Shiite man arrested for shaving Salafi beard

Police in Azerbaijan arrested Ramzi Zeynalov, a resident of the central Sabirabad district who physically attacked a member of the Salafi community on June 4, shaving his beard in public.

Zeynalov is accused of hooliganism, said Ehsan Zahidov, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

Video of the incident went viral as it was shared on social networking websites. Zeynalov was shown punching the bearded man from neighboring Kurdamir District, Cavansir Zarbaliyev, and cutting his beard with scissors.

Shaving a man's beard in public amounts to insult in Azeri culture. 

Zarbaliyev later told local media that he traveled to Sabirabad to buy fruits.

The incident caused anger among Azerbaijan’s Salafi community. 

Sheikh-ul Islam Allahsukur Pasazada, the country’s top Muslim cleric, condemned the incident in a statement and called for restraint.

Most of Azerbaijan’s 9.5 million people are nominally Shiite. First Salafis emerged in the country in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Bakudaily.az