Islam in Germany
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Owing to labour migration in the 1960s and several waves of political refugees since the 1970s, Islam has become a visible religion in Germany. As of 2009[update], there are 4.3 million Muslims (5.4% of the population). Of these, 1.9 million are German citizens (2.4%)[1]. About 15,000 are converts of German ancestry. c.f. U.S. Department of State (2006)</ref>
Islam is the largest minority religion in the country, with the Protestant and Roman Catholic confessions being the majority religions. The large majority of Muslims in Germany is of Turkish origin (63,2%), followed by smaller groups from Pakistan, countries of the former Yugoslavia, Arab countries, Iran and Afghanistan. Most Muslims live in Berlin and the larger cities of former West Germany. However, unlike in most other European countries, sizeable Muslim communities exist in some rural regions of Germany, especially Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and parts of Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. Owing to the lack of labour immigration before 1989, there are only very few Muslims in the former East Germany. The majority of Muslims in Germany are Sunnis, at 75%. There are some members of the Shia (7%), mostly from Iran. Most Turkish Muslims are Sunnis, but between a fifth and a quarter are believed to be Alevis. The Alevis are a heterodox Muslim sect with few if any outward religious characteristics, who account for between a fifth and a quarter of the population in their native Turkey.
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[edit] History
Muslims first came to Germany as part of the diplomatic, military and economic relations between Germany and the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century.[2] Twenty Muslim soldiers served under Frederick William I of Prussia, at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1745, Frederick II of Prussia established a unit of Muslims in the Prussian army called the "Muslim Riders" and consisting mainly of Bosniaks, Albanians and Tatars. In 1760 the Bosniakcorps was established with about 1000 men.
In 1798 a Muslim cemetery was established in Berlin. The cemetery, which moved in 1866, still exists today[3]. By 1900, there were over 10,000 Muslims in Germany, mostly Slavs and European Turks.[citation needed]
In World War I about 15,000 Muslim prisoners of war were interned in Berlin. The first mosque was established in Berlin in 1915 for these prisoners, though it was closed in 1930. After the war, a small number of Muslims stayed in Berlin.
In the 1920s there was a small Muslim community in Berlin, composed mainly of students and intellectuals. The first mosque built for an established Muslim community in Germany, the Ahmadiyya Mosque Berlin was opened in 1924 by the Indian imam Maulana Sadr-ud-Din. The Central Institute Islam Archive was founded in 1927.
The German section of the World Islamic Congress and the Islam Colloquium, the first German Muslim educational institution for children, were established in 1932.
At this time there were 3,000 Muslims in Germany, 300 of whom were of German descent. The rise of Nazism in the country did not specifically target Muslims at all,[citation needed] but German Muslims lived in an atmosphere of suspicion as a religious minority and were subjected to xenophobia and racism against "non-Aryans" (i.e. non-European foreigners).[citation needed] By the end of World War II there were only a few hundred Muslims living in Germany.[citation needed]
After the West German government inviting foreign workers (g: "Gastarbeiter") this figure sharply rose to currently 4.3 Million (debated) within 2 decades (most of them Turkish from the rural region of Anatolia in Southeast Turkey), sometimes called a "parallel society" within ethnic Germans..
[edit] Organisations
Only a minority of the Muslims residing in Germany are members of religious associations. The ones with the highest numerical strength are:
- Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği (DİTİB): German branch of the Turkish Presidency for Religious Affairs, Cologne
- Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüş: close to the Islamist Saadet Partisi in Turkey, Kerpen near Cologne
- Islamische Gemeinschaft Jamaat un-Nur: German branch of the Risale-i Nur Society (Said Nursi)
- Verband der islamischen Kulturzentren: German branch of the conservative Süleymancı sect in Turkey, Cologne
- Islamische Gemeinschaft in Deutschland organization of Arab Muslims close to the Muslim Brotherhood, Frankfurt
- Verband der Islamischen Gemeinden der Bosniaken: Bosnian Muslims, Kamp-Lintfort near Duisburg
Furthermore there are the following umbrella organisations:
- Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland, domimated by the "Islamische Gemeinschaft in Deutschland" and the "Islamisches Zentrum Aachen"
- Islamrat in Deutschland, dominated by Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüş and its suborganisations
In addition there are numerous local associations without affiliation to any of these organisations. Two organisations have been banned in 2002 because their programme was judged as contrary to the constitution: The "Hizb ut-Tahrir" and the so called "Caliphate State" founded by Cemalettin Kaplan and later lead by his son Metin Kaplan.
