Azerbaijan delivers a key message to the Islamic world — President Aliyev calls for unity

President Ilham Aliyev, speaking at a meeting with participants of an international conference in Baku on September 15, stressed the importance of unity and solidarity in the Muslim world and called for the elimination of conflicts and disagreements. The President emphasized the importance of the Muslim world coming together as a single family and said that forces seeking to undermine Islam can be countered through joint efforts.

What is the main message behind the President’s call for “the Muslim world to unite as one family”?

Commenting on the issue to TodayPress TV, religious scholar and writer Tural Irfan said that, first and foremost, it should be emphasized that the President’s calls fully reflect religious values and embody the fundamental universal principles of Islam and the Holy Quran.

He stressed that the Holy Quran also calls on people to unity, solidarity and togetherness:

“Mr. President has once again highlighted these values and principles through a modern approach and emphasized the importance of Muslim unity. At the same time, by speaking about existing threats, he drew attention to the necessity of such unity.

We know that, particularly in recent times, ideological and political institutions rooted in a Crusader mentality that have emerged in the West and Europe, unfortunately, also demonstrate this in the policies of some states. We see this in cases involving the desecration and burning of the Holy Quran, insults against the Prophet Muhammad, the suppression of Muslims and Islamophobia. At the same time, various forms of aggression carried out against Muslim countries under different pretexts, as well as acts of vandalism against Islam’s historical, cultural and religious heritage, also reflect different manifestations of this approach.”

The expert recalled that during the occupation of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh territories, Western circles with a Crusader mentality tolerated the desecration of religious, moral and cultural monuments. They remained silent in the face of these acts of vandalism. This itself was a manifestation of such a mentality and an aggressive approach toward Islam:

“Undoubtedly, Muslims must stand united in the face of these attacks and uphold the principles contained in the Holy Quran. Naturally, some hostile forces skillfully exploit divisions among different denominations and religious sects within Islam by pursuing a policy of ‘divide and rule’, further deepening these divisions and creating contradictions between them. They sometimes turn sects into extremist or even terrorist organizations and then accuse those countries of supporting terrorism, or use the presence of terrorists there as a pretext to launch attacks, and in some cases even carry out occupations.”

Tural Irfan believes that Muslim unity and Islamic solidarity are essential to preventing such developments and ensuring that such processes are not encouraged:

“The solution to many of the problems existing in the Muslim world also depends precisely on this issue of unity. If there is unity and Muslim solidarity, and if the Islamic world comes together as one family around its highest and sacred values, undoubtedly no hostile force would dare to attack any Muslim country.

From this perspective, the President’s views and messages are highly valuable and significant for the Islamic world. At the same time, I reiterate that these are, in a sense, a renewed reminder of the commandments reflected in the holy scriptures. They are a clear manifestation of the teachings and instructions of the Holy Quran and the Prophet Muhammad. Our religion also commands us to uphold such values and protect human, moral and humanitarian principles.”

He stressed that such unity becomes even more important at a time when aggression is taking place and organized Islamophobia is being directed against the Islamic world:

“One of the positive aspects is that Azerbaijan itself is in a position to lead by example in the Islamic world through its tolerance, national unity, religious solidarity and the effectiveness of the state’s policy toward religion. Today, it is also evident from the messages and statements of our head of state that Azerbaijan has the capacity to contribute to restoring the disrupted unity of the Islamic world and bringing Muslims together,” the expert concluded.

Jala Rovshan