Germany: Muslim migrants are ordered to grow beards in mosques that are more extreme than their homeland
Indoctrination fears as Syrians who have moved to Germany complain that they are being ordered to grow beards in mosques that are more conservative than their homeland
- A dozen Syrians in six places of worship in three German cities spoke out
- Uncomfortable with very conservative ways in Arabic speaking mosques
- Say they’ve been criticised for way they dress and practise their religion
- Hani Salam escaped war in Syria but says mosque in Cologne worries him
- Man told him that ‘good Muslims grow beards, not moustaches’
Syrians in Germany have spoken out about the country’s Arab mosques, which they say are more conservative than those at home.
Hani Salam escaped civil war in Syria and survived the journey from Egypt to Europe.
But when he saw men with bushy long beards at a mosque near his current home in Cologne last November, he was worried.
The men’s appearance reminded him of Jaish
al-Islam, the Islamist rebels who took over his hometown near Damascus,
said Salam, 36, who wears a moustache but no beard. One of them told
Salam that ‘good Muslims grow beards, not moustaches,’ he recalled – a
centuries-old idea that he dismisses.
‘Everything about this mosque made me feel uneasy,’ he said.
Muslims pray during Friday prayers at the
Turkish Kuba Camii mosque located near a hotel housing refugees in
Cologne’s district of Kalk, Germany.
Over two months, a dozen Syrians in six
places of worship in three cities told Reuters they were uncomfortable
with very conservative messages in Arabic-speaking mosques. People have
criticised the way the newcomers dress and practise their religion, they
said. Some insisted the Koran be interpreted word-for-word.
It is a highly contentious issue in a
country where Europe’s migrant influx is already having deep political
and social consequences.
In Germany this year Alternative for
Germany, a populist party that says Islam is incompatible with the
German constitution, has gained ground. There have been several attacks
by militant Muslims. Syrians and others say the mosque problem is adding
to mistrust.
In Germany, other different faiths are
traditionally supported by the state. But most of the country’s four
million Muslims originally came from Turkey and attend Turkish-speaking
mosques which are partly funded by Ankara.
Young Muslims listen to a Turkish imam during Friday prayers at the Turkish Kuba Camii mosque
A view shows the Turkish Kuba Camii mosque near a hotel (in rear) housing refugees in Cologne’s district of Kalk
Many Syrians do not want to go to Turkish mosques because they do not understand the sermons.
Last year around 890,000 asylum-seekers,
more than 70 percent of them Muslims, entered the country. Around a
third came from Syria. Many of them do not want to go to Turkish mosques
because they do not understand the sermons. They prefer to worship
where people speak Arabic.
Yet in these mosques, other problems
arise. They are often short of funds, or else supported by Saudi Arabia
and the Gulf states. Some back ultra-conservative or highly literal
interpretations of Islam, such as Wahhabism or Salafism.
‘Unfortunately it is true that a large
majority of Arabic-speaking mosques are more conservative than Turkish
mosques,’ said Professor Mouhannad Khorchide, who heads the Centre for
Islamic Theology at Muenster University. That poses problems for
integrating those who are less conservative.
‘How can one absorb these people if they
are interested in their religion?’ said Khorchide. ‘When there is a
shortage of offers the Salafists try to fill the gap.’
In Cologne, Salam said that 75 Syrians
live in the same hotel as his family. Of them, only one veiled woman
prays at the nearest Arabic mosque.
A Muslim prays during Friday prayers at the Turkish Kuba Camii mosque on October 14
Unlike Turkish mosques (pictured), Arabic
mosques in Germany often back ultra-conservative or highly literal
interpretations of Islam, such as Wahhabism or Salafism.
‘One time when I was there, a Salafist
asked a young Arab man to leave because he was wearing shorts,’ he
added. ‘At the Turkish mosque no one cares what you’re wearing.’
In a windowless ground floor room inside
the Arabic mosque one Friday in August, some 200 men, including about
two dozen with bushy beards and trimmed moustaches typical of
ultra-Orthodox Muslims, crowded for prayers.
Afterwards, a worshipper scolded three
Lebanese men for saluting him when he entered the mosque. They had
interrupted the sermon, which he said was forbidden. ‘Your Friday is
gone!’ he told them, lifting his hands toward his face and pressing his
fingers together to emphasise that their actions had made their prayers
void.
