Religion

Religion

State Committee chairman: There has been no conflict between Shiites and Sunnis in Azerbaijanâ€™s history to date

23 October 2014 12:19 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Mubariz Aslanov – APA. Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations Mubariz Gurbanli has offered some advice to imams and akhunds, APA reports.

In his speech during the event on the month of Muharram held at the Caucasian Muslims Board, Mr. Gurbanli said that discords among different sects are inadmissible in this month, and akhunds and imams should pay attention to this matter.

He mentioned that Azerbaijan will never allow radical trends to spread. “You, imams and akhunds, are supposed to fight against their ideological base. Ironically, along with Shiites and Sunnis, some other currents of unknown origins have emerged and they even don’t know whom they serve. They memorize verses, twist their meaning, and try to make people follow them. However, they will be prevented”, he said.

The chairman of the committee said forces that do not want Islam to spread are trying to prevent the spread of the true essence of the religion by various means. “Today, Muslims are accused of every bloody incident around the world. 60 percent of the conflicts around the world occur in Muslim countries. Some forces want to destroy Islam by creating radical groups and new currents in Islamic countries. They are against both Shiism and Sunnism and Islam in the whole", Mr. Gurbanli said.

M. Gurbanli also said religious figures should oppose such kind of radicalism in Azerbaijan: “We should shed blood only for our occupied lands.”

He said the two main denominations emerged in Islam after the death of Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Him) and small sects came into existence far later: “Unfortunately, Muslims do not demonstrate tolerance towards each other in many of Islamic countries.”

He noted that some people tried to create conflict between Sunnis and Shiites in Azerbaijan at the beginning of the past century as well. However it was prevented thanked to wise leaders of the denominations: “We shouldn’t quarrel with history, but learn from history. There has been no conflict between Shiites and Sunnis in the history of Azerbaijan to date. "

Touching upon the beginning of the month of Muharram and the celebration of Ashura, the chairman said that the Islamic world disliked persons taking up arms against the grandson of the Prophet of Islam (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Him), Imam Hussain: “Those persons, for example Muawiyah, are out of the values of Islam, but the Karbala martyrs are. We should remember the Karabakh war in Azerbaijan and our martyrs while commemorating the martyrdom in Karbala. Religious figures should no way turn emotional when speaking about the month of Muharram and Ashura for relying on emotions is unacceptable in Islam.”