Restrictions for pandemic period affect celebration of Eid al-Adha in Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan, mosques cancelled festive prayers. The authorities also banned the slaughter of sacrificial animals outside designated areas. Meanwhile, in large cities, the sale of meat was organized online and by order in stores.

Apart from other mosques, the largest Muslim temple of Azerbaijan – the "Heydar Mosque" – held a namaz (prayer) with the participation of ten theologians of the country, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Caucasus Muslims Office (CMO).

Aliag Teimurov, a resident of Baku, was not able to allow buying a sacrificial animal because of the loss of earnings during the quarantine period.

"I made sacrifices for 20 years, but this year, I have not been working for five months already because of the quarantine regime. My savings are only enough to feed my family. Every year, I treated my neighbours with sacrificial meat, and this year, I was treated myself by my friends," the man complained.

Tofig Damirov, a believer of Karbala (an unofficial title of pilgrims visiting Shiite shrines in the city of Karbala in Iraq, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"), expressed his disagreement with the ban on the namaz in mosques.

"At all times, when people had problems, they united around mosques and performed prayers together. And the pandemic is one of those evils ... I do not think that the ban on namaz is a panacea. It is wrong to forbid people to come to the festive namaz at all," Tofig Damirov said.