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Azerbaijan’s top cleric says there is no general headscarf ban
Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, head of the Caucasus Muslims Board, said Azerbaijan’s school uniform rule does not mention the hijab and that the headscarf is not banned in the country, criticizing those he said were politicizing the issue.
Allahshukur Pashazade, chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board and Azerbaijan’s top Muslim cleric, weighed in on the dispute over headscarf-wearing students being turned away from schools under a new uniform rule. “In Azerbaijan, religion is separate from the state, and the school is separate from religion,” he told Real TV.
“We cannot say anything against the state’s decisions, but we can speak as citizens. The hijab is an important matter commanded by God. Scholars know at what age it should be worn. The hijab is not mentioned in the school uniform rules, and the hijab is not banned in Azerbaijan,” he said, adding that the decision refers only to “school clothing.”
“Making noise in schools is not right”
Pashazade said some forces at home and abroad were trying to spread claims that Muslims in Azerbaijan are being mistreated, using school uniforms as a political issue to turn people against the state, which he called unacceptable. People with complaints should take them to ministers, he said, “but making noise in schools and keeping children from their lessons is not the right step.”
Azerbaijan’s Cabinet amended school uniform rules on Sept. 21, barring clothing that violates the uniform’s integrity and the principle of secularism without naming the headscarf. The policy drew criticism in Türkiye, prompting a sharp response from Azerbaijan’s ruling New Azerbaijan Party to a senior Turkish presidential adviser and ruling-party lawmakers.
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