Baku's Salafi imam: “We are against ISIS”

Qafqazinfo news website has interviewed Qamat Suleymanov, the imam of the Abu Bakr mosque in Baku. ANN presents excerpts from the interview:

- What have you been doing in recent years (since the mosque was closed for prayers in 2008)? Where do you (members of the Abu Bakr community) come together to pray?

- In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Our activities have been restricted since the attack on the Abu Bakr mosque in 2008. The mosque is not closed. It has never been. But there are restrictions. Only members of the community are allowed to visit it. I too visit the mosque and pray there. I have no other activity. 

- You (members of your community) are called Wahhabis. But you reject this label. Are there any Wahhabis in Azerbaijan? Who are they?  

- There is no such a thing as Wahhabism. There is no denomination called Wahhabism. What can I say about something that does not exist? There was a man called Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab. People who opposed Abdul Wahhab's views called his followers Wahhabi. It is not correct to say Wahhabis wear a beard. Salafis are the only people with a normal attitude to beard. In Shiism, people who do not wear a beard are seen as infidels. Wearing a beard has become fashionable nowadays. Atheists and even Conchita (Wurst) wear beards. When it comes to trousers above the ankle, it is not something specific to us. All other denominations have this too.

- Muslims who go and fight in Syria and die there are touted as martyrs. Some people even compare the Syrian war with the Karbala events. I understand the radicals from Sumqayit who go and fight in Syria will be revered as Imam Huseyn 500 years from now. What do Salafis think about it? 

- Religion is being used as a cover in Syria. At the start, the Syrian conflict had nothing to do with religion. The war started after Bashar al-Assad killed peaceful protesters. Syria was flooded by radicals from all over the world. What is happening in Syria has nothing to do with religion. There is fitnah playing out there. As you say, 500 years from now some people may want to liken the Syran events it to what happened in Karbala. If you raise a spoon today and tell people to worship it, there will be somebody in a million who will do.

- You are against rising up against a ruler even if he is cruel. What if the ruler is against the Salafi ideology? 

- Salafis never rise up against their rulers. Khavarijis do. If somebody calls himself a Salafi and still rebels against the government, he is a liar. You cannot rebel even if your ruler is against the Salafi ideology. Rising up against the ruler undermines peace and stability.

- There is a general fear of Salafis in society. Do you know why? 

- This is because of propaganda. We are being described as dangerous people. ISIS fighters wear beards as we do. So what? Karl Marx too had a beard. Is every bearded man a terrorist? We are seen as terrorists. We know that. But people should know that we are against terror and ISIS. We are not against the state. We are for peace and stability.