Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku International Multiculturalism Centre Azerbaijani Multiculturalism Textbook for Higher Education
Religious Diversity in Azerbaijan
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5.2. Religious Diversity in Azerbaijan
As one of the first places in the world inhabited by man, Azerbaijan is also a place where religious beliefs emerged, including belief in the afterlife. Since ancient times religious ideas and beliefs have been widespread there. The country’s favourable geographical location, mild climate and rich natural resources have been a focus of attention in all periods of history. At different times these factors have played a particular role in attracting numerous ethnic and religious groups to settle in Azerbaijan. A major attraction for people of different nations and religions to Azerbaijan was the culture of the people populating the region, their friendly attitude towards other religions and the tolerance that was their way of life. In ancient times religious rituals and ceremonies played an important role in the lives of the people living in the territory of Azerbaijan. They worshipped fire, water, trees, mountains, the spirits of their ancestors, stars and different natural phenomena. The pictures carved on the rocks of Qobustan are confirmation of the importance of these religious rituals and ceremonies. Although
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millennia have passed, some elements of these beliefs remain in peoples’ memories and can be seen in their way of life.
These examples prove once more that the ideas of paganism among the population of Azerbaijan go back to ancient times and that they followed different beliefs. Moreover, archaeological excavations have revealed big stone idols in Khinisli, Daghkolani and Chiraghli, anthropomorphic figures in Ismayilli and clay statues in Mingachevir. One of the religions to emerge in the 6th century BCE in the historical Azerbaijani territories and spread widely there and also in Iran, India and Central Asia is Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism maintained its status as the state religion for a long time, but began to weaken in the 7th century when Islam began to spread in the region. Zoroastrianism covered a wide area and still has worshippers in India and Iran today. It is one of the contributions made by the Azerbaijani people to the cultural values of the world. Even when Islam was at its most widespread, the fire-worshippers’ temple in Surakhani near Baku continued to function, right up until the 20th century. Today this temple is one of Azerbaijan’s main cultural monuments. The number of Zoroastrians is not so large today. At present there are approximately 130,000 followers of the religion across the world, mainly in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in India. Small groups of Zoroastrians live and worship in such cities as London, New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. A monotheistic religion widespread in Azerbaijan, which has benefited from the cultural richness of the Azerbaijani people, is Judaism. This religion appeared in the 8th century BCE and its main difference from Islam and Christianity is its national character, i.e. only Jews follow it. The history of the arrival of the Jews in Azerbaijan is very old; they often suffered persecution in the countries in which they settled, so they decided to come to Azerbaijan. Judaism is the first religion to have come to Azerbaijan from outside and the first religion with a belief in the afterlife to spread in this country. The Jews living in many countries around the world are not treated equally. But at all times in history in Azerbaijan they have felt themselves to be equal members of a large family, surrounded with the attention and care of the local population, and have lived freely and independently. This attitude has led to the survival to this day of Krasnaya Sloboda (Qirmizi Qasaba or Red Settlement) in the district of Quba as the only place inhabited almost solely by Mountain Jews to this day. One of the hypotheses concerning the origin of the Mountain Jews and their settlements in Azerbaijani territory is that they are descended from the ten Jewish tribes that merged with one another after their capture by Assyrian King Sargon II in 721 BCE. Other hypotheses are that they were formed from the Karaims, Khazars and Tats. According to some researchers, the Mountain Jewish community emerged as a result of several waves of immigration to the Caucasus region of Iranian Jews. The most densely populated settlement of Mountain Jews in the 18th century was in the Quba khanate. For a long time this was the largest Mountain Jewish community. It had three synagogues and was known as ‘the Jerusalem of the Caucasus’. Oghuz District in northern Azerbaijan is another area densely populated by the Mountain Jews. Since the 17th century Jews from the province of Gilan in Southern Azerbaijan have lived there and have integrated with the population of neighbouring Jewish villages. In the second half of the 19th century the development of the oil industry in Absheron turned Baku into the biggest industrial centre in the south of the Russian Empire. At that time Mountain Jews from various regions of Northern Azerbaijan streamed to
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Baku, enriching its ethnic diversity. From the end of the 18th century Mountain Jews lived in the northern districts of Baku and created their own Jewish neighbourhoods there.