[edit] German converts
According to German TV reports, over 4000 Germans converted to Islam in 2006.[4][5] In 1989 a national register run by an Islamic organisation listed over 10,000 German converts.
[edit] Apostates
On January 21, 2007, the Central Council of Ex-Muslims was founded.[6] It is a German association (Verein) of more than 100 non-religious, secular persons of Muslim background or originating from Islamic countries.
[edit] Controversies
Since Islam is not a traditional religion in Germany and most debates about immigration in Germany focus on the religious question, there are several heated disputes about the role of Islam in the German state and society today.
One such issue concerns the wearing of the head-scarf by teachers in schools and universities. The right to practice one's religion, claimed by the teachers in question, contradicts in the view of many the neutral stance of the state towards religion; many people also regard the head-scarf as a political symbol of the oppression of women, even though many Muslim women reject this view. As of 2006, many of the German federal states have introduced legislation banning head-scarves for teachers. It is almost certain that in 2006 these laws will be validated as constitutional. However, unlike in France, there are no laws against the wearing of head-scarves by students.
In the German federal states with the exception of Bremen, Berlin and Brandenburg, lessons of religious education overseen by the respective religious communities are taught as an elective subject in state schools. It is being discussed whether apart from the Catholic and Protestant (and in a few schools, Jewish) religious education that currently exists, a comparable subject of Islamic religious education should be introduced. However, efforts to resolve this issue in cooperation with existing Islamic organisations are hampered by the fact that none of them can be considered as representative of the whole Muslim community.
The construction of mosques occasionally arouses hostile reactions in the neighbourhoods concerned. For example, in 2007 an attempt by Muslims to build a large mosque in Cologne sparked a controversy.[citation needed]
Fears of religious fundamentalism came to the fore after September 11, 2001, especially with respect to religious fundamentalism among second- and third-generation Muslims in Germany. Also the various confrontations between Islamic religious law (Sharia) and the norms of German Grundgesetz and culture are the subject of intense debate. German critics include both liberals and Christian groups. The former claim that Islamic fundamentalism violates basic fundamental rights whereas the latter maintain that Germany is a state and society grounded in the Christian tradition.
It is claimed that a growing number of Muslim immigrants, mostly Turks, are creating a parallel Muslim society in Germany that has links to Islamic fundamentalism.[7]
[edit] Islam and German intellectual life
Several prominent figures of German-language intellectual life are known for their positive attitude to Islam:
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), Germany's most famous literary artist, was writing a verse drama on the life of Muhammad at his death. His work West-östlicher Diwan of 1819 is considered by many Muslims as evidence that Goethe was actually a Muslim. This was claimed in a 1995 fatwa.[8]
- Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866) translated the Qur'an into German.
- Annemarie Schimmel (1922–2003) was a leading scholar of Islam and Sufism and the author of more than 100 books.
- Hans Küng (1928- ), a dissident Catholic theologian at the University of Tübingen, has called for "peace among the religions."
[edit] See also
- List of mosques in Europe
- Islamic Centre Hamburg
- Religion in Germany
- Islamic dress controversy in Europe
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4419533,00.html
- ^ State Policies Towards Muslim Minorities. Sweden, Great Britain and Germany, "Muslims in German History until 1945", Jochen Blaschke
- ^ Islamischer Friedhof am Columbiadamm
- ^ "YouTube - Broadcast Yourself". Youtube.com. Sign Up QuickList (0) Help Sign In. http://youtube.com/watch?v=t96SXeb9pZE. Retrieved on 2008-10-07.
- ^ "YouTube - Broadcast Yourself". Youtube.com. Sign Up QuickList (0) Help Sign In. http://youtube.com/watch?v=c-C3eXsSmQQ. Retrieved on 2008-10-07.
- ^ Website of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims
- ^ German Justice Failures: Paving the Way for a Muslim Parallel Society - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
- ^ Goethe fatwa of 1995 (German)
[edit] Further reading
- Amir-Moazami, Schirin (December 2005). "Muslim Challenges to the Secular Consensus: A German Case Study". Journal of Contemporary European Studies 13 (3): 267–286. doi:.
[edit] External links
- Euro-Islam breaking news on Islam in Europe (legislation, security, opinion polls) including profiles of Islam by country
- Links: Islam in Germany
- Germany: European Muslim Union with its offices in Granada, Spain, Bonn, Istanbul and Sarajevo
- Spiegel Interview With Founder of "Council of Ex-Muslims"
- A German Initiative to Bridge the Gap
