Qom — A prominent Shia cleric has strongly condemned the Azerbaijani government’s ongoing restrictions and confrontations against Islamic beliefs, religious ordinances, and the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).
Speaking at the outset of his advanced jurisprudence class, Ayatollah Javad Marvi, the Second Secretary of the Supreme Council of Seminaries and a professor at the Qom Seminary, issued a stark warning to Azerbaijani officials. He advised them to reflect on the historical failures of the region’s past regimes, specifically pointing to the 70-year era of communist rule.
“Why do the officials of this country not learn from the 70 years of atheist rule and their inability to separate the people from Islam and the school of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS)?” asked Ayatollah Marvi, who is also a member of the Society of Seminary Teachers.
He recalled the extensive efforts made during the Soviet Union era, noting that the communist regime engaged in relentless propaganda and even went as far as executing religious scholars to sever the people’s ties with Islam and Imam Husayn (AS). Despite these brutal measures, Ayatollah Marvi noted that the Soviet regime completely failed in its mission—a fact that has even surprised Orientalists in their historical reports.
Addressing the current political climate in Azerbaijan, the senior cleric pinpointed the ideological drivers behind Baku’s anti-religious policies. He asserted that the root cause of the Azerbaijani rulers’ hostile behaviour is deeply embedded in “Western and Zionist thinking.”
Concluding his remarks, Ayatollah Marvi cautioned that these foreign-influenced agendas are doomed to fail. He warned that the current crackdown on Islamic identity will ultimately lead to no fate other than the very same collapse and rejection that communism suffered in the country decades ago.
Reference: ABNA24