In the years of Soviet power the Mountain Jews preserved their religious customs and traditions with great difficulty. After the restoration of the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan a new era began in the life of the ethnic minorities living in the country, including the Mountain Jews. The state protected the rights and freedoms of national and religious minorities and supported the development of their cultures and languages. The religious communities underwent state registration, new synagogues were built and national and religious ceremonies and holidays were freely celebrated. At present six synagogues function in Baku, Quba and Oghuz, while prayer houses of the Jewish religious communities function in Ganja and Sumqayit. A 200-year-old Mountain Jewish synagogue in Krasnaya Sloboda reopened in October 2010 after major renovation. On 27 October that year, on the initiative and with the support of Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the construction of a synagogue began in Baku, funded from the state budget. The synagogue was ceremonially opened on 5 April 2011. The oldest community to come to Northern Azerbaijan after the Mountain Jews was the Georgian Jews. They are members of the Jewish community who lived in Georgian territory and speak the Georgian language. According to some sources the Jews inhabited Kartli and Iberia back in the 7th century BCE; in other words, after the destruction of the First Temple and the capture of many Jews and their exile in Babylon. In 1899 the Russian Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs permitted the Jews to build a synagogue in Baku on condition that they pay 25 roubles as a community tax. The Jews living in Derbent, Quba, Shamakhi, Shaki and Ganja helped to raise funds for the Jewish community in Baku for the construction of the synagogue. Azerbaijani oil barons and philanthropists played a special role in the collection of funds as well. After the restoration of the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan a new stage began in the life of the Georgian Jews, as it did in the life of other Jewish communities. There was a considerable fall in the number of the Jews wanting to emigrate. The Jews began freely to celebrate their national religious holidays and their children studied in the Republic of Azerbaijan as citizens with equal rights with the dominant ethnos of the country. Since 1995, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan has congratulated the Jews every year on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year holiday. Another Jewish community living in Azerbaijan is the European Jews, in other words, the Ashkenazi. Ashkenaz is the name of a Jewish kingdom, which was used later in reference to Jews who moved to Germany in the Middle Ages. According to Jewish tradition, the grandson of Japheth (son of the Prophet Noah) of the legendary Ashkenazi line, lived in Germany and gave this name to that country. Over time this became the name of the Jews living in Germany and also of those living elsewhere in Europe. Many scholars have studied the historical formation of the European Jews and their specific features. Based on linguistic, genetic, anthropological and historical research, the scholars concluded that the Ashkenazi settled in the territory of Poland, or to be more exact, along the upper banks of the Vistula roughly 700 to 800 years ago, as part of the migration flows of various peoples of Jewish origin. The settlement of the European Jews in Northern Azerbaijan dates back to the 19th century. The Second Russo-Iranian war in 1826-28 ended with the signature of the Treaty of Turkmenchay. As a result, tsarist Russia strengthened its position in the Caucasus,
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which increased the migration and settlement of Ashkenazi in Azerbaijan from the second half of the 19th century.
