Alhambra Society
| Alhambra Society | |
|---|---|
| founding | 2017 |
| Seat | Cologne , Germany |
| main emphasis | political education work for Muslims in Europe |
| people | Ali Baş , chairman |
| Members | unknown |
| Website | alhambra-gesellschaft.de |
The Alhambra Society is a Muslim association in Germany which, according to its guiding principles, wants to achieve a "positive self-perception based on the idea of international understanding". As an association of Muslims “who see themselves as an original part of European history and their respective European home society”, the Alhambra Society wants to work through political education and offer a broad platform for debate. The association neither organizes services nor maintains mosques.
Among the founding members of the Alhambra Society are two former officials from DITIB and the IGMG . She is a member of the German Islam Conference of the 19th legislative period.
Projects
The Alhambra Society organizes discussion formats and lecture series such as the “Friday Words” and “The Muslim Quartet”. There, socio-political problems are discussed which, according to their own statements, find little or no place in Muslim religious communities and established mosque associations. The spectrum of topics ranges from finding a home, anti-Semitism , LGBT , social inequality and belief in times of social networks to climate change .
At the “Muslim Quartet” guests from various areas of politics and society give presentations. So far refereed about the writer Feridun Zaimoglu , comedian Fatih Çevikkollu , the Islamic scholar Shirin Amir Moazami and the social scientist Naika Foroutan .
In November 2018, the Alhambra Society expanded its range of events to include culture with the intercultural concert “Symphonie pour David” by the Concerto Foscari ensemble .
Classification and criticism
The Alhambra society is perceived in the media and in politics as one of the new, more liberal groups on the Muslim spectrum. The association itself “advocates an Islam that takes moderate conservatives as well as liberals with it and lives the bond with Germany as normal - without breaking with the influences of the culture of origin”. This attitude is criticized by large parts of the conservative Islamic associations. Some Turkish-speaking media were also critical and even defamatory.
With Engin Karahan , former vice-general secretary of the IGMG , and Murat Kayman , former coordinator of the national associations in the Ditib headquarters, two former functionaries of DITIB and IGMG sit on the advisory board of the Alhambra Society . Eren Güvercin , who works as a freelance journalist, is one of the better-known figures .
The club officials reacted positively to the discussion about a German Islam. At the Islam Conference, representatives of society emphasized the importance of this question.
This is how the deputy Chairwoman of the Alhambra Society, Aydin Süer, in his keynote speech at the German Islam Conference, addressed the question of an Islam that is based in Germany as follows:
“Diaspora is over. We don't live in a foreign country. Germany has become home to us Muslims. "
At the same time, he also opposed a generalization of the perception of Muslims: “It is more important to recognize and recognize the diversity of Muslim voices and forms of expression in this country and - regardless of where and how you position yourself - Muslims just not to lump all together. "
Till-Reimer Stoldt praised the work and the topic of the association in the WELT : “And: There are small fine intellectual clubs like the Alhambra Society, which Güvercin founded exactly a year ago in Cologne. A good dozen Muslim academics have organized there to initiate precisely this debate: what is German, European-based Islam? What contours can and should it have? "
"Of all the new associations, the Alhambra Society has achieved nationwide awareness the fastest," writes journalist Kemal Hür , who is critical of the association, in a critical article about the Alhambra Society. The director of the “Frankfurt Research Center Global Islam” at Goethe University , Professor Susanne Schröter , describes the Alhambra Society as a “rising star” among the new Muslim associations because of its rapid recognition as a partner in federal politics, and points to the founder Kayman is critical: Kayman has always attacked Ditib critics sharply and accused them of Islamophobia. Now he pretends to have always been critical himself. The founders of the Alhambra Society had left the old associations, but it was questionable whether they had also changed their minds. “We have associations that are financed from abroad. But we also have ultra-conservative Muslims outside the associations, ”says Schröter.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Who we are. Retrieved on November 26, 2018 (German).
- ↑ a b Katrin Elger: Islam in Germany: New Muslim Association wants to change the culture of debate . In: Spiegel Online . December 8, 2017 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 18, 2018]).
- ↑ Friday Words . In: Friday Words . ( freitagsworte.de [accessed on November 26, 2018]).
- ↑ Alhambra Society. Retrieved November 26, 2018 .
- ↑ event. Retrieved on November 26, 2018 (German).
- ↑ Till-Reimer Stoldt: German Islam Conference: Conservative associations fear a German Islam . In: THE WORLD . November 27, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed December 2, 2018]).
- ↑ Also German - a contribution of Murat Kayman the 25th anniversary of the attack in Solingen - Ufuq.de . In: Ufuq.de . June 4, 2018 ( ufuq.de [accessed November 18, 2018]).
- ↑ Till-Reimer Stoldt: In search of a German Islam . In: THE WORLD . September 8, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed November 18, 2018]).
- ↑ tagesschau.de: Can there be a "German Islam"? Retrieved November 29, 2018 (German).
- ^ DIK: Muslims in Germany - German Muslims . ( alhambra-gesellschaft.de [accessed December 2, 2018]).
- ↑ Till-Reimer Stoldt: In search of a German Islam . In: THE WORLD . September 8, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed November 26, 2018]).
- ↑ Kemal Hür: From his shadow. TAGESSPIEGEL, November 6, 2018, accessed on November 6, 2018 .