Ideas about Islam (its versions, origins, social and cultural significance, etc.) have long been present in school history courses, and also in the “Man and Society” course. The “Man and Society” course was launched in the early 1990s in secondary schools in grades 9, 10 and 11 after Azerbaijan had left the USSR. The course maintained it was a certain act of innovation. It was claimed that this course would be new in terms of its content and thus would have little in common with the “Social Science” course launched in the Soviet times. It was quite natural to expect that the religion of the majority of the population, Islam, would in any case be mentioned in the textbooks for the course, which aimed at forming the “correct” citizens. Azerbaijani nationalism referred to Islam as one of the most important foundations of the identity of Azerbaijanis, along with the Azerbaijani language. At the same time, the system of secular education is not aimed at focusing on teaching religious rules, norms and rituals. Rather it is a question of symbolic identity – the declarative ascription of Azerbaijanis to Islam as one of the most significant bases of their identity. In this context Islam, for the time being, remains only one of the component parts of ethnicity (“our” religion), though a significant one. Representations of Islam in school have gone through a noticeable change of dynamics in the post-Soviet situation. It gradually lost all competitors in the shape of other religious systems, and atheism definitively gave up. At the same time, the system of secular education is not aimed at focusing at teaching religious rules, norms and rituals. It is rather a question of symbolic identity – the declarative ascription of Azerbaijanis to Islam as one of the most significant foundations of their identity. “The mirror is broken” and the pieces may never be collected. Children in school are taught to be nationalistic and to not consider themselves part of the “Muslim World/civilization.” In this context Islam, for the time being, remains only one of the component parts of Azerbaijani ethnicity (“our” religion), albeit a significant one.