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Analysing the current phenomena of alternative religiosities through a post-Soviet lens may be productive in the Azerbaijani context, given the so-called “religious revival” experienced by the countries of the former Soviet Union. This article focuses on three specific groups/areas in Azerbaijan: ekstrasensy and parapsychologists, popular “occulture”, and the Hare Krishna community.
Menevi Saflig Devet and similar associations are among some of the most outspoken religious actors in Azerbaijan and certainly have an impact in the formation and evolution of public opinion. Through the use of various strategies and networks, they have positioned themselves in an increasingly fluid and contested religious space in which a practising population segment can be found.
Rivalry between two religious bodies is blamed for thwarted Haj hopes of hundreds of Azerbaijani Muslims.
This article was first published on 26 January 2005 (CRS No. 271) by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), London. Posted on Religioscope with permission.
Articles published by the IWPR on Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Iraq as well as other topics can be accessed on its website: www.iwpr.net
Amid the widespread violence in the wake of the 15 October presidential elections, police swooped on the Juma Mosque in the capital Baku during Friday prayers on 17 October and tried to arrest the imam Ilgar Ibragimoglu and one of his close colleagues Azer Ramizoglu. The two – both supporters of failed presidential candidate Isa Gambar – are leading members of religious freedom group Devamm, which has long been denied official registration, and the Islam-Ittihad Society, whose registration was stripped from it by a Baku court in August.
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Forum 18 News Service (F18News, Oslo, Norway) is a Christian initiative which is independent of any one church or religious group. Its independence is safeguarded by a board whose members are Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic Christians. F18News is objective, presenting news in a deliberately calm and balanced fashion, and presenting all sides of a situation. The overriding editorial objective of F18News is to as accurately as possible present the truth of a situation, both implicitly and explicitly.
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In Azerbaijan, government hostility to the idea of religious freedom appears to derive from officials’ fear of social forces they cannot control and dislike of pluralism. The main victims are Muslims, whose faith is regarded as a potential challenge and whose communities face government interference and control, and minority faiths the government tries to restrict.
© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved.
Forum 18 News Service (F18News, Oslo, Norway) is a Christian initiative which is independent of any one church or religious group. Its independence is safeguarded by a board whose members are Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic Christians. F18News is objective, presenting news in a deliberately calm and balanced fashion, and presenting all sides of a situation. The overriding editorial objective of F18News is to as accurately as possible present the truth of a situation, both implicitly and explicitly.
Website: http://www.forum18.org/index.php
The head of the “expertise” department of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations has told Keston News Service that his department checks between 20 and 30 religious books, magazines and tapes every week before authorising their publication or import. Keston News Service – 26 September 2002 – Jeyhun Mamedov revealed that the five officials […]
Lately, debates at government level regarding the introduction of a special discipline on religious issues in secondary schools’ curriculum have become noticeable in Azerbaijan. Discussions on this theme gained salience with the new educational year approaching. Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst – 28 August 2002 – The teaching of basic religious matters in the secondary schools of the […]
This article was first published in the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, a journal published by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI). The Institute is an independent research and policy institution, affiliated to the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University. It was inaugurated in 1996 as the first institute in Washington, DC, devoted to the study and analysis of the Central Asian, the Caspian Basin and the Caucasus.
The Azerbaijani government, apparently concerned over religious extremism and corruption, is cracking down on the country’s main Muslim organisation. When the government set up a special body to deal with religious groups last year, its founders said it had limited ambitions. But over the last few months, the new office, State Committee for Relations with […]
Gulnara Mamedzade is a correspondent with Echo newspaper in Baku.
This article was first published on 12 April 2002 (CRS No. 124) by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), London. Posted on Religioscope with permission.
Articles published by the IWPR on Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Balkans, the Caucasus as well as other topics can be accessed on its website:
http://www.iwpr.net
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