Azerbaijani Muslims sign-in for President to allow wearing hijabs in schools

In the settlement of Nardaran, about 2500 signatures were collected under the petition to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev with a request to lift the ban on wearing hijabs in schools.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Gadji Adalyat Alizadeh, the elder of the settlement and head of the Nardaran Pir (the holy place, where Ragima Khanum, daughter of Musei Kazym, one of the Imams-descendants of Prophet Muhammad, respected by Shiite Muslims, is buried, - note of the "Caucasian Knot").

In the coming days the appeal will be sent to the president, said Adalyat Alizadeh.

According to his story, the problem with wearing hijabs was planted from outside. "It's a blow from America and Zionists inflicted by their henchmen in the government and parliament," he said.

"Azerbaijanis shall defend their faith in order to liberate their territories. Believers are true patriots; and a bright example is the national hero Mubariz Ibragimov (a soldier who died in a battle in the north of Nagorno-Karabakh on June 18, 2009, - note of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent)," Mr Alizadeh said.

He added that believers defend the hijab at the call of their conscience and in conformity with the Koran, which "is the Constitution of Muslims." "We abide to our president and the country's laws, but as far as the hijab is concerned, nobody may repeal the laws of Allah," said Alizadeh.

"Sooner or later in Azerbaijan all the women will come to our spiritual roots. Those parents who prepare their girls to this since childhood, are engaged in a holy deed," he said.

He expressed confidence that the ban on Muslim hijabs was passed without knowledge of the country's president. "As soon as the head of state knows about it, the problem will be solved," said Alizadeh.

Khikmet Aliev, 35, a resident of Nardaran, confirmed that people in the settlement were unhappy with the ban on hijabs. According to his story, in Nardaran girls continue going to school in hijabs.

Because of New Year holidays, the Azerbaijani state bodies were inaccessible for comments.

However earlier, Idayat Orudzhev, head of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations of Azerbaijan, said that under the law "On Education" every school shall regulate its school uniform by a respective statute, the "APA" Agency reports.