Azerbaijan's Method of Dealing with Islamists

Muslims can be a lot tougher on Islamists than are Westerners. Recall Khudayr Taher's advice as summed up by MEMRI as "Europe and America Should Deport All Muslims – Including Myself." Another example comes from Azerbaijan, where the government has taken very firm steps to prevent the radicalizing of mosques, something gingerly if at all resisted in the West. Tom Esslemont reports for the BBC:

The Akhli Sunni Mosque in the city of Ganca is firmly shut. There are paper seals on the large wooden doors, preventing anyone from entering. It has been that way ever since it was closed by the authorities in September. The closure came soon after Azerbaijan's parliament passed its Law on Religious Freedom in May this year, banning anyone who received their education abroad from leading religious worship. The government has also insisted that all religious groups must re-register. …

The US state department says it is aware of three separate mosque closures in Azerbaijan. In its International Religious Freedom Report 2009, it noted that there was "some deterioration in the status of respect for religious freedom by the [Azerbaijani] government... There were changes to the constitution that undermined religious freedom." … In adopting the new law on religion, the Azerbaijani government says it has had to react to the growing threat of Wahhabism - a strict form of Sunni Islam.

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