In 1897 approximately 2,500 Jews lived in Baku and the majority of them were European Jews. By 1913 the number had grown to some 10,000. In 1910 a synagogue was built in Baku, as in other areas with Jewish communities, and the synagogue became not only a prayer house, but also an educational centre. At the beginning of the 20th century the European Jews took an active part in political life in the country, creating their own political parties. For example, the Ashkenazi who came to Northern Azerbaijan from the western provinces of the Russian Empire, where the Jews suffered pogroms, formed their own political party Poaley Sion (the Workers of Zion). The party brought together craftsmen, workers, some groups of the intelligentsia and the petty bourgeoisie. During the years of Soviet power the religious community and the synagogue of the European Jews functioned in Baku, but with a limited number of members. In 2002 a magnificent synagogue was built for the Ashkenazi in Baku. At the time this synagogue was one of the largest in Eastern Europe. The Azerbaijani people have taken care of the Jews living among them down the centuries, always treating them kindly and with respect even when anti-Semitism began to rage in the world. Today the Jews in Azerbaijan are far from anti-Semitism and live in an atmosphere of tolerance. The Jews who came to work in Azerbaijan many years ago have already become worthy citizens of the country, and in its turn the Republic of Azerbaijan has turned the country into an eternal motherland for them. Some 16,000 Jews live in Azerbaijan today. They take an active part in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Jewish communities are considered the most active religious organizations in the Republic of Azerbaijan and many of their organizations have received state registration and function freely in the country. The Azerbaijani-Israeli Friendship Centre, the Jewish Agency Sochnut and the Joynt and Vaad L-Hatzolah committees operate to protect and preserve Jewish traditions. There are also religious schools, Jewish cultural centres such as the Yeva (Eve) Women’s Society and other non-governmental organizations. The Hebrew language is taught in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Baku State University. It should be noted that the Ohr Avner Chabad Education Centre for Jewish children in Baku was established by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Ohr Avner International Foundation as part of the project Azerbaijan – Address of Tolerance. On 4 October 2010, the Education Centre was ceremonially opened with the participation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the first vice-president of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva. Christianity is another religion widespread in Azerbaijan. The three main branches of Christianity – Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism – are all present in Azerbaijan. When considering Christianity, it is impossible not to mention the Caucasian Albanian Church and its history. The Albanian Church is one of the ancient apostolic churches not only of the Caucasus, but the entire Christian world. Some of the first Christian communities are thought to have formed on the territory of Caucasian Albania. The 8th century Albanian historian Moisey Kalankatuklu noted in his History of Agvan that Caucasian Albania was the first country to adopt and spread Christianity; its first capital was Qabala, then Partav (present-day Barda), where the first Christian communities were formed. In the 2nd century the first Christian communities emerged there and in the first quarter of the 4th century (313), the Albanian tsar Urnair of the Arshakid dynasty declared Christianity the official religion of the country. Researchers think that the
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Albanian Church, which emerged in Azerbaijan, is one of the first apostolic churches in the entire Christian world.
The Albanian state collapsed in 705 and Arab emirs began to rule the country. The Albanians were subject to ethnic, cultural, ideological and ethno-linguistic assimilation. Those who adopted Islam integrated into the Turkic tribes. Nevertheless, the local Christian churches, which functioned in the 8th to the 13th centuries, attempted to preserve the religion in the country. Albanian church complexes such as Qum (in Qakh District), Khotavang (in Kalbajar District), Ganjasar (Aghdara District) and others functioned in the remote parts of the Lesser Caucasus and the foothills of the Greater Caucasus. After the occupation of the southern Caucasus by the Russian Empire the scope for the Albanian Church to maintain its confessional independence was greatly restricted. The tsarist government made several concessions to the Armenian Catholicos, one of whose demands was the abolition of the autocephalous Albanian Church and its patriarchate and their subordination to the Armenian Church. As a result, in 1836, a special decree of the Russian Holy Synod and rescript (legal decree) of Tsar Nicholas I, the Albanian Christian Church which had its own separate charter and specific rituals, was abolished and all its property, including its archives, was given to the Armenian-Gregorian Church. The Albanian population was gradually exposed to religious and ethnic assimilation. The population of the plains embraced Islam and became Muslim, while the Albanians living in the south-west of the Lesser Caucasus became Armenian under the pressure of the monophysite Armenian Gregorian religion, and those living in the north-west of the Lesser Caucasus became Georgian under the active influence of the dyophysite Georgian Orthodox Church. Nevertheless, not all the Albanians were assimilated. Some Albanians living in Karabakh and Zangazur settled on the left bank of the river Kur. This is an area long inhabited by the Udi, who are considered the descendants of the Albanians and still live in the Oghuz and Qabala districts of Azerbaijan. The