Press Release
Azerbaijan’s Hijab Ban Demonstrates that the Secular System Is the Enemy of Islam

Widespread protests have broken out in Azerbaijan against the government’s enforcement of its Hijab ban in schools which has prevented Hijab-wearing students and teachers from attending classes. Videos circulating online show pupils hugging their teachers and crying as they are turned away from schools. Many students boycotted classes in protest of these restrictions, demanding that their hijab-wearing classmates be allowed to return to their studies. On the 12th October, according to the Interior Ministry, 37 people involved in these protests were detained in Baku alone, while activists reported more than 200 detentions. Amongst those arrested is Shahizyar Huseynova, a mother, who was detained after protesting outside a school in Baku after her daughter was refused access. According to her husband, she has been detained for four months and the charges against her have not been provided. Ilkin Huseynov, an activist who launched a free online platform connecting volunteer teachers with children excluded from school, including for wearing the Hijab, went missing on 14th October, believed to have been detained by the regime.

In September this year, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 309 which amended the Description of Uniforms for Students of State General Education Institutions, which bars clothing in schools which contradict the secular principle of general education, in line with the secular basis of the state. On October 9th, the Baku City Education Department announced that it would begin monitoring the compliance of public schools with this secular dress code.

O Muslims! Is it not blatantly clear that the secular belief and system does not represent our beliefs? Rather, it has repeatedly shown its enmity towards our Deen, fundamentally contradicts the principles and laws of Islam, and has no right to govern our Muslim lands. It is a system which hounds girls and women out of their schools and jobs for dressing in obedience to the Command of their Rabb, and imprisons Muslims for defending their Deen. It is a system that allows all kinds of vices in society, including alcohol and illicit relationships but outlaws that which is righteous and honourable such as adorning the Hijab. It is a system which believes human beings, with their weak and fickle minds, have more right to dictate the laws for people, than the Creator of humankind, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. It is a system that states that religion should have no place in schools, work places, or public institutions, while Allah (swt) has revealed a Deen whose laws shape every aspect of life – political, economic, judicial, social, and in education – such that there can be no separate between religion and state:

[وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِّكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَى لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ]

“And We have sent down to you the Book [the Qur’an] as an exposition of everything, a guidance, a mercy, and glad tidings for the Muslims.” [An-Nahl: 89]

The secular system fails to guarantee even the basic rights of Muslim women and girls, rather it denies them an education, employment and even free movement if they adhere to their Islamic dress. This is evident in countries such as in France, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Azerbaijan and other secular states that have implemented Hijab and Niqab bans. How can an ideology or system that robs people of their God-given rights, treats them like second-class citizens due to their religious beliefs, and discards its own principles and freedoms for the political interests of those who rule, ever be described as modern, civilized and progressive? Rather, this serves as proof of the extremism of secularism!

Surely, it is the Islamic system which reflects and represents the beliefs of the people of Azerbaijan, 96% of whom are Muslim, and it is the system that will protect their Deen, promote their obedience to Allah (swt) and support them in fulfilling all their Islamic obligations. It is surely this system alone that deserves to rule this land and all our Muslim lands! So, we call the Muslims of Azerbaijan to reject this oppressive secular system and regime which blights their lives and to give their support for the establishment of the Islamic leadership, system and rule under the Khilafah (Caliphate) based upon the method of the Prophethood which will be the guardian of their Deen.

Women’s Section
in the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir