Salafi mosque "Abubekr" renamed into "Juma"

Baku/20.04.23/Turan: President Ilham Aliyev and his wife attended on Thursday the opening of the "Juma" mosque in Narimanov district of Baku after reconstruction and overhaul.

Note that earlier this mosque was called "Abubekr" and was considered the main mosque of Sunni-Salafits. 

It was built in 1997 with the support of the Kuwait Charity Foundation. The mosque's imam, Gamet Suleymanov, denied being a Wahabi, calling the mosque as Sunni mosque.

On August 17, 2008, a terrorist attack was carried out against the mosque. In the evening an unknown person threw two hand grenades into the mosque. Two people were killed and 18 wounded, including Imam Hamet Suleymanov.

Law enforcement authorities blamed the crime on a group of religious radicals, the so-called "Forest Brothers", whose leader was Ilgar Mollachayev (later eliminated as a terrorist).  After the terrorist attack, the mosque was closed under the pretext of renovation.

It is not yet clear what the mosque's current status will be. Former imam Gamet Suleymanov did not confirm to Turan Agency that he is still an imam. "Everything will become clear in the coming days," he said.

However, the mosque's new name and Hamet Suleymanov's absence from the opening ceremony indicate that the changes will be significant. -02B-