Albanian-Udi religious community and churches belonging to them still function today. In the early 19th century, Orthodoxy was spread in Azerbaijan as a result of tsarist Russia’s ‘settlement policy’ in the region. In 1815, the first Orthodox Church was built in Baku. This decision was legally approved by decree of the commander-in-chief of Russian troops in the Caucasus, Gen. Rtishсhev, and funds were collected for the construction of the new church. Since the construction work required a lot of time, the believers needed a temporary place of prayer. An old mosque building near the Maiden Tower, which was being used as a food store at the time, was turned into the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church and a priest, David Ivanov, was invited from Tbilisi to perform religious rituals there. In 1850-58, the church was replaced with a new Saint Nicholas Church, which was built near the Double Gates to the Icheri Shahar (Old City). The old church was unfit for services and remained closed for some time. In 1892, it was renovated and turned into a small church. At that time, churches also functioned at the Bayil naval base and the military barracks in Baku. From the second half of the 19th century the rapid development of the oil industry in Azerbaijan attracted many specialists and labourers from different parts of the Russian Empire. As a result, the Russian Orthodox population increased in Northern Azerbaijan and larger churches were needed. In 1888-98, the Alexander Nevsky Church was built in Baku. This was the largest and grandest Orthodox Church in the south Caucasus in the 19th century. Tsar Alexander III and members of the royal family attended the ceremony to lay the church’s foundation stone.
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After the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan, there was a fall in the number of Russian Orthodox churches and of other places of worship. Religious institutions lost their registration and prayer houses and churches were closed. During the period of militant atheism, particularly in the 1930s, many church buildings were destroyed and thousands of priests and believers suffered repression.
After independence Azerbaijan took important measures to restore freedom of conscience and regulate the activities of religious institutions, creating great opportunities for the independent activity of different confessions. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexy II issued a decree on 28 December 1998, restoring the Eparchy of Baku and the Caspian and appointing a respected clergyman, Alexander Ishein, its bishop. In May 2001 Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II came to Azerbaijan and blessed the Eparchy of Baku and the Caspian. During his visit he was received by the National Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. In September 2005 the Patriarch paid his second visit to Azerbaijan, where President Ilham Aliyev presented him with a state honour, the Shohrat order, for his services to developing friendship between the Russian and Azerbaijani peoples. The Patriarch also honoured Ilham Aliyev with the Saint Sergey Radonezhsky award, one of the highest awards of the Russian Orthodox Church. This all shows how the Russian Orthodox Church is valued and supported by the administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Under a decree of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the name of the Eparchy of Baku and the Caspian was changed to the Eparchy of Baku and Azerbaijan in 2001. The eparchy now has five churches and a prayer house, while an Orthodox cultural and religious centre, built on the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, has been functioning since its opening ceremony on 15 November 2013. Roman Catholicism, another branch of Christianity, began to spread in Azerbaijan in the early 14th century. In 1320 French Friar Jordanus Catalani, also known as Jordan of Severac, visited Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan. Researchers believe that Franciscan Friar Odoric of Pordenone was in Azerbaijan in the same period too. Nevertheless, Catholic communities did not spread in Azerbaijan until the 17th century, when different Roman Catholic orders, such as the Carmelites (established in the 12th century), the Dominicans (established in the 13th century), the Augustinians (established in the 13th century), the Capuchins (established in the 16th century) and the Jesuits (established in the 16th century) founded churches and education centres in Baku, Shamakhi, Ganja, Tabriz, Nakhchivan and other cities. After the occupation of Northern Azerbaijan by the Russian Empire, all the Catholic groups stopped their work. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were an important period in the history of Catholicism in Azerbaijan, because the number of foreigners who were members of the Catholic Church and other western churches increased rapidly in Azerbaijan. This was because of the oil boom in Baku and the exile to the Caucasus of Polish insurgents and other Catholics living in territories that were now part of the Russian Empire. The first Catholic parish was founded in Baku in the 1850s, following the exile of Catholic soldiers to the Caucasus. In the 1880s there were over 1,000 Catholics in Baku. In this period the Baku Parish gained independence. In 1895 the Church of the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate Conception was built and its work was officially confirmed by decree of the tsar in 1900. In addition, the Church of the Holy Cross was built in 1900 in the Baku cemetery. A grander Church of the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate
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Conception was built in the Gothic style in 1912. This church was demolished during the Soviet era in 1931 or 1934, and its priest, Stephan Demiurov, was arrested and then shot for secretly performing religious rites.
