20:58, 27 November 2007

Arrests of Wahhabites continue in Azerbaijan

In the evening on November 25, employees of the Babek Police Unit of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic in Azerbaijan detained Tavakkyul Aliev and Gaim Dzhafaroglu in the Nekhram settlement.

It has become known to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from the sources close to the detainees' relatives that the reason of Aliev's and Dzhafaroglu's arrest was in their long beards and belonging to Wahhabism. So far, the police make no comments on the arrest of the above persons.

We note here that the pressure on Wahhabites in Azerbaijan has amplified after the failed attempt of terror acts against western embassies in Baku that had been planned by some members of radical organizations.

For reference: The ideology of Wahhabism was elaborated by Muhammad Ibn-Abd-Al-Wahhab (1703-1791), who professed clarification of Islam from later layers and innovations and return to its initial essence. In the area of dogmatics and law, Wahhabism is the development of the views of Ibn Taimiyi (1263-1328), who had sharply condemned any innovations and stood up for restoration of the norms of early Islam.

Author: Zaur Rasulzade, CK correspondent