Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12
Trend:
Azerbaijan is known as one of the best examples of coexistence of religions, the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom (SOSS), a North American grassroots organization, which recently traveled to Azerbaijan, wrote in an article published by the Huffington Post.
“The organization is dedicated to interfaith engagement with the goal of building relationships and putting an end to hate,” Sheryl Olitzky, co-founder and executive director of the SOSS, said in her article. “One of its main activities is an annual trip to an area of interest to both faith groups.”
“Traveling provides an opportunity for participants to get to know each other more intimately and the location is selected so that SOSS members can increase their knowledge base of others whose lives are impacted upon by relationships between faith groups,” reads the article.
The SOSS travel committee selected Azerbaijan this year because of its unique approach to diversity, according to the article.
Azerbaijan, a Muslim country, has also included a Jewish community for more than 2,500 years, the article said.
“The country is known as one of the best examples of coexistence: religion and faith do not separate one group from the other,” said the article. “Jews live in harmony with Muslims: Sunnis pray alongside Shiites. In a contemporary world fractured by differences assigned through labels, our group of Muslims and Jews, whose religious communities are frequently the product of anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim acts and rhetoric, wanted to learn how another country was able to celebrate its diversity and its citizens live in harmony.”
During the journey to Azerbaijan, the participants were in awe of the spectacular architecture and gorgeous geographical landscape.
“Our goal was to spend time with the local people so that we might experience Azerbaijan society through their eyes and learn from their daily life,” the author wrote in her article. “We kept asking the same question: “What is the secret to coexistence that permeates every aspect of life in Azerbaijan?” The answer was always the same - “There is no secret.” We were told: “This is our culture. This is how we have been raised. And this is the same as generations before us.”
Azerbaijan is a country whose citizens are wired to live in harmony with one another, the author said.