After Azerbaijan regained independence, the Catholic community resumed its work in 1992. A group of Catholics wrote to the Vatican, asking for a priest to be sent to perform mass. In 1996-97 Timon Titus Khmeletski, secretary of the Vatican embassy in Tbilisi, visited Baku several times and met the people interested in restoring the community. On 2 April 1999, the Catholic community was officially registered in the Republic of Azerbaijan. On 23 May 2002, the head of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II, paid a visit to Azerbaijan at the invitation of President Heydar Aliyev. This visit had an important impact on the development of relations between the Vatican and the Republic of Azerbaijan. On the instructions of President Heydar Aliyev land was allocated for the construction of a Catholic church. Cardinal Tauran, head of the Vatican delegation that visited the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2004, blessed the land according to the traditions of the Catholic Church. Vatican official Crescenzio Sepe visited Azerbaijan a year later and was received by President Ilham Aliyev. He held meetings with the leaders of other religious communities and blessed the church at a foundation-laying ceremony. Construction of the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was completed in February 2007. In April that year Archbishop Claudio Gujerotti, Apostolic Nuncio of the Catholic Church in the South Caucasus, dedicated the new church and performed the first prayers there. The official opening ceremony took place when Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State of the Vatican, visited the Republic of Azerbaijan in March 2008. President Ilham Aliyev and the first vice-president Mehriban Aliyeva, who is also president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and goodwill ambassador for UNESCO and ISESCO, took part in the ceremony along with the leaders of religious communities in Azerbaijan and representatives of the state and diplomatic corps. The Church has been working with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation since 2009. A memorandum on mutual understanding and cooperation between the two parties gave an impetus to collaboration and the implementation of different joint projects. Protestantism, the third biggest branch of Christianity, spread in Azerbaijan in the first half of the 19th century. German Lutherans began to settle in tsarist Russia, particularly in the south Caucasus, in that period and established the German colonies in Goygol (Helenendorf) and Shamkir (Annenfeld). The Lutheran churches built in these towns are still there today. With the arrival of German industrialists in Azerbaijan new Lutheran churches were built in Gadabay and Baku in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2010 President Ilham Aliyev instructed the renovation of the Lutheran Church of the Saviour, built in Baku in 1899. Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Saviour are able to hold services in the church. Various Protestant communities function in Azerbaijan, including the Evangelical Lutheran Community of the Saviour, the New Life and Word of Life communities. There are also Jehovah’s Witnesses in Azerbaijan. From the 1830s, Russian-speaking communities from the central regions of the Russian Empire began to settle in the south Caucasus. One community was the Molokans, who lived in different parts of Azerbaijan, particularly in Shamakhi, Ismailli, Gadabay, Goygol, Quba, Jalilabad, Lankaran and Masalli. At present official religious communities of Molokans exist in Baku and Sumqayit, as well as in the village of Hilmilli in Qobustan District and the settlement of Ivanovka in Ismayilli District.
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After the independence of Azerbaijan a Baha’i religious community reformed and was officially registered. Moreover, an Indian Krishna religious community formed and today the members of both religious communities live and practise their faith in Azerbaijan.
