State atheism in the context of "Islam in Azerbaijan"

Christianity is the main religion in Belarus, with Eastern Orthodoxy being the largest denomination. The legacy of the state atheism of the Soviet era is apparent in the fact that a proportion of Belarusians (especially in the east part of the country) are not religious. Moreover, other non-traditional and new religions have sprung up in the country after the end of the Soviet Union.

Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of shen ('spirits') and ancestors, and worship devoted to deities and immortals, who can be deities of places or natural phenomena, of human behaviour, or progenitors of family lineages. Stories surrounding these gods form a loose canon of Chinese mythology. By the Song dynasty (960–1279), these practices had been blended with Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist teachings to form the popular religious system which has lasted in many ways until the present day. The government of modern China generally tolerates popular religious organizations, but has suppressed or persecuted these that they fear would undermine social stability.

The People's Republic of China is officially an atheist state, but the Chinese government formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism are recognized separately), and Islam. Chinese folk religion, being a syncretism, the government does not consider it a religion because it has ambiguous boundaries and a poorly defined structure, which is why Taoism and Buddhism are recognized as the country's historical religions, but folk religion is considered part of China's cultural heritage.

Religion in China is diverse and most Chinese people are either non-religious or practice a combination of Buddhism and Taoism with a Confucian worldview, which is collectively termed as Chinese folk religion.

The People's Republic of China is officially an atheist state, but the Chinese government formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism are recognized separately), and Islam. All religious institutions in the country are required to uphold the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), implement Xi Jinping Thought, and promote the Religious Sinicization under the general secretaryship of Xi Jinping. According to 2021 estimates from the CIA World Factbook, 52.1% of the population is unaffiliated, 21.9% follows Chinese Folk Religion, 18.2% follows Buddhism, 5.1% follow Christianity, 1.8% follow Islam, and 0.7% follow other religions including Taoism.

Islam is the majority religion in Azerbaijan. Estimates include 97.3% in 2020 by The World Factbook and 99.2% in the 2006 Demographic and Health Survey according to Pew Research Center of the population identifying as Muslim. A majority of them belong to the Shia branch (55–65% of Muslims), while a significant minority (35%–45%) are Sunni. Traditionally, the differences between these two branches of Islam have not been sharply defined in Azerbaijan.

Shia Muslims in the country typically adhere to the Ja'fari school of Shia Islam, while most Sunni Muslims either the Hanafi or Shafi'i school. Due to many decades of Soviet atheist policy, Muslim religious affiliation in Azerbaijan is largely cultural and ethnic rather than religious. Shia Islam is prevalent in the western, central, and southern regions of the country. Traditionally, villages around Baku and the Lankaran region are considered Shia strongholds. In contrast, Sunni Islam is dominant in the northern regions.

The Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (lit. 'Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights'; sometimes translated as Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups; CEDA) was a short-lived, right-wing political party in the Second Spanish Republic. A Catholic conservative force, it was the political heir to Ángel Herrera Oria's Acción Popular and defined itself in terms of the 'affirmation and defence of the principles of Christian civilization'. It translated this theoretical stand into a political demand for the revision of the anti-Catholic passages of the republican constitution. CEDA saw itself as a defensive organisation, formed to protect religious toleration, family, and private property rights. It was heavily involved in the political disputes leading up to the Spanish Civil War, as well as several revolutionary and counter-revolutionary incidents in the mid-1930s.

The CEDA said that it was defending the Catholic Church in Spain and Christian civilization against authoritarian socialism, state atheism, and religious persecution. It would ultimately become the most popular individual party in Spain in the 1936 elections. The party represented the interests of the Catholic voters as well as the rural population of Spain, most prominently the medium and small peasants and landowners. The party sought the restoration of the powerful role of the Catholic Church that existed in Spain before the establishment of the Republic, and based their program solely on Catholic teaching, calling for land redistribution and industrial reform based on the distributist and corporatist ideals of Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno.

Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on conserving the traditional moral values of a society, typically sourced from a religion. It also aims to preserve traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values, and social institutions, such as traditional family structures, gender roles, sexual relations, national patriotism, and religious traditions. Social conservatism is usually skeptical of social change, instead tending to support the status quo concerning social issues.

Social conservatives also value the rights of religious institutions to participate in the public sphere, thus often supporting government-religious endorsement and opposing state atheism, and in some cases opposing secularism.

Islam arrived in Albania mainly during the Ottoman period when the majority of Albanians over time converted to Islam under Ottoman rule. Following the Albanian National Awakening (Rilindja) tenets and the de-emphasis of religious tradition in Albania, all governments in the 20th century pursued a secularization policy, most aggressively under the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, which actively persecuted Muslims. Due to this policy, Islam, as with all other faiths in the country, underwent radical changes. Decades of state atheism, which ended in 1991, brought a decline in the religious practice of all traditions. The post-communist period and the lifting of legal and other government restrictions on religion allowed Islam to revive through institutions that generated new infrastructure, literature, educational facilities, international transnational links and other social activities.

According to the 2023 census, Islam is the largest religion, with a 50.67% majority of Albanians identifying as Muslim, including 1,101,718 (45.86%) Sunni Muslims, and 115,644 (4.81%) Bektashi Muslims.

The vast majority of people in Kyrgyzstan are Muslims; as of 2019, 90.7% of the country's population were followers of Islam. Muslims in Kyrgyzstan are generally of the Non denominational and Sunni branch, mostly of the Hanafi school, which entered the region during the eighth century. Kyrgyzstan is home to more than 2000 mosques. Most Kyrgyz Muslims practice their religion in a specific way influenced by shamanic tribal customs. There has been a revival of Islamic practices since independence in Kyrgyzstan. For the most part religious leaders deal only with issues of religion and do not reach out to communities, but rather offer services to those who come to the mosque. There are regional differences, with the southern part of the country being more religious. Kyrgyzstan remained a secular state after the fall of communism, which had only superficial influence on religious practice when Kyrgyzstan was a Soviet republic, despite the policy of state atheism. Most of the Russian population of Kyrgyzstan is Russian Orthodox. The Uzbeks, who make up 14.9 percent of the population, are generally Sunni Muslims.