Source: Aljazeera
![Fargana Gasimova says the fall of the Soviets has allowed greater freedom of religion in Azerbaijan [Courtesy:Fargana Gasimova]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2018/1/8/f16de4191d824c1fae0944eb0eed79ab_18.jpg?w=667 "Islam's gradual resurgence in post-Soviet Azerbaijan")
Her grandparents would pray and fast in secret, careful to disguise any hint of their religion from the prying surveillance apparatus of the Soviet authorities.
“We were not allowed to pray or wear the hijab (headscarf) in Azerbaijan during the USSR,” she tells Al Jazeera, using the acronym for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union.
“Only Atheism was propagated throughout the Soviet Union, including Azerbaijan,” she adds.
Categories: Asia, Azerbaijan, Europe, Islam, The Muslim Times