The imam who led the prayers said the
community is not political or violent. Asked about the Syrians who felt
uncomfortable at mosques like his, he said: ‘It’s an honour to be called
a Salafist. We are only interested in giving members of our community
pure Islamic teachings.’
Even though Salam can’t understand the sermons in Turkish, he said he has started going to a Turkish mosque instead.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has recorded more than 320 attempts by Salafist Muslims to contact refugees last year
Some Syrians worry that if they go to Arabic-speaking mosques, they may be seen as radicals.
A 2008 survey of Muslims and Christians in
Europe by the state-funded WZB Berlin Social Science Centre found
fundamentalist attitudes were less prevalent among German Muslims than
elsewhere in Europe, but still quite widespread: For example, nearly
half the Muslims it surveyed in Germany felt religious law to be more
important than secular law.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has
recorded more than 320 attempts by Salafist Muslims to contact refugees
last year, often by offering food, clothes, free copies of the Koran
and help with German to asylum seekers living in shelters.
Earlier this month, a Syrian committed
suicide in prison after he was arrested on suspicion of planning to bomb
an airport. His brother and friends in Germany have said he was
‘brainwashed’ by ultra-conservative imams in Berlin.
The intelligence agency has advised local authorities against housing asylum-seekers near Salafist or Wahhabi mosques.
‘We know of at least 90 Islamist mosques
where activities aimed at refugees are taking place. These mosques are
largely Arab-dominated and influenced by Salafism,’ said Hans-Georg
Maassen, head of the agency.
At the al-Nur mosque in Berlin, which is
run by Wahhabis, Syrian Abed al-Hafian said he was alarmed by a strict
interpretation of the Koran and Hadith, a collection of sayings of the
prophet. He recalled a sentence from Hadith that the preacher quoted on
his first Friday: ‘Every novelty (in religion) is innovation, and every
innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance leads to the hellfire.’
‘I had never heard that sentence in
Syria,’ said the 42-year-old father of three, who arrived in 2014. ‘The
message is clear and is directed at us Muslims: ‘Don’t you dare
interpret your religion. Take the Koran word for word.’ It’s a problem.’
He said he decided to take what he wants from the sermons and ‘ignore the rest.’
Even though officials accept that not all
Salafists are violent, some Syrians worry that if they go to
Arabic-speaking mosques, they may be seen as radicals.
A Muslim arrives for Friday prayers at the
al-Tawheed mosque, located on the ground floor of a residential building
in Cologne’s district of Kalk, Germany.
In Hamburg, Syrian Kurd Abu Mohammad said
he has avoided going to a mosque since he arrived in Germany two years
ago because his parents, who came here a decade ago, told him it could
only bring trouble.
‘The government is obviously monitoring
Salafists,’ said the 32-year-old father of six, using a nickname because
he said he fears for his safety and that of relatives still living in
Damascus.
‘I have a two-year visa and the last thing I want is trouble.’
The problem may be rooted in the schisms
in Islam, but it is made worse by the structure of religious funding in
Germany. Since the start of the 20th century Germany has had a system of
collecting taxes for worship, which are then paid out to religious
groups like Catholics, Protestants and Jews.
Muslims cannot benefit from this, because
the four main organisations that represent Muslims in Germany can’t
agree to merge into one religious body, a requirement to receive taxes.
‘Most communities can’t even afford a
proper mosque … And most can’t pay a well-educated imam to serve their
community,’ said Daniel Abdin, co-chairman of the Shura Council in
Hamburg, an umbrella organisation for the city’s Muslim community.
‘So you end up with a situation where people with little or no knowledge of modern theology are serving as imams.’
Five years ago, the government set up five
Islamic theology centres to train imams and Islamic educators with a
20-million-euro ($22 million) grant from the Education Ministry. The
strategy has been partly successful: Islamic studies are taught to
Muslim pupils in many schools.
But few of the more than 1,800 students who have graduated from the theology centres have gone on to serve as local imams.
Nonetheless, Khorchide and other Islam
experts are hopeful that the influx of Muslim asylum-seekers with an
open approach to religion is an opportunity to promote a more ‘moderate’
Islam in the Arabic-speaking mosques.
In Hamburg, Abu Mohammad says he has stopped attending mosque at all.
‘I pray at home,’ he said. ‘I’m sure Allah listens.’
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