AZERBAIJANI ISLAMIC STRUCTURE'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BAKU 001067

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/CARC


E.O. 12958: DECL: 0824/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KISL KCOR AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJANI ISLAMIC STRUCTURE'S
LAGGING LGITIMACY
POSES RISKS

REF: A. BAKU 00096

B. BAKU 00581

C. BAKU 00748

Classified By: Ambassador Anne Derse for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: The Caucasus Muslim Board (CMB) -- the
official GOAJ establishment for administering Islam -- is a
legacy from the Czarist and Soviet approach to religion, and
is responsible for the education and placement of imams
throughout Azerbaijan. The CMB -- and its leader, Sheikh
Allahshukur Pashazade -- appear to enjoy little support from
religious Azerbaijanis, who view the Sheikh and his fellow
CMB imams as corrupt and poorly educated. While Sheikh
Pashazade cultivates an image as protector of Azerbaijan,s
tradition of religious tolerance and works effectively with
his counterparts from the Christian and Jewish communities,
his rent-seeking activities, such as skimming money from
donations at pilgrimage sites, the hajj, and clerical
appointments are quickly reducing his credibility with
religiously observant Muslims. The CMB's lagging legitimacy
is opening up a religious vacuum for alternative sources of
religious authority, which could create problems for the GOAJ
over the next decade, if radical, external actors fill the
void. End Summary.

Caucasus Muslim Board: Historical Inheritance
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2. (C) The Caucasus Muslim Board (CMB) is a legacy from the
Russian Czarist and Soviet approach to Islamic practice in
Azerbaijan. Both political systems created religious
departments within their respective governments as tools to
control Islam. These institutions served as gatekeepers for
appointing official clerics, regulating Islamic education,
and shaping the overall character of Islamic practice to
ensure it supported Moscow. The GOAJ has almost entirely
retained this structural approach toward Islam.


3. (C) The structure represented by the CMB increasingly
appears outmoded against the slow but steady resurgence of
Islamic practice in Azerbaijan. While most Azerbaijanis
still have a limited understanding of Islamic theology, a
gradual change is occurring, particularly among Azerbaijanis
under the age of thirty-five. Azerbaijanis' gradually rising
interest in learning more about Islamic theology and practice
is a key dynamic that is unraveling the GOAJ's anachronistic
approach toward Islam as represented by the CMB.

The Caucasus Muslim Board as Gatekeeper
--------------


4. (C) The Baku-based CMB administrative headquarters are
located next to the Blue Mosque, although the CMB hopes to
move to the grounds of the Teze Pir (New Holy Place) Mosque.
(NOTE: The two mosques are the largest Shia mosques in Baku.
The Teze Pir takes up an entire block in one of Baku's
oldest neighborhoods.) We estimate the CMB has several dozen
employees. During a recent visit, clearly armed
thuggish-looking young men were congregating in an office
near the Sheikh's. While they were likely bodyguards, the
open display of weapons detracts from the sense of
religiosity of the area. All mosques must receive CMB
approval before they can be officially registered with the
State Committee on Work with Religious Affairs (SCWRA).
(NOTE: The SCWRA was established in 2001. Rafiq Aliyev, the
first chairman of the SCWRA, had acrimonious relations with
the Sheikh and the CMB. Since the July 2006 appointment of
new SCWRA leader Hidayat Orjuvov, however, relations between
the two bodies have warmed considerably. Local contacts
report the Sheikh and Orujov have reached a modus vivendi on
the respective responsibilities for the two institutions,
with the Sheikh taking the lead on Islamic issues. Per ref
A, Orujov publicly deferred to the Sheikh during a December
2006 lunch hosted by the Ambassador.) The CMB also organizes
Azerbaijanis, participation in the hajj and other religious
pilgrimages.


5. (C) The CMB is the gatekeeper for controlling official
clerics and official mosques. The CMB oversees the education
and placement of all state-appointed imams (known locally as
akhunds) and other Islamic teachers to mosques and madrassas.
The CMB administers the Baku Islamic University and its
extension branches, which are the official pathway for