Islam in Azerbaijan - Radical Islamism

Radical Islamism

There is a certain rise of religious extremism across the Azerbaijan as a result of continued problems such as corruption, poverty, and semi-authoritarian government rule, combined with disillusionment with the West and support of religious sects from different countries. However there's a very limited support for radical Islam in Azerbaijan. 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.

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. He writes, that the Government policies toward Islam in general and Islamic radicalism in particular have been inadequate.

Islamic activism, and radicalism, has geographic variations: while Shias are strong in the South of Azerbaijan, the Sunni radicalism is growing in the North, and the capital is experiencing growth in both Shi’a and Sunni radicalism.

The International Crisis Group has determined, in the executive summary of the findings from its special report on religion in Azerbaijan, that: "Azerbaijan is a secular state with an overwhelmingly moderate (predominantly Shiite) Muslim population. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union and independence in 1991, independent Sunni and Shiite groups have emerged which refuse the spiritual authority of the official clergy. Some are political, but very few, if any, appear intent on employing violence to overthrow the state.

Azerbaijani journalist Rafiq Tağı, critical of Islam, was sentenced to three years in prison in Azerbaijan and later killed in the street by an unknown person after parole in 2011. According to IPWR reporter K. Guluzade, the case of journalist "demonstrates that Islamic sentiment is strong in Azerbaijan and has complicated relations with Azerbaijan’s southern neighbor, the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The Islamic Groups and Forces in Azerbaijan include The Juma Mosque Community, the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan and Jeyshullah.