Review of Religious Revival and Secularism in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan by Dobrosława Wiktor-Mach

Authors : Eva LENNARTZ

Pages : 157-164

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Publication Date : 2023-05-31

Article Type : Other Papers

Abstract :This book review considers Wiktor-Mach’s Religious Revival and Secularism in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan. The author provides an excellent example of how religious revival developed in a post-Soviet country, i.e., Azerbaijan, through interviewing religious actors and individuals. She embeds her analysis in a historical perspective on Islam in Azerbaijan, which makes it clearer why there is a division between pious and ethnic Muslims and why the differences between Shia and Sunni interpretations of Islam ceased to be important. Wiktor-Mach predicts that Sunni Islam in its Turkish variant will gain strength, while Shiism is not giving up. Wiktor-Mach focuses on Baku, and thus, her work can be counted among Islamic urban studies. Further studies would be welcome which analyse the development of Islam in the regions of Azerbaijan.
Keywords : Azerbaycan, Bakü, İslam, din, diriliş