I just found a really interesting Al Jazeera article and video on Muslims in Azerbaijan. The programme is part of a series in which the news station follows Muslims from around the world preparing for Hajj.
An Ancient Land with an Ancient Landmark…
I only found out through this fascinating article that Azerbaijan, the meeting point of Europe and Central Asia was where the Garden of Eden was! Or that Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to embrace Islam in the 7th century…
When Azerbaijan became part of the USSR in 1920, atheism became state policy; many Muslim leaders were exiled or killed and mosques were closed down or destroyed.
But, when it regained independence in 1991, many Azerbaijanis rediscovered their Muslim roots. The result is that today, 95% of Azerbaijanis are Muslims and Islam is experiencing a real revival in the country.
The Road Travelled and the Road Ahead
Since 1991, hundreds of new mosques have been built, old ones have been restored and new religious schools have opened.
The Al Jazeera article speaks to Salamova Samira, a 31-year-old Azerbaijani mother of two. Like 95% of her compatriots, she is a Muslim, but like only 5% of those, she practices her faith and the article finds her preparing to go on the holiest of Muslim pilgrimages: Hajj.
Salamova explains how she began praying when she was 12 and was the only family member to do so, bar her 115-year-old grandma, who read the Qur’an. She explains how it was much more difficult to take Qur’an lessons herself when she was a child in the 80’s in Azerbaijan.
“This was difficult then as many people viewed Islam in a bad light, unlike today.”
The generation of her parents was brought up without really observing their Muslim faith and today’s restoration of Islam in Azerbaijan has fallen to Salamova and her children’s generations.
New Found Light
Salamova’s husband was a Muslim, but she found dedicating herself to prayer and two daughters to be challenging. It was when she divorced after 5 years of marriage that her faith rescued her.
“As the saying goes, when the world knocks you down on your knees, you are in the perfect position to pray,” she told Al-Jazeera.
Despite this, Hajj still seemed like an impossible dream for Samira, who saved hard for years at her job as a housekeeping manager for a hotel. Then a friend of her mother offered to sponsor her to go on this most life changing of pilgrimages.
Hajj: A Dream Come True
For many young Azerbaijanis like Samira, Islam is re-emerging and faith is becoming stronger and more important than ever. While she is both nervous and delighted, Samira sums up what Hajj means to her with an inspiring message.
“After the Hajj, you would expect more of yourself. Before the Hajj, you can make some mistakes, but after the Hajj, you should be more careful in making your decisions. Everyone makes mistakes, commits sin, and lies. After the Hajj, you should not go back to your old ways. It is easy to go to the Hajj, but after that, it is as if you are born again, you become clean and innocent.”