Will the Caucasus Muslims Office (CMO) being forced out of the sphere of religious education?

Baku/26.09.18/Turan: The future of the Baku Islamic University (BIU), which operated for 27 years under the Caucasus Muslims Office (CMO), was in question. This happened after the September 24 decision was made to transfer the first year students of this university to the Azerbaijan Institute of Theology (AIT). The AIT was created in April under the patronage of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations.

At the same time, the Faculty of Theology of the Baku State University was transferred to the new institute, without any explanation. At the same time, it was claimed that religious education should be free. And BIU education was paid, since this university operated on self-financing.

After that, the question of the appropriateness of the two higher education institutions on the same profile began to be debated. Some experts already expressed the opinion that the creation of AIT is aimed at the transition of religious education to the control of the government.

It is also noteworthy that the new institute was called not Islamic, but theological, which implies teaching not only Islam, but also other religions.

But the most important goal of the government, according to a number of experts, is to establish complete control over the religious sphere.

So, in recent years, the authorities have been tightening the legislation in the religious sphere, increasing prohibitions, creating obstacles for religious activity of persons studying abroad. Probably, as the students complete their education there, the BIU will gradually become a research center. The CMO will have to confine itself to controlling 7-8 madrassas (religious colleges) and to accept the loss of the opportunity to influence higher religious education in the country. By the way, the decision to create a madrasah was taken as early as 2016, but until now they have not started functioning. -05D06--