RELIGIOUS SITUATION IN AZERBAIJAN IN 2018 ANNUAL ANALYTICAL REVIEW Arif Yunusov A brief historical background Almost 97 per cent of the 10 million Azerbaijan population consists of Muslims, most of whom are Shiites. The rest of the population is mainly Christians (predominantly Orthodox), also Jews, representatives of other confessions (Baha'i, Hare Krishnas, etc.), and atheists. According to the State Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic on Work with Religious Organizations (SCWRO), on January 1, 2019, there are officially registered 909 religious communities that functioning in Azerbaijan, 877 of which are Islamic, and 32 represent other confessions, including 21 Christian, 8 Jewish, 2 Baha’i, and 1 Krishnaite. Also, today in Azerbaijan there are 2,250 mosques, 136 of which are located in Baku. In addition, there are 14 churches and 7 synagogues in the country, as well as 748 sanctuaries and places of worship.1 (For further details, please see - Statistics of the religious situation in Azerbaijan). Religious diversity was traditionally a visiting card of the country. However, that age-old confessional diversity in the past has often sparked many conflicts and social upheavals. However, a seventy-year Soviet period was crucial for the development of modern religious processes in Azerbaijan. Mass repressions led to the fact that majority of theologians and clergymen were largely exterminated, and the survivors became part of executive power system of atheist communists. As a result, in 1991, Azerbaijan declared its independence and formally became an Islamic country. A that time believers were not exceeding one percent of the population. Although the majority of the population considered themselves Muslims by birth; they did not have any real perception of religion and basic principles of faith, did not attend or pray in mosques, did not observe the necessary rites and ceremonies. Approximately the same situation was in respect of other confessions of Azerbaijan. The process of re-Islamization and the country religious landscape has been changing since the Independence period. The number of Muslim believers has rapidly increased. A decade after the Independence they accounted approximately ten percent of Azerbaijan population. Nevertheless, nowadays, the number of Muslim believers or practitioners has increased to about 20-22 percent of the total population. In other words, over the last 20 years of the Independence in Azerbaijan the number of those who began to attend mosques and observe all necessary rites has increased twenty fold.2 Majority of them is a younger generation. At the same time, the number of 1See: 2,250 Mosques Functioning in Azerbaijan. - http://www.contact.az/ext/news/2018/1/free/Social/en/68165.htm 2 For details, see: Arif Yunusov. The Islamic Factor in Azerbaijan. – Baku, 2013, p.26. atheists, or those who considered themselves as such, has been sharply decreased. In fact, today, atheists in Azerbaijan are in the position of believers in Soviet times. Drastic changes have also occurred within the Islamic community. Nowadays the range of religious diversity is much wider. Various Sufi communities liquidated during the Soviet era resumed their activities in the republic. At the same time, new Islamic trends began to emerge, among which Salafi and the movement of Turkish Nurchu or Gulen play a prominent role. There have been also major changes in the Shiite community of Azerbaijan. In early 1990s of the XX century the Shiite community did not find support in society, then at the beginning of the XXI century the situation has undergone considerable metamorphoses and a kind of Shiite Renaissance process emerged in Azerbaijan. This is largely due to the emergence in the country of well-educated new spiritual authorities group. Thus, in just two decades of the Independence in Azerbaijan a number of deeply religious people and strengthening the role of Islam in society had spread to such a degree that they became an integral part of the population identity and turned into a serious political aspect in the republic. Since 1993 the Aliyev family has been governing the country; first, the former Communist party leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev who was the President, and since 2003 his son Ilham Aliyev took up this post. The days of atheism propaganda are finally in the past. On the contrary, now religion was perceived as part of the people cultural heritage in association with its moral and ethical values. Within the framework of this policy, it has been allowed to restore old and build new mosques, some religious dates has been revived, respect for clergy has been declared, it has been paid attention to Islamic symbolism (oath on the Koran, pilgrimage, etc.). At the same time, the authorities were exercising increasingly strict control and regulation over religious activities through administrative methods. Accordingly, the government extremely negatively perceived any unauthorized activity in the religious sphere and planned to punish such offenders more severely. In the second part of 1990s the authorities took over the control