Sunni-Shia Issue in Azerbaijan

摘要

Being constitutionally recognized as a secular country, due to its Muslim majority Azerbaijan is known as a Muslim country in the world. Most of the Muslim population belongs to Shia sect, which is a minor part of Muslims all over the world and this peculiarity differentiates Azerbaijan from other Islam dominated countries. The issue of division of Islam shows itself, not that distinctly, but somehow in Azerbaijan too. Considering the geographic position of Azerbaijan that is one of the crucial factors being lucrative for the foreign actors to some extent led to an imbalance between the Sunni-Shia sects. Since the analysis of Sunni-Shia controversies, the history and spread of Islam in Azerbaijan are being studied by a number of researches, this article will not be focused on the same issues. The reason why Azerbaijan does not witness Sunni-Shia controversies comparing with other Islamic countries has always been a topic of discussion and this article aims to shed a light on some aspects of this question. However, the fact that the recent developments in rivalry between sects due to internal and foreign influences makes us concern about its nature to cause hazardous situation in all spheres of life.