The Peygamber Sevdalıları Vakfı (Prophet Lovers Foundation), a Türkiye-based organisation dedicated to promoting love for Prophet Muhammad, has strongly condemned restrictions targeting headscarf-wearing students and teachers in Azerbaijan, describing the practices as an infringement on Muslims’ religious rights and expressing solidarity with the Azerbaijani people.

In a written statement, the foundation said it was deeply troubling to witness headscarf restrictions in a Muslim-majority country, drawing parallels between the reported practices in Azerbaijan and the restrictions imposed on Muslim women in Türkiye during the 28 February period.

“In this age, we are once again witnessing headscarf oppression in a Muslim country,” the statement said, referring to reports that schoolgirls wearing headscarves were being denied entry to schools and teachers wearing headscarves were being prevented from entering classrooms.

The foundation described the reported restrictions as an act of oppression against Muslims and argued that the policies echoed the measures imposed on religious people in Türkiye during the 28 February process, which it characterised as an attack on Islamic values.

Foundation recalls Azerbaijan’s resistance to religious repression

The statement highlighted the Azerbaijani people’s history of defending their religious identity despite decades of pressure under communist rule.

For more than 70 years, the foundation said, Muslims in Azerbaijan had faced attacks on their religious values and practices, including the headscarf. Despite these pressures, it added, believers had resisted attempts to remove Islam from public and social life and had preserved their religious traditions.

The foundation expressed concern that the latest restrictions represented a renewed challenge to this religious heritage.

It also alleged that Zionist influence and the compliance of local actors lay behind the measures targeting Muslim women, particularly young girls. These allegations were presented in the foundation’s statement.

Headscarf is a religious obligation, foundation says

Rejecting descriptions of the headscarf as merely an Arab or Persian custom, the foundation stressed that covering is a religious obligation in Islam.

“The headscarf is a command of Allah. It is the dignity and honour not only of the Muslims in Azerbaijan but of all Muslims,” the statement said.

It added that the headscarf represented a fundamental religious principle that Muslims would not abandon, warning that efforts to suppress Islamic values would ultimately fail.

The foundation also criticised what it described as the promotion of secularism and immodesty as expressions of Azerbaijan’s national identity, arguing that such an approach distanced public life from Islamic principles.

‘The Azerbaijani people are not alone’

Concluding its statement, the foundation declared its support for the Azerbaijani people and urged them to continue defending their religious rights and values.

“We support the Azerbaijani people in this just cause of theirs. We want them to know that they are not alone,” it said.

The foundation called on Muslims in Azerbaijan to remain steadfast and continue practising their faith without abandoning their religious convictions under pressure.

It concluded by expressing confidence that those seeking to suppress Islamic values would not prevail, stating: “Allah is the absolute victor in everything.” (ILKHA)