Another religion that made a deep mark in the history, culture, spiritual and moral life of the Azerbaijanis is Islam. For 14 centuries the history of Azerbaijan has been closely connected with Islam. Despite great difficulties in the Soviet period the Azerbaijanis preserved the values of Islam and protected them as their spiritual heritage. Christianity reached Azerbaijan before Islam, but covered only some parts of its historical territories – namely, Caucasian Albania, while the southern part of Azerbaijan, that is, Atropatena, remained Zoroastrian. Islam, however, spread to all the historical territories where the Azerbaijani Turks lived and has preserved its dominant position for 14 centuries. The spread of Islam among the Turkic peoples, including among the Azerbaijani Turks, was an event of historical importance. As consciousness of religious unity is much stronger than consciousness of national unity Islam laid the foundation of the new Muslim civilization. With the adoption of Islam the Turkic peoples joined a broad and rich civilization, which Islam developed and enriched further. Islam spread to the Caucasus through Azerbaijan. As a logical result, Azerbaijan plays the role of religious centre for all the Muslims of the Caucasus, which is acknowledged by academic and religious circles. Islam began to spread in Azerbaijan from 639. Historians divide the spread of Islam into several stages. The first stage covers the years of conquest from the mid-7th to the early 8th centuries. Isfandiyar ibn Farrukhzad, marzban of Azerbaijan, was defeated in the battles and signed a peace treaty with the Arabs in 639. During that period the Arabs occupied Ardabil, Tabriz, Nakhchivan, Beylagan, Barda, Shirvan, Mugan and Arran, advanced along the shore of the Caspian Sea and captured Derbent. According to historical sources, the majority of the Azerbaijani population adopted Islam in the reign of Ali ibn Abi Talib (656-661). The Islamic forces took many territories peacefully and some by force. The Arabs imposed taxes on the people in the occupied territories, signed peace treaties with them and continued their conquest. They did no harm to those who accepted their terms. They imposed taxes on the representatives of other religions, while war was declared on those who did not adopt Islam and did not want to pay taxes. At the end of that period Islam became the dominant religion in Azerbaijan. In 705 the Albanian state collapsed and the Albanian church lost its independence. The second stage covers the period from the early 8th century until the rule of the Buyids in Iraq and western Iran. During the collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate, a number of independent feudal states emerged in Azerbaijan and refused to obey the Caliphate. The most powerful of them were the Shirvanshahs, Shaddadids, Sajids, Sallarids and Ravvadids. In that period paganism and Zoroastrianism lost their dominance, Judaism preserved its existence and the Albanian church gained independence. But as its sphere of influence weakened, religious rites were performed in the Armenian language. The third stage (935-1055) covers the years of the reign of the Buyids. At this time moderate Shiism spread in different parts of Azerbaijan, including Derbent. The Sunni Hanafi and Shii Imami became the dominant schools of thought. Sufism found many followers and Sufi monuments were created in Azerbaijan. The fourth stage covers the era of the Seljuk Empire (mid-11th century to the mid-13th century). There were conflicts among the Shirvanshah, Shaddadid and Ravvadid states in Azerbaijan in the
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mid-11th century, which weakened their defences against external attack. This was the situation in which the Seljuk Empire was formed and absorbed several countries, including Azerbaijan. In that period Sunnism became predominant, while the Shafi’i school was the leading school of thought and Sufism spread over a large area. The fifth stage is the period of the Mongol conquest (from the first half of the 13th century to the second half of the 15th century). During this period some cities of Azerbaijan, particularly Ganja and Shamkir, were razed to the ground. The Mongols took control of Baku, Tovuz and other cities. After the occupation of Derbent in 1239, all the territories of Azerbaijan were annexed to the Mongol Empire. Sufism spread even further while Hurufism gained predominance in Azerbaijan. Abul Hasan Aliyyul-Ala and the poet Nasimi (died 1417) were the most notable representatives of Hurufism. Seyyid Yahya Shirvani Bakuvi Khalwati (died 1464), the second leader of the Khalwati sect of Sufism, enjoyed considerable popularity. Various Sufi orders, including the Naqshbandi, spread across Azerbaijan and from there to the north Caucasus. The sixth stage covers the reign of the Safavids (1501-1786) and from the 16th century the Ottoman Empire (1281-1924). The Safavids took control of Ardabil, Mugan and Karabakh in the mid-15th century. The high point of the Safavid dynasty coincided with the Mongol conquests. Sufi orders were created in the 13th century in the territories occupied by the Mongols and spread among craftsmen and peasants. One of the orders was created in Ardabil at that time and was connected with Sheikh Safiaddin Ishaq al-Musavi al-Ardabili. The Safaviyya order spread for a short time in Azerbaijan, Iran and other oriental countries. 300
