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The Board of Qazis of the Caucasus Muslims Office has issued a fatwa on the occasion of the beginning of the month of Ramadan.
“Elchi” reports that the fatwa states:
“Bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim!
As the Board of Qazis of the Caucasus Muslims Office, we congratulate the Muslims of the world and the country on the occasion of the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, and we ask the Most Gracious and Merciful Allah to accept our prayers and worship in this holy month.
The fast of the month of Ramadan is a divine command, and Allah Almighty says to His servants in the Holy Quran:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.” (Al-Baqarah, 183).
Ramadan, the month of forgiveness of sins, acceptance of prayers and worship in the presence of Allah Almighty, is one of the best months in the sight of Allah, so the Holy Quran was revealed to the Islamic Ummah in this month, and the Night of Qadr, which is better than a thousand months, falls on this month. We pray to our Exalted Lord, who rewards us with endless blessings, to help us to properly perform our obligatory fasting worship in the blessed Ramadan and to perfect our morals with its virtues!
The Board of Qazis presents the Ramadan Fatwa to the attention of our religious people and states that, according to the letter No. 32/16 dated January 30, 2026, of the Shamakhi Astrophysical Observatory named after Nasiraddin Tusi of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, based on the relevant request of the Caucasus Muslims Office, the 1st of Ramadan this year will fall on February 19 according to the Gregorian calendar, God willing!
Thanks to the leadership of the Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, our heroic people, who signed the Great Victory, have been celebrating our religious and national holidays and significant days with great pride in recent years. The sounds of Azan rise from the minarets of our mosques, which are being restored and rebuilt in our liberated lands, people return to their ancestral homes and reunite with their historical heritage. Great work is being done in the direction of peace-building in the region. In this sense, we welcome the blessed month of Ramadan not only with the message of purification from sins and gaining the mercy and approval of Allah, but also with the joy of carrying out large-scale construction and improvement works in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, and restoring our religious and spiritual heritage.
The fast, which is one of the basic principles of Islam, is a worship that brings a person closer to Allah, faith and piety, increases gratitude and grace, and establishes unity, brotherhood, truth and justice among people. The fast is an examination for a person to protect himself from haram, a means of integrating the will, patience and perseverance bestowed by Allah, and preventing the nafs. Remembering Allah’s words, engaging in science, knowledge and worship, opening iftar tables for those in need, doing charity, helping orphans, children’s homes, the elderly, taking care of parents, and commemorating the souls of those who have passed away are among the deeds approved and rewarded in the Divine presence. We recommend that in these blessed days when prayers are accepted, the memory of our heroic martyrs who sacrificed their lives for our lands and Motherland should be commemorated, prayers should be read for their souls, and care and attention should be shown to the families of martyrs and veterans. The Board of Qazis informs our religious figures and imams in the regions to provide detailed information and explanations to the religious people about the obligations, rules and prohibitions of Ramadan, and the recommended actions. During this month, our religious figures should instill in the religious people at the highest level the blessedness of the Motherland’s soil, the heroism of our martyrs, and the spiritual peak they have reached in their sermons and speeches. After the Great Karabakh Victory, they should convey to the religious people in detail the valuable efforts of our state in the direction of peace-building in the region and in the international arena, the unparalleled work in the direction of reviving our national and spiritual heritage, and the successes of our independent statehood. Also, we would like to remind our religious figures once again that it is strictly forbidden to give ehsan in the assemblies before iftar, because by the decree of Allah and the order of the Prophet (s), opening a table before iftar in the name of ehsan is a haram act from a religious point of view. Religious figures are responsible for compliance with these rules and are accountable for them from a religious point of view.
This year, the blessed Ramadan calendar, which is the obligatory divine command of our Lord, coincides with Novruz, which has a special place and national importance in the centuries-old history of the Azerbaijani people. The blessed Novruz, which has been celebrated for thousands of years, embodies the awakening of the earth, the renewal of nature, and the revival of mankind. In the Holy Quran, the divine meaning of this revival is explained as follows: “Allah sends rain of mercy from the sky and revives the face of the earth again.” In Novruz, wars stopped, those who were angry reconciled, and people shared their joys and hopes for tomorrow with each other. Taking into account the divine importance of Ramadan, we recommend that the Novruz tables opened on Tuesdays be adjusted to iftar hours, so that our people can enjoy the joy and blessings of both Ramadan and Novruz. The coincidence of the holy Ramadan and the blessed Novruz holidays in Azerbaijan, which is experiencing the period of Victory, is a great message that leads to good things with the grace of Allah.
As every year, this year too, the Caucasus Muslims Office has prepared a special calendar reflecting the daily prayers and imsak-iftar times of the blessed month of Ramadan. This calendar is available on the website of our Office (www.qafqazislam.com). The use of calendars received from other sources, which are divisive and may cause sectarian and time discrimination, by religious figures and our religious people is unacceptable. It is recommended that all mass media refer to the CMO calendar. God willing, the date of Ramadan holiday will most likely fall on March 20, depending on the appearance of the crescent of the month of Shawwal. Due to the horizontal position of the moon, the Board of Qazis of the Caucasus Muslims Office will provide separate information about Eid al-Fitr – the date of Ramadan holiday. The amount of fitra zakat is determined to be around 10-15 manats per person.
In this blessed month, on behalf of the Azerbaijani religious people, we express our deep gratitude to the head of state, His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev, who is carrying out extraordinary work for the restoration of our sovereignty and territorial integrity, the provision of the Great Return to our ancient lands, giving new life to our devastated territories, building modern living conditions in Karabakh, and the call to prayer in our restored mosques, as well as the First Vice-President of our country, Mehriban Aliyeva, and we wish them the greatest divine blessing, good health, in these blessed days. We ask Almighty Allah to have mercy on all our martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the manifestation of this magnificent Victory, and we wish healing to our veterans. Our prayer to Almighty Allah is that He protects our country and people, our wise head of state and our victorious army from calamities, may He exalt our flag, and make our state and religion eternal! As the Board of Qazis of the Caucasus Muslims Office, we wish the blessed steps of Ramadan and Novruz to be successful for our people and state. May our Almighty Lord accept our fasting and worship for the sake of the virtues of this blessed month. Amen!
Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh!