country to have operas, theater plays, and a democratic republic, Azerbaijan today is among the Muslim countries where support for secularism is the highest, and where radical ideologies have met only very limited interest.[13]

    Svante Cornell believes that the radical groups remain weak, but have a potential to grow under the current domestic and international circumstances. To confront this, the Azerbaijani state needs to address the diarchy in terms of supervision of religious structures.[13] He writes, that the Government policies toward Islam in general and Islamic radicalism in particular have been inadequate.[13]

    According to researchers

    Dagestani minorities in the north of Azerbaijan to engage in insurgent activities". The Salafi movement has been "spurred by missionary activities using external funds and the establishment of mosques", and found support from those who the desire a return to more traditionalist values. As authorities have repressed Salafis in the north they have become more radical.[22]

    Citizens of Azerbaijan have joined terrorist organizations in Syria.[23][24]

    In Nardaran, a deadly incident broke out between Azerbaijan security forces and religious Shia residents in which two policemen and four suspected Shia Muslim militants were killed.[25][26][27][28][29][30]

    As a result of this incident, the Azerbaijani parliament passed laws prohibiting people with religious education received abroad to implement Islamic rites and ceremonies in Azerbaijan, as well as to preach in mosques and occupy leading positions in the country; as well as prohibiting the display of religious paraphernalia, flags and slogans, except in places of worship, religious centers and offices.

    Ashura commemorations in public have also been banned.[32] The Azerbaijani government also passed a law to remove the citizenship of Azerbaijani citizens who fight abroad.[33]

    See also

    Further reading

    References

    1. ^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
    2. ^ "Islam and Secularism: the Azerbaijani experience and its reflection in France". PR Web. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
    3. ^ a b "Middle East :: Azerbaijan — The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
    4. ^ "Interactive Data Table: World Muslim Population by Country". Pew Research Center. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
    5. ^ Sources:
    6. ^ Mammadli, Nijat (7 June 2018). "Islam and Youth in Azerbaijan". Baku Research Institute. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. quote:"Also, according to rough estimates, Shiites constitute 60-65% of the Muslim population, and Sunnis – 35-40%."
    7. ^ a b Mammadli, Nijat (7 June 2018). "Islam and Youth in Azerbaijan". Baku Research Institute. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
    8. ^
      OCLC 31709972
      .
    9. . Retrieved 17 December 2014.
    10. . In 1922 Soviet officials and local intellectuals, living in the newly-created republic of Soviet Azerbaijan, in order to reduce the influence of Islam and Iran, as well as to instill a much-needed national identity, introduced a Latin alphabet, similar to the new Latin alphabet created in Turkey for much the same reasons.
    11. ^ Bournoutian, George (2018). Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900-1914. Routledge. pp. xiii–xiv. In 1922, the Soviets, in order to reduce the influence of Islam and Iran as well as to instill a much-needed national identity, replaced the Arabo-Persian script used by the Muslims in the South Caucasus with a Latin alphabet (slightly modified in 1933), similar to the new Latin alphabet created in Turkey for much the same reason.
    12. ^ ALESKEROVA, Nesrin (2007). "SUFISM IN AZERBAIJAN". CA & CC Press. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
    13. ^ a b c d "Svante E. Cornell. The Politicization of Islam in Azerbaijan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
    14. ^ Tadeusz Swietochowski Azerbaijan: The Hidden Faces of Islam. World Policy Journal, Volume XIX, No 3, Fall 2002
    15. ^ Fereydoun Safizadeh, "On Dilemmas of Identity in the Post-Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan," Caucasian Regional Studies, vol.3, no.1 (1998).
    16. ^ Religiosity Highest in World's Poorest Nations August 31, 2010 - data accessed on 22 May 2015
    17. ^ Wiktor-Mach, Dobroslawa (2017). Religious Revival and Secularism in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan. De Gruyter. pp. 92–93.
    18. ^ "Azerbaijani Jews worried over increasing radical Islamists, By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz - 02.15.2006". Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
    19. ^ "BBC NEWS - Europe - Azeri poverty fuels rise of Islam". Retrieved 22 March 2015.
    20. ^ "Home".
    21. ^ Fuller, Liz (8 April 2008). "Azerbaijan: Does Wahhabism Pose A Threat?". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
    22. ^ Souleimanov, Emil; Ehrmann, Maya (Fall 2013). "The Rise of Militant Salafism in Azerbaijan and Its Regional Implications". Middle East Policy Council. XX (3). Retrieved 24 May 2015.
    23. ^ "The Clear Banner: The Forgotten Fighters: Azerbaijani Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq". JIHADOLOGY. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
    24. ^ "GUEST POST: Azerbaijani Foreign Fighters in Syria". JIHADOLOGY. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
    25. ^ "Рамиль Усубов: В связи с событиями в Нардаране арестованы 32 человека – ВИДЕО". 2 December 2015.
    26. ^ "Дороги в Нардаран перекрыты бетонными плитами - [ВИДЕО]". Archived from the original on 2015-12-27. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
    27. ^ "Ситуация в Нардаране остается напряженной". Archived from the original on 2015-12-27. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
    28. ^ "МВД сообщает, что в доме Э.Гасымова обнаружено оружие". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
    29. ^ "Тела убитых в Нардаране выданы родным" [The bodies of those killed in Nardaran were handed over to their relatives]. Кавказский узел [Caucasian Knot] (in Russian). December 5, 2015. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
    30. ^ "RUSSIA TO REDIRECT MASSIVE OIL VOLUMES FROM DRUZHBA TO BALTIC PIPELINE | the Jamestown Foundation". Archived from the original on 2016-02-13. Retrieved 2010-04-05.[tt_news]=44846&cHash=c3ba7363d698036659ab0e10c671aeaf
    31. ^ "В Азербайджане запретят мулл, обучавшихся за границей (Azerbaijan has banned mullahs studying abroad)" (in Russian). Oxu.az. 2 December 2015.
    32. ^ "В Азербайджане запрещают различные представления в дни Ашура (Azerbaijan will forbid various representations in the days of Ashura)" (in Russian). Oxu.az. 2 December 2015.
    33. ^ "Террористов будут лишать азербайджанского гражданства (Terrorists will be deprived Azerbaijani citizenship)" (in Russian). Oxu.az. 2 December 2015.

    Notes

    Further reading

    • Bashirov, Galib (2020). "The Politics of the Hijab in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan". Nationalities Papers. 48 (2): 357–372.
      S2CID 212928375
      .

    External links