A renewed ban on the Islamic hijab in schools across Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim country, has triggered widespread public anger after videos emerged showing headscarf-wearing schoolgirls being denied entry to classrooms, with reports of a female teacher also being dismissed over her hijab.
The controversy has attracted criticism beyond Azerbaijan, particularly in neighbouring Turkey, as footage of distressed students and protesting families circulates across social media.
Although restrictions on religious clothing in Azerbaijani schools are not new, the latest measures have reignited a longstanding dispute over religious freedom and the country’s strict secular education policies.
Critics argue that the restrictions reflect a return to practices associated with Azerbaijan’s Soviet past, when public religious observance was suppressed and religious institutions were subjected to extensive state control.
Hijab-Wearing Schoolgirls Turned Away as Videos Spark Anger
Videos circulated by activists show a father collecting his hijab-wearing daughter from outside her school after administrators reportedly refused to allow her to attend classes.
In the footage, a bystander expresses disbelief at the treatment of the students.
“Look at what they are doing. Every girl wearing a hijab is being sent out,” the individual says.
Another video features the daughter of an Azerbaijani soldier killed during the battles to recapture Karabakh.
The schoolgirl, who wears the hijab, speaks about what she considers the injustice of preventing religiously observant students from attending school, explaining that she too had been denied entry.
Other recordings show hijab-wearing girls crying after being turned away from their schools.
According to the accounts accompanying the footage, the students had complied with the required school uniforms but were nevertheless excluded because they continued wearing their headscarves.
The incidents have provoked criticism from members of the public who question why students should be denied access to education because of their religious clothing.
Students Protest in Baku in Solidarity With Their Classmates
Opposition to the restrictions has also emerged among students themselves.
At one school in the capital, Baku, students reportedly gathered outside the school gates and refused to enter their classrooms in protest against the decision to exclude hijab-wearing classmates.
The protesting students carried signs expressing support for the girls affected by the restrictions.
Their demonstration transformed the controversy from a dispute between school administrators and individual families into a broader expression of student solidarity.
The incidents have also raised concerns about the consequences of excluding girls from education because of their religious practices, particularly in communities where the hijab forms an important part of personal and family identity.
Azerbaijani Actress Condemns Restrictions and Recalls Heydar Aliyev’s Approach
Prominent Azerbaijani actress Ibadova Kojamaz joined those expressing solidarity with the affected students.
In a video circulated online, she appeared wearing the hijab in a symbolic rejection of the campaign against headscarf-wearing schoolgirls.
In a post on X, she recalled her childhood and the educational difficulties that girls in some communities previously experienced.
“I will never forget those days when we were little girls. Most of the students in our classes and schools were boys. Some villages in Baku faced problems because parents would not send their daughters to school,” she wrote.
She then described an intervention by Azerbaijan’s former president, Heydar Aliyev, which she said had encouraged families to educate their daughters regardless of whether they wore the hijab.
“One day, it was announced that our national leader, may God have mercy on him, would meet with the notables of Baku. We were all watching the national television screen with great anticipation.”
She continued:
“Heydar Aliyev’s attitude towards our national values, our religion and our society was marked by great sensitivity and refinement.”
According to the actress, the situation subsequently changed.
“After that meeting, our school and classrooms flourished, as everyone began sending their daughters to school, whether they wore the hijab or not.”
Her remarks presented the current controversy as a reversal of an earlier approach that she believes encouraged girls’ education while respecting religious customs.
Writer Warns Hijab Restrictions Could Turn Society Against the State
Azerbaijani writer and activist Nigar Ogeday Susmaram issued an even sharper criticism of the restrictions, warning that the controversy could deepen tensions between the government and the population.
She alleged that hostile forces operating inside Azerbaijan were seeking to turn the public against the state through decisions targeting Islamic religious practices.
Susmaram warned that Azerbaijan was being pushed towards a dangerous confrontation over its religious and national identity.
“If the officials, the Ministry of Education and hostility towards Islam are not stopped, Zionism will drag Azerbaijan into a deep abyss,” she wrote.
She appealed directly to President Ilham Aliyev to intervene.
“Please, Mr President, stop those who are taking over our official positions, our education system and our media. I am confident that a single order from you would be enough for the people to rise up and hold the traitors accountable before you.”
