On 23 May the Azerbaijani Government introduced the unexpected and shocking ban on using amplifiers to broadcast the Arabic call to prayer, a distinctive trademark of Muslim countries around the world. However after strong national dissatisfaction the ban was called “misunderstanding” and was abolished after the meeting of the Caucasus Muslim Administrator with the President I.Aliyev. (31-May-07)

Written by Shahla Ismailova/HRH Baku on the basis of materials from AFP

Officials say that the ban was necessary because the loud calls to prayer were disturbing residents, especially in the capital Baku, but the critics are decrying the move as a violation of religious rights and refer to the experience in other countries, including the Christian countries which enjoy the freedom of tolling of bells in churches.

Ilgar-Ibrahimoglu-2Ilgar Ibhrahimoglu (on the right), the director of the non-governmental Center for Protection of Religious Freedom, said the ban infringed on believers’ rights “This is absurd and this ban is a throwback to the atheistic-Bolshevik attitudes toward religion of the Soviet Era. I don’t know of anywhere in the world where there is such a ban on reciting the call to prayer, neither in Europe or the US, let alone in other Muslim countries. Azerbaijan’s secular government has struggled with how to deal with the country’s Islamic revival.”