of the Board of Muslim of Caucasus (BMC) activities headed by the Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade. In 1996-1997 the amendments were made to the Law on Religious Freedom. According to the new amendments, all organizational matters in Muslim religious communities are now subject to the BMC, and no longer regulated by Muslim communities that are the centres of traditional confessions. On June 21, 2001, there was the Presidential Decree of the Azerbaijan Republic, №512 “About approval of the Regulations on the State committee” (SCWRO). According to the Decree the State Committee was engaged in management in the religious sector: to control, register (previously it was responsibilities of Ministry of Justice) and make adjustment concerning the decisions on disallowed religious communities and organizations activities, etc. Thus, at present time, the main role in exercising control over religious structures in Azerbaijan is currently entrusted to two structures, the SCWRO and the BMC. So, the first one pursues this policy officially, as a state structure, and its main task is to register religious communities loyal to the authorities and prohibit the activities of disloyal ones. However, the religious sphere is very thin and at the same time complex; the authorities realized that without the religious structures and organizations assistance it would be extremely difficult to achieve their goal. That is why it was decided to pay more attention to the BMC and enhance its role in society. On May 8, 2009, the country's parliament adopted amendments and additions to the Law “On Religious Freedom”. The Law requires mandatory state registration in compliance with complex specifications; the community religious activities are limited within the registered address; the content, publication, import, export, distribution and sale of religious literature are limited; the religious education and clergy training are to be approved by the State. There are administrative sanctions imposed on violators of the Law”. In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) informed that this law provides the authorities with “unlimited discretionary powers” to define and prosecute “illegal” religious activities. This was followed by new amendments to the law, particularly strict ones in 2011, and 2015. These amendments sharply tightened the already ongoing very strict control over the activities of religious communities. As a result, the registration process was reformed and became very complex, which is essentially created obstacles on the way of independent religious communities (for further details, see - Analysis of laws). THE STATE AND BELIEVERS IN 2018 Strengthen the role of SCWRO In 2018 the authorities made a decision to further strengthen the role of the State body to control the religious situation on the country. On January 16, the SCWRO along with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the State Security Service adopted and signed a special interdepartmental “Action Plan to combat religious extremism”. Thereon in coordination with the law enforcement bodies, the SCWRO further tightened its policy towards religious communities that have not been registered and engaged in illegal activities.3 A month later, on February 15, 2018, it was published the Presidential Decree “On Amendments to the Regulations on the State Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Work with Religious Organizations”. According to the Decree, the SCWRO is allowed to send citizens to religious educational institutions in order to receive religious education providing permission to exchange students and teachers as well as religious leaders and specialists in religious educational institutions. 3Combat Religious Extremism with Joint Efforts. - http://www.contact.az/ext/news/2018/1/free/Social/en/68329.htm Besides, based on the appeal of the BМC, the State Committee provides permission for citizens of Azerbaijan who have received religious education abroad to conduct religious rites and ceremonies.4 In accordance with the Presidential Decree of April 23, the SCWRO Chairman Mubariz Qurbanly was among the 16 officials of the Cabinet of Ministers.5 Promoting the status of the SCWRO and strengthening its role in the religious country life allowed him to increase his staff. On May 2, it was decided to hire 38 new employees to the existing 86 by the end of the year. No any other state structure of Azerbaijan was seeking or hiring so many candidates for positions. At the same time, the SCWRO assumed financial control over the activities of Islamic clerics in mosques. On May 1, 2018, it was announced that henceforth Islamic clerics would receive salaries as state employees: imams of mosques operating in the country would get over 400 manats (210 euros), and their deputies — over 300 manats (158 euros). The funds will be credited to the bank accounts of 1,060 religious leaders of the country, of which about 200 in the Nakhchivan AR.6 Changes in legislation In the period of the year 2018, the authorities remained faithful to the traditional practice of making further changes to the legislation.