One more mosque closed in Azerbaijan

The mosque (earlier known as Alban church) in Shahseven settlement of Ganja has been closed today.

They said a group of men came to the mosque, sealed the door and did not allow anyone to perform namaz. They advised the residents to appeal to the State Committee for Religious Associations.

This mosque is known as Alban church in Ganja. Both Sunnites and Shiites perform namaz here. There have reportedly been a lot of Wahhabis in the mosque recently.

The State Committee for Religious Associations has not commented on the fact yet.

Imam of the closed mosque Ilham Ibrahimov said the doors of the mosque were closed several hours ago.

He said head of Ganja office of the State Committee for Religious Associations Firdovsi Karimov, police officers of Nizami district of Ganja and representatives of Culture and Tourism Ministry sealed the door of the mosque.

“They said the religious community functioning in the mosque must be registered. We have prepared an appeal for registration. Our community is “Juma mosque of Ganja”. The mosque is called “Ganja Shahsevenler Juma mosque”. Mainly Sunnites pray here. We asked them to wait several days till the end of Ramadan, but did not give us time. Now we want to perform namaz in the yard,” he said.

/APA/