The leaflets include messages noting that it is not necessary to establish gravestone monuments above the tombs of close relatives. They claim it is enough to set up a raw stone without inscriptions above a grave mound. Leaflets also teach that it is note necessary to arrange commemorations following the death of a person. According to experts, Azerbaijan’s convenient geographical location, the realization of large-scale international energy projects and the low level of religious awareness among the population are reasons that radical religious organizations of a Wahhabi persuasion are seeking to spread their message.

Wahhabism has emerged in the northern regions of Azerbaijan in the past several years. Of Azerbaijan’s more than 1,400 mosques, ca. 150, mainly in northern areas of the country as well as the Abubakr Moisque in Baku, are controlled by Wahabbis. If the typical Azerbaijani mosques are visited mainly by representatives of the elder generation the Wahabbi mosques cater to an audience of people mainly in their twenties, or some in their thirties.

The head of the State committee on work with religious organizations (SCWRO) Rafik Aliyev has repeatedly talked about the stirring up of Wahabbism in the frontiers of the northern areas of the country. Speaking of the leaflets, he observed that “they offer to the Azerbaijani people to accept ‘a true Islam’, ‘true canons of Islam’, etc. I think there are certain groups who wish to strain the situation around religious communities, and in general in the country. We should not pay excessive attention to these leaflets, and they are not of serious content, capable in any way of significantly destabilizing the situation in Azerbaijan”.

In its turn, the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of the Caucasus (SDMC), is taking action against the distribution of such literature in Azerbaijan and accuses the State Committee of inactivity in this instance. According to theology expert Nariman Gasimoglu, a reduction of radical Islamist activity in Azerbaijan is not to be expected. \"The forces trying to distribute in the country the Islamic extremism of its worst kind, i.e. wahhabism, represents the greatest danger. Missionaries from the Arabian countries, in particular Saudi Arabia as well as from Iran, are increasingly active. The backbone of the extremist cells created by them is basically made up of young men in their early twenties from vulnerable families, as well as students with major in theology and unemployed students”.

SCWRO representative Elchin Askerov argues that wahhabism is not dangerous per se, but that only its radical branch is. “Radicals accuse other wahabbis of not following “the true doctrine”. Carriers of radical ideas do not gather in mosques, but prefer to carry out confidential assemblies. However, these groups are not capable to create any threat in the country yet. At the same time I wish to emphasize that the Azerbaijan authorities hold the situation, including religious issues, under strict control even in the most remote regions and are capable to prevent any threat to public and political stability.

Making comments on the recent increase in the activity of Islamic radical groups in Azerbaijan, the minister of National Security, Eldar Mahmudov, declared that they aspire to change the secular character of Azerbaijani statehood. “Though we have good experience in fighting the activities of radical religious and terrorist organizations, information has just emerged on plans on the part of the ‘Al-Qaeda Caucasus’ group to recruit Azerbaijani girls into the troops of suicide terrorists. This is the worst revelation we have been exposed to in the past several years”.

At the end of April, the Court on Severe Crimes sentenced to long terms of imprisonment the head and members of the Islamic group “Djamaat al-Muvahiddun”. Seven representatives of Wahabbi underground groups were sentenced to between 9 and 15 years. They were charged with preparing acts of terrorism, using of violence against representatives of the state authority, of robbery, purchase and storage of explosives, illegal passing of state borders, and usage of others’ passports.

Radical wahabbis are pursued in Azerbaijan but, as Baku analysts note, the more strongly authorities pursue them, the more popularity they gain. According to estimates by experts, the number of Wahhabis in Azerbaijan has increased from ca. 6,000 five years ago to 25,000 or more presently.

Experts studying the radical islamization of parts of the youth converge in the opinion that this phenomenon is caused by the increasing numbers of uneducated and desperate young men who have no opportunities for self-realization, and also the existence of refugee camps where various external forces operate under the cover humanitarian assistance. Until these problems are eliminated, Azerbaijan will remain a fertile field for radical religious organizations and sects.