That period witnessed severe clashes between the Safavid and Ottoman empires over the occupation of Azerbaijani territories. When Azerbaijan was occupied by Russia a new stage of relations between state and religion began. During that period religious leaders were repressed and were forbidden to perform religious rites and ceremonies. It is an undeniable fact that tolerance is a specific feature of the Azerbaijani people. It should be noted that Islam played a very important role in the formation of the environment of tolerance and culture in Azerbaijan. In Islam, the traditional religion of the Azerbaijanis, tolerance is highly appreciated as a moral and spiritual value and culture. History confirms that, buoyed by their own beliefs, Muslims have not only shown tolerance towards people of other religions, but have also helped them to build their prayer houses and keep their faiths alive. Azerbaijan mobilized all its resources to ensure that Islamic culture flourished and soon took its place as an outstanding member of this culture. It gave to Islamic culture such poets of genius as Nizami and Fuzuli, the philosopher Bahmanyar, the Sufi thinkers Suhrawardi, Naimi and Nasimi, and the architect Ajami. After regaining independence Azerbaijan created the right conditions for the development of other forms of social consciousness, particularly for the spread of religion, science and philosophy. Great opportunities were created for the work of different religious institutions, new religious communities emerged, mosques were built in the towns and districts of the republic and several holy sites destroyed during the Soviet regime were restored. The Bibi-Heybat Mosque, which was demolished in the 1920s, was reconstructed thanks to the care of Heydar Aliyev, National Leader of Azerbaijan. A building was constructed for the Islamic University near Taza Pir Mosque. Opportunities were created for hundreds of believers to perform pilgrimages to Mecca and
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to other holy sites of Islam. The Koran, the holy book of Islam, was translated into Azerbaijani, and new religious journals and newspapers were published. The Baku Madrasa (higher Muslim school) which functioned in 1989-90 was transformed into the Baku Islamic Institution in 1991, and was renamed the Baku Islamic University in 1994. New madrasas opened in different towns and districts. A Scientific-Religious Council was set up in 1997 with the participation of renowned Islamic scholars and representatives of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus in order to preserve Islamic values and prevent the dissemination of detrimental religious doctrines. Research into Islam and Islamic civilization grew, while international conferences and symposiums were held in many different places. After the return of National Leader Heydar Aliyev to the political administration of Azerbaijan, special care was taken of the clergy and Islamic values as part of broader moral and spiritual values, and attention was paid to relations between Azerbaijan and Muslim countries. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, a worthy successor to the National Leader of the Azerbaijani People Heydar Aliyev, takes care of Islamic values and mosques, and works to reconstruct historical monuments. The Board of Muslims of the Caucasus, the religious centre of Azerbaijani Muslims and its chairman Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazada, play a special role in broadening interreligious dialogue, strengthening tolerance and ensuring peace in the Republic. The Board of Muslims of the Caucasus has close relations with religious organizations in other countries. It holds meetings and conferences at home and abroad in order to ensure mutual understanding among the members of other religious communities functioning in Azerbaijan. 302
The rich Islamic values are seriously protected in Azerbaijan, religious holidays are celebrated at the state level and many forums of international importance are held in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan takes an active part in the cultural and political life of the Muslim world. Yüklə 2,25 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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