Since the first worship service of the new liberal mosque in Berlin, criticism from Parts of the Islamic world. The initiator of the mosque receives death threats. Now, the Federal government defended the project.
Only under police protection? Entrance to the Ibn-Rushd-Goethe-mosque in the St. Johannis-Church in Berlin-Moabit
Assistance of the highest political office: With unusually sharp words, the Federal government has defended the new liberal Ibn-Rushd-Goethe-mosque against criticism from the Islamic world. Both the Foreign office and the Federal Ministry of the interior rejected in Berlin, Statements of the Turkish religious authority Diyanet and insisted on the freedom of religion. Diyanet is under as the office for religious Affairs of the Turkish Prime Minister. The interior Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate announced that the house will bring the criticism in the next bilateral talks with Ankara.
In order for the debate around the new mosque comes to the highest political level. A week ago, the Berlin-based lawyer and women’s rights activist Seyran Ates opened, the liberal mosque in the premises of an Evangelical Church in Berlin-Moabit, the men and women and people will be open to all sexual orientations. Ates acts as the Imamin and bears in this function, no headgear. Which had caused Anger in the Islamic world. It’s hate rained mails and even death threats against the courageous initiator. It remains to be seen whether the community will soon need to “pray always” under police protection.
Prayer rugs sets ready: the mosque-founder Seyran Ates Berlin
The Turkish religious authority Diyanet brought to the mosque with the movement of the preacher Fethullah Gülen. “It is obvious that this is a project of religious conversion, which for years, under the leadership of Fetö (the Gülen movement, ed. d. Red.) and similar evil organisations is carried out”, – quote the media the authority.
“A threat to social peace”
Interior Ministry spokesman Plate called the criticism of strange and “unacceptable”. It could not be ruled out “that the Statements are suitable to endanger the social peace within Germany”. Since the coup in Turkey in July of last year, Ankara’s strong opposition to the Gülen movement and its institutions, such as schools and threatened, alleged or actual members – according to Reports in Germany.
Both ministries stressed that their criticism was directed not alone against the Turkish religious authority, but also against the top Fatwa authority in Egypt. She had criticized in very strong terms, the mosque contrary to the Islamic faith obligations.
Seyran Ates, a German Muslim and women’s rights activist, wants to reform in Islam
“The state must protect religious freedom“
The foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said, the various Statements were “completely obvious” that “people in Germany have the right to the free exercise of their Religion, to deny, and the right to freedom of opinion and expression limit”. The way the Federal government in all clarity. “How, where, when, and in what ways are people, their Religion, maintain, and exercise, is not a matter for the state. On the contrary, The state has, in our understanding, certainly not a jurisdiction for the evaluation of theological issues, but the duty to protect the freedom of religion as well as freedom of expression and freedom of the press.” And he recalled that Turkey had been recognised in the European Convention on human rights, writing the freedom of religion.
The opening of the liberal mosque had aroused in Germany a sensation and has been internationally observed. It is named after one of the most important representatives of the enlightenment in Islam, the Arab scholar, physician and philosopher Ibn Ruschd, beyond the Arab world, known as Averroes (1126-1198), as well as the great German Poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), whose work “West-östlicher Divan,” one of the great texts of German language for conversation with Islam.
In the mosque women and men to pray together and women preach. The Koran is interpreted in the “historical-critical”. Fully veiled women are not allowed in the mosque. Seyran Ates founded the Initiative for the mosque, the Conservative, not the sovereignty of interpretation should be on Islam.