Azernews.Az

By Fiyaz Mughal

OBE FCMI FRSA, Founder and Director – Faith Matters

Building Jewish and Muslim relations has been the driver of my life for nearly two decades now and it has been one of the reasons why Azerbaijan came to the forefront of my work in this area since it is a fascinating mix of co-existence and shared histories and heritages. For example, a recent interview with Vahid Bayramov, (the Permanent Representative of the Azerbaijan-Israel International Association in Baku), threw up further nuggets of the strong and unique nature of Muslim and Jewish relations of Azerbaijan.

When asked about the history of how Jews ended up in Azerbaijan, Vahid stated that the community had arrived in an area called Guba in 1735 and have been resident in Azerbaijan for over a thousand years. It was in 1735 that Huseyn Ali Khan invited them to become resident in the town of Juba. Huseyn Ali Khan’s son, Fatali Khan become the protector of the Jewish community in a cantonment in Guba called Krasnaya Slobda and, interestingly, it has the highest density of members of the Jewish community in the world.

Vahid went onto describe how Muslims, Jews and Christians share in the religious events of one another. At Pesach, Islamic Sheikhs join in events with the Jewish community and at Eid, Jewish communities take part and celebrate with Muslims. The support for each other also goes deeper. Take for example, the leadership shown by President Ilham Aliyev, when he placed State resources into rebuilding the Highland Old Synagogue in Baku that had fallen into disrepair. It now stands as a reconstructed building showing visitors the rich Jewish history of the country.

As a British Muslim tackling anti-Muslim bigotry through social projects in the United Kingdom, one of the charges levelled against Muslim communities is the level of anti-Semitism that is present. One cannot deny that the Middle East and the Israel and Palestine conflict has fuelled anti-Semitism which needs to be tackled, since the recent Gaza crisis led to high levels of anti-Semitism in the UK. It has also, sadly, fuelled anti-Muslim rhetoric which is then picked up by extreme far right groups in the UK which further fuels polarisation on issues.

Yet, in Azerbaijan we have a strong solid example of where a Muslim majority country values, protects and celebrates minority communities such as its Jewish community. This it seems, is only part of the story, since Azerbaijan is quite unique. It has been a staging post for ideas, new populations migrating into the region and religions passing through over time. This has meant that its population has grown to accept such changes. When such a unique environment is linked to a leadership which values the cultural richness of Azerbaijan’s history, then what develops is a country at ease and protective of its Jewish heritage.

Azerbaijan is therefore more than just a country in the Caucasus. It is an example to others of how co-existence can take place in a troubled region of the world. If anything, this is to be celebrated by all who value, advocate for and fight for minority rights.