It’s Eid season again! Bliss… 5 days off this time! Happy holidays everyone! Eid Mubarak! Selamat Hari Raya!
Here’re some photos of mosques from a Soviet, …I mean Ex-Soviet oil city – Baku, capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Baku seems pretty rich, well-maintained infrastructure and facilities, nicely tended gardens, skyscrapers and iconic buildings all over the city, some completed, some under construction. But why not? It’s an oil city after all!
Heydar Mosque, Baku, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan is somewhat unique. Azerbaijan is 97% Muslim, but it is officially a secular country and only 21% of its population say religion is important in a survey in the mid-2000s (check it out on Wikipedia, mate). This makes Azerbaijan the least religious Muslim-majority country in the world. I was actually surprised to see flights to Tel Aviv (Israel) shown on the flight status board in Baku’s International Airport, and the airlines flying to Israel was none other than Azerbaijan’s own national airlines, AZAL!
Azerbaijan is also unique in that it is a Shia majority country with up to 75% of its Muslim population being Shia. This makes Azerbaijan the country with the second highest Shia population by percentage in the world, after Iran. In terms of language however, Azerbaijan is a lot more like Turkey, than Iran. Azerbaijani and Turkish are mostly mutually intelligible, and uses the same Latin script (more or less). Heck, it’s something like Malay to Indonesian.
Enough of the boring stuff, here’re the rest of the photos…
Heydar Mosque, Baku – completed 2014. Yup, it’s a new mosque, built after Azerbaijan gained independence. (The Soviets weren’t really fond of religious structures. They tore down many mosques and churches during Stalin's early rule. In that way, he's a bit like ISIS, paranoid).
The kids at Heydar Mosque
Yours truly – this pic is too good to resist not posting, thanks to having a wife with good photographic skills. Can’t say much about my photographic skills though. I took a whole load of pictures of her, same view, hoping that some would turn out good. She took only 3, and all 3 came up fine. All 15 of mine turned out crooked, or with the tops of the minarets cut off…
Here’re some mosques in the old walled city of Baku – Icheriseher.
Anu, outside the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Icheri Seher, Baku – The mosque / minaret seen here is inside the Shirvanshah’s Palace compound. Part of the iconic Flame Towers of Baku, can be seen on the top right
In the compound of the Shirvanshahs’ Palace, Baku
Walking the cobblestoned roads of the Old City – the small minaret behind the tree is part of the Muhammad Mosque. Far behind that, are the Flame Towers (more of that later OK? In another post, ahem…)
Juma Masjid, Baku – Azerbaijanis really love the colour beige huh? Everything is beige. Won’t be surprised if someone nicknames Baku, the Beige City…
Another beige building, but not a mosque. This is the Government House, Baku. The road we’re on is part of Azerbaijan’s Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. Azerbaijan’s Grand Prix is on a city circuit, like Monaco and Singapore…
OK, that’s all. Have a swell holiday. Enjoy yourselves. Drive safely. Be polite. Make everyone happy. To all those celebrating Eid, may you and your family have a blessed Eid full of happiness and laughter! See you after the break. We will be busy shifting houses.
Here’re some photos of mosques from a Soviet, …I mean Ex-Soviet oil city – Baku, capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Baku seems pretty rich, well-maintained infrastructure and facilities, nicely tended gardens, skyscrapers and iconic buildings all over the city, some completed, some under construction. But why not? It’s an oil city after all!
Heydar Mosque, Baku, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan is somewhat unique. Azerbaijan is 97% Muslim, but it is officially a secular country and only 21% of its population say religion is important in a survey in the mid-2000s (check it out on Wikipedia, mate). This makes Azerbaijan the least religious Muslim-majority country in the world. I was actually surprised to see flights to Tel Aviv (Israel) shown on the flight status board in Baku’s International Airport, and the airlines flying to Israel was none other than Azerbaijan’s own national airlines, AZAL!
Azerbaijan is also unique in that it is a Shia majority country with up to 75% of its Muslim population being Shia. This makes Azerbaijan the country with the second highest Shia population by percentage in the world, after Iran. In terms of language however, Azerbaijan is a lot more like Turkey, than Iran. Azerbaijani and Turkish are mostly mutually intelligible, and uses the same Latin script (more or less). Heck, it’s something like Malay to Indonesian.
Enough of the boring stuff, here’re the rest of the photos…
Heydar Mosque, Baku – completed 2014. Yup, it’s a new mosque, built after Azerbaijan gained independence. (The Soviets weren’t really fond of religious structures. They tore down many mosques and churches during Stalin's early rule. In that way, he's a bit like ISIS, paranoid).
The kids at Heydar Mosque
Yours truly – this pic is too good to resist not posting, thanks to having a wife with good photographic skills. Can’t say much about my photographic skills though. I took a whole load of pictures of her, same view, hoping that some would turn out good. She took only 3, and all 3 came up fine. All 15 of mine turned out crooked, or with the tops of the minarets cut off…
Here’re some mosques in the old walled city of Baku – Icheriseher.
Anu, outside the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Icheri Seher, Baku – The mosque / minaret seen here is inside the Shirvanshah’s Palace compound. Part of the iconic Flame Towers of Baku, can be seen on the top right
In the compound of the Shirvanshahs’ Palace, Baku
Walking the cobblestoned roads of the Old City – the small minaret behind the tree is part of the Muhammad Mosque. Far behind that, are the Flame Towers (more of that later OK? In another post, ahem…)
Juma Masjid, Baku – Azerbaijanis really love the colour beige huh? Everything is beige. Won’t be surprised if someone nicknames Baku, the Beige City…
Another beige building, but not a mosque. This is the Government House, Baku. The road we’re on is part of Azerbaijan’s Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. Azerbaijan’s Grand Prix is on a city circuit, like Monaco and Singapore…
OK, that’s all. Have a swell holiday. Enjoy yourselves. Drive safely. Be polite. Make everyone happy. To all those celebrating Eid, may you and your family have a blessed Eid full of happiness and laughter! See you after the break. We will be busy shifting houses.
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