AZERBAIJAN: BIBI-HEYBAT MOSQUE, JUMA MOSQUE OF SHAMAKHI, JUMA MOSQUE OF BAKU

Azerbaijan is almost completely Muslim (99.2%, according to the Pew Research Center), with two-thirds belonging to the Shia branch and one-third belonging to the Sunni branch of Islam. However, while there is a Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom, few locals are "religious" because of the Soviet prohibition of religious practice during the seventy-one years Azerbaijan was part of the USSR. In other words, most of them have lived their entire lives without religion and appear to be fine to have it continue that way.

Still, Islam is a significant part of their ethnic/national identity, and slowly, slowly, young people are being drawn back.

We visited two important mosques built since Azerbaijan became an independent nation in 1991: the Bibi-Heybat Mosque in Baku and the Juma (or Friday) Mosque of Shamakhi. We also visited a third mosque that was remodeled at the end of the 19th century, the Juma Mosque of Baku.

1. Bibi-Heybat Mosque

Although this mosque was built in the 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it is a recreation of a 13th-century mosque by the same name that was blown up in 1934 by the Bolsheviks as part of their anti-religion campaign. It is the first Stalin-destroyed mosque to have been rebuilt in the post Soviet era.

It sits on one of the major highways of Baku alongside the Caspian Sea:

View from across the highway

View from the courtyard on the Caspian Sea side

Between the mosque and the Caspian Sea is a huge public square:

The bright, rich colors inside the Bibi-Heybat Mosque make it feel like a place of celebration:

The mosque is built around the mausoleum of Ukeyma Khanum, a descendant of Muhammad, which makes this mosque very important to Azerbaijani Muslims:

Inside the mausoleum room are glowing, almost pulsating shades of green ornamented with threads of lustrous gold.  I felt as if I had entered the Emerald City. Green is said to have been the Prophet Muhammad's favorite color, and according to the Qu'ran, those who live in Paradise wear green clothes:

The mausoleum is a little sealed off room within a room:

Back outside, we had a good view of the Caspian Sea and the fishing village on the edge of it:

I would love to have heard the call to prayer from these minarets:

However, most of the mosques in Baku do not have an audible call to prayer. According to a Gallup Poll, Azerbaijan is one of the ten least religious countries in the world.


II. JUMA MOSQUE OF SHAMAKHI

A "Juma" mosque, also known as a "Friday" mosque, is a mosque where the general Muslim population goes for Friday prayers, even if they go to a smaller mosque, or no mosque, on other days.

About 65 miles from Baku, in the city of Shamakhi, we visited a Juma mosque.

The marble stone seen at the far left of the photo above has the following inscription in Azerbaijani, Arabic, and English:
The Juma Mosque of Shamakhy was constructed in 743. It was seriously damaged in the aftermath of 1959 and 1902. During the March genocide of 1918, Armenian nationalists set this mosque on fire. In 2010-2013, it has been extensively restored and rebuilt in accordance with the decree of President Ilham Aliyev.

That description really glosses over some of the tragedies that have happened here. For example, in the 1918 genocide when this mosque was set on fire, the entire city was completely destroyed, and 1800 women, children, and old men--those left in the city during a time of war--were driven into the mosque and burned alive.

What appear to be ruins from earlier iterations of the mosque form the landscaping in front of the mosque:

The mosque itself is essentially brand new:

It doesn't have the color explosion we saw in the Bibi-Heybat Mosque, but it has a quiet elegance that I really like:

The carpet has individual prayer spaces clearly delineated:

The colors and design used for the mihrab, in the center, make it the clear focal point of the room, and there were actually men praying here:

The shape of the dome is echoed by the light fixture's concentric circles:

A border of classic Islamic geometry and script encircles the room:

Another border on the floor:

The mosque has three sections, each with its own mihrab. This is one of the side rooms and is much less showy that the main room. I think that could be the mihrab in between the windows:

Near the entry is a collection of turbah, clay tablets that the people praying put on the carpet in front of themselves. When they bow to pray, they press their foreheads onto the tablet, which represents the earth. Only the Shia Muslims use these, and they base the practice on a verse in the Qu'ran that calls for the prostration in prayer to occur on "pure earth."

3. JUMA MOSQUE OF BAKU

Originally built in the 12th century on the site of a Zoroastrian temple (sounds like what the Christians did in Mexico--built their cathedrals on top of Aztec temples), this mosque, like the others we visited in Azerbaijan, has been rebuilt many times. The present version dates back to 1899. It is quite small compared to the other two we saw and is crammed in between buildings in Old Town Baku:

The interior decor, while less dramatic than the Bibi-Heybat Mosque, is still very ornate. I do like the soothing blue walls. If I were Muslim, I think this would be a place to find peace.

I'm not sure what this display was all about. That is the flag of Azerbaijan hanging on the wall.

The word "Allah" in Arabic is at the center of the circle:

This mosque had a large collection of turbah, or prayer disks:

A small ablution fountain is outside:

It is interesting to review these three mosques side-by-side, to see the common features and the differences.