The murmur of Arabic prayer echoes through a spacious chamber of the ancient Juma mosque in the old town of Baku, Azerbaijan's capital.
 The imam of Baku's Juma mosque is still in jail |
Men and women, young and old, kneel down on the carpeted floor of the beautifully ornamented building. But as they finish their afternoon prayers and head back into the bustle of the booming oil-town, many say they fear they will not be allowed to return.
The Azeri Government wants the Juma community out of the mosque.
The community, officials say, lacks proper registration and so the mosque must be given back to its Soviet-era owners, who operated a carpet museum.
But observers believe the government's real target is the mosque's young imam - human rights activist Ilgar Ibrahimoglu. He is already in jail.
"The imam of this mosque has been accused of participating in post-election violence, so I think the government is using this opportunity to crack down on the mosque because of his political preaching," says Fariz Izmailzade, a political analyst in Baku.
Last October, thousands of Azerbaijanis took to the streets to protest against what they said was an election rigged in favour of Ilham Aliyev, the son of Azerbaijan's late President Heydar Aliyev.
In the following months, more than 1,000 opposition supporters were jailed.
More than 100 remain behind bars, including Mr Ibrahimoglu.
Radical links
The Director of Azerbaijan's State Committee on Religious Issues, Rafig Aliyev, says Mr Ibrahimoglu is dangerous for society, because he used the mosque for preaching against the government.
"There are limits to everything," Mr Aliyev said.
"We have evidence that the head of this community participated in the anti-government demonstrations and was one of the organisers.
"They crossed the line and the government must defend itself." The official also claims Mr Ibrahimoglu is an Islamic fundamentalist with links to radical Shia groups across the border in Iran.
But most international observers disagree.
"Ibrahimoglu is a convinced anti-violence man and a well-known human rights defender," says Steinar Gil, Norway's ambassador to Azerbaijan.
"The authorities are claiming he was taking part in party politics but as far as I know the only thing he did publicly was to urge people to vote according to democratic principles."
European pressure
Just recently, the Council of Europe has threatened Azerbaijan with expulsion over the country's deteriorating human rights record.
The US has so far remained silent.
In fact, Defense Secretary Donald Rusmfeld visited Azerbaijan last year and personally congratulated President Aliyev on his election victory.
The US military is using Azerbaijani airbases to refuel planes bound for Afghanistan. And then there is oil.
Currently under construction is a US-backed $3bn (�1.6bn) pipeline which would send Azerbaijani oil through Georgia and Turkey to the West.
Azerbaijan's oil riches are controlled by President Aliyev's family.
The head of the Peace and Democracy Institute in Baku, Leyla Yunus, says Azerbaijani society is paying a high price for its oil wealth.
"The problem of Azerbaijan is our oil," she says.
 Opposition supporters clashed with police in Baku after elections |
"All declarations of human rights are nothing compared to oil. When the West can do deals with the Aliyev family, they do these deals. "We have a new communist system and our government wants to control everything.
"If there is something they cannot control, it is necessary for them to destroy it."
But at Baku's Juma mosque, worshippers say they will not allow the government to destroy their community.
"We will go on praying," says 23-year old worshipper Jamil Akberov.
"We can't leave the mosque. We need to explain to people that it's very illegal and very bad to close the home of Allah.
"This isn't ancient times, the government cannot do whatever they want - we have rules."
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They crossed the line and the government must defend itself 