She also challenged what she described as the influence of Zionist interests over the country’s religious and cultural policies.
“A handful of Zionists cannot determine the values of a country where Muslims make up 95 per cent of the population,” she argued.
“Stop this blatant attack on our moral values. They are digging beneath your feet.”
Her allegations regarding Zionist influence were presented as her own political interpretation of the restrictions.
The controversy has therefore extended beyond the immediate question of school uniforms, with critics increasingly framing it as a dispute over the relationship between Azerbaijan’s Muslim identity, state institutions and the secular political system.
The History of Azerbaijan’s Hijab Ban
The current dispute has roots in restrictions introduced more than a decade ago.
The effective ban on wearing the hijab in Azerbaijani schools began in 2010 under then-Education Minister Misir Mardanov.
Mardanov announced that students would be required to comply with a standardised school uniform that did not include the hijab.
Following the decision, numerous girls were reportedly prevented from entering schools, with administrators citing education regulations as justification for excluding students wearing Islamic headscarves.
The measure provoked widespread public opposition.
Approximately 1,000 people gathered outside the Ministry of Education in Baku to protest the restrictions, chanting slogans condemning the minister’s decision.
Confrontations occurred during the demonstrations, resulting in the arrest of several protesters.
Protests, Arrests and Petitions Against the Restrictions
The following year, demonstrations resumed as hundreds of protesters again assembled outside the Education Ministry.
Clashes with police resulted in arrests and injuries, while some participants were subsequently sentenced to prison.
Opposition also spread beyond the capital.
Residents in several Azerbaijani communities, including Nardaran, collected signatures for petitions addressed to the president.
The petitions called for an end to the restrictions and demanded that hijab-wearing students be allowed to attend school without obstruction.
As protests intensified and opposition to the ban widened, the government eventually suspended enforcement of the restrictions.
This allowed affected students to continue their education while wearing their headscarves.
The suspension reduced immediate tensions but did not resolve the underlying disagreement over religious clothing in public education.
September School Uniform Amendments Reignite the Dispute
The controversy resurfaced after Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers approved amendments to school uniform regulations in September.
The changes were introduced as part of efforts to reinforce the secular character of the country’s education system.
Under the revised rules, clothing considered incompatible with the principle of secularism was prohibited.
Following the government decision, school administrators in Baku and other regions reportedly began immediately refusing entry to girls wearing the hijab.
The restrictions triggered renewed criticism from families, students, public figures and religious activists.
Opponents argue that enforcing secular education regulations by excluding hijab-wearing girls undermines their access to schooling and places religious observance in direct conflict with educational participation.
The controversy has also raised questions about whether rules intended to preserve the secular character of state institutions should extend to the personal religious clothing of students.
Shia Cleric Arrested After Challenging the Ban
The dispute has also resulted in action against religious figures who publicly opposed the restrictions.
Authorities arrested Shia cleric Abigul Suleymanov following social media posts in which he condemned attempts to prevent hijab-wearing girls from attending school.
In one statement, Suleymanov declared:
“If they dare prevent schoolgirls from studying while wearing the hijab, I will choose prison and die there.”
He added:
“In any case, everyone in this country is living a prison life.”
His arrest added another dimension to the controversy, highlighting tensions between the Azerbaijani authorities and religious voices challenging the government’s approach to Islamic practices.
Soviet Roots of Azerbaijan’s Restrictions on Religion
Azerbaijan’s current approach to religion has been shaped by its Soviet history.
During the Soviet period, the communist authorities imposed an officially atheistic political system and heavily restricted public religious life.
Mosques and religious schools were closed, while public worship and expressions of religious commitment faced extensive limitations.
Although Azerbaijan regained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, its political leadership retained a strongly secular approach to religious institutions.
Under former president Heydar Aliyev, the state adopted a model that maintained strict oversight of organised religious activity.
Religious institutions were brought under the supervision of a state committee, reflecting the government’s determination to maintain control over the public role of religion.
This approach continued after Ilham Aliyev came to power.
His administration maintained the constitutional principle separating religion from the state and continued the system of official oversight of religious institutions.
The renewed dispute over hijab-wearing schoolgirls has brought these longstanding tensions back into public debate, particularly over how Azerbaijan’s secular education policies should accommodate the religious practices of its predominantly Muslim population.
