Amir Zaidan

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Amir Muhammad Adib Zaidan , Arabic أمير محمد أديب زيدان, DMG Amīr Muḥammad Adīb Zaydān (born July 22, 1964 in Ruhaibeh , Syria ) is a Syrian Koran translator and author of German-language books on Islam .

He became known in public as the chairman of the Islamic Religious Community of Hesse (IRH), as a signatory of the so-called “camel fatwa” and as director of the Religious Education Institute (IRPI) of the Islamic Faith Community in Austria (IGGiÖ).

Education and activity

Amir Zaidan studied medicine for one semester in Syria. In 1983 he came to Germany and learned the German language in Heidelberg to study mathematics. He then started studying mathematics in Karlsruhe and after a few years switched to studying plastics technology in Darmstadt without a degree. From 1993 to 1996 he completed a four-year correspondence course in Sharia and Usulud-din (in Arabic) at the " Institut Européen des Sciences Humaines " (IESH) near Château-Chinon in France. Zaidan attended six seminars (in Arabic) in Germany at the “International Center for Islamic Sciences e. V. ”under the direction of Hassan Hitou and from 1999 to 2001 at the University of Jamia-Nizamia an Arabic-language distance learning course in the field of“ Tafsir and 'Ulumul-quran ”. In January 2016 he received his doctorate in the Fiqh department at the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Novi Pazar / Serbia.

Zaidan was a functionary of the Muslim Student Union (MSV) until at least 1993 , where he published his book Fiqh-ul-`ibadat - Introduction to Islamic Worship Services in 1996 and Al-´aqida - Introduction to Iman Contents in 1997 . Zaidan was also active for the " Islamic Council ". In 1994 he founded the Islamic-Christian Working Group in Hessen (ICA-Hessen) with representatives of the Protestant Church, the Catholic Church and the Islamic communities , of which he was Muslim chairman until 2003. In this function, he took part in numerous dialogue events and also acted as a mediator in intercultural conflicts. In 1994 Zaidan co-founded the Islamic Working Group Hessen (IAK-Hessen) , of which he was chairman for three years and which created the religious consensus paper on the principles of Islam , which was approved and signed by all Islamic communities in Hessen. In 1997, the IAK-Hessen dissolved and the Islamic Religious Community of Hessen (IRH) was founded, of which Zaidan was chairman until June 2000.

From 1997 to 2003 Zaidan was a lecturer in the Faculty of Comparative Religious Studies at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. In 1998 he co-founded the first German-language newspaper for Muslims in Hesse, the Friday newspaper , for which he was the editor responsible for Islam and interreligious matters until 2000. In 2001 he founded the “Islamologische Institut e. V. ”, of which he has been Scientific Director ever since. In 2001 Zaidan founded the Abrahamic Forum with representatives of the Jewish community, the Christian churches and Islamic communities , where he was active in the Abrahamic team as a Muslim representative together with a Jewish woman and a Christian theologian until 2003. In 2002, Zaidan sat on the board of the “Society of Muslim Social and Spiritual Scientists” together with the Muslim lawyer Norbert Müller and the former MSV chairman Ibrahim El-Zayat . V. "(GMSG).

In 2003 Zaidan moved to Vienna, where he is the director of the Islamic Religious Education Institute (IRPI), an educational institution of the Islamic Faith Community in Austria (IGGiÖ), and is responsible for the advanced training of Islamic religion teachers in Austria. In 2003 he helped to organize the First European Imams Conference , which passed the “Graz Declaration”. In 2005 Zaidan was also involved in the organization of the First Austrian Imams Conference and the Vienna Conference against Female Genital Circumcision and in 2006 in the 2nd Conference of European Imams and Pastoralists in Vienna . Since 2006, Zaidan has been the editor-in-chief and publisher of the first German-language newspaper for Muslims in Austria: Die Muslimische - Muslimische Allgemeine Zeitung .

Translations

Zaidan's Koran translation at-Tafsīr adopts numerous technical terms as untranslated foreign words. Words such as jihad , Iman , Kufr , Nifaq, Wali or Zakat are not translated in the text, but are explained in terms of content in an appendix. This can make it difficult to read fluently.

Islamology

Unlike Oriental Studies , Arabic Studies and Islamic Studies , the term Islamology in Germany does not refer to a university subject or a recognized science. Zaidan understands Islamology - in contrast to other uses - to be the "teaching of the classical Islamic sciences", which is taught at the established Islamic universities such as Al-Azhar in Cairo. The aim of Islamology is a comprehensive understanding of Islam and its sources. Zaidan sees Islamology as a collective term for the sciences of Islam. They are based on the two primary sources of Islam - the Koran and the Sunna (exemplary traditions of Muhammad) - and include subjects such as Fiqh , Al-qawa'id ul-fiqhiya and Usūl al-fiqh (legal norms and their principles and methodology), Aqida (doctrine of faith), Ulum al-Hadith (hadithology). In this sense, the term is also used in the "Islamological Institute" association he co-founded in 2001 in Hessen.

The so-called camel fatwa

In the media, Zaidan is criticized for a fatwa - an Islamic legal opinion - from 1998, which he signed as chairman of the Fiqh council of the IRH. The fatwa was created at the request of several senior high school students for a planned two-week school trip to Spain:

“A multi-day trip with an overnight stay outside the parental home is not allowed for Muslim women without the company of a mahram (this is a close relative, i.e. the husband, father or brother) and is against Islamic rules. Messenger Muhammad said in the hadith: 'A woman must not travel the distance of day or night travel without a mahram.' Islamic scholars now estimate this distance to be around 81 km. In accordance with the freedom of religion enshrined in the Basic Law and the constitution of the State of Hesse, it is therefore appropriate to exempt Muslim schoolgirls from participating in such school events.
        Frankfurt / Main, January 7, 1998, signed Amir Zaidan "

The fatwa was submitted by the IRH to the responsible education authority, but not published. The IRH did not create any further fatwas in this sense. The name "camel fatwa" was coined by the assumption that the distance of 81 km is the same as the distance that a camel covers in one day. In July 2000, shortly before the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs decided on the IRH's application for Islamic religious instruction, an article appeared in the taz about the fatwa that was circulating among Muslim parents. It is not clear from the text of the fatwa whether it is generally applicable or whether it was created for a specific occasion. Even before, as IAK chairman, Zaidan had demanded a “binding decree for all teachers to exempt Muslim pupils from school-based leisure activities such as class trips, school camp stays, carnival celebrations” from the Hessian state government. In 2007, Zaidan told the city magazine Falter that the fatwa had only been drawn up for this specific case. He would re-sign the fatwa today under the same circumstances.

Allegations of Islamist connections and positions

In Germany, Zaidan was heavily criticized in his function as chairman of the Islamic Working Group Hesse (IAK) and as chairman of the Islamic Religious Community of Hesse (IRH). According to the Hessian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Friday paper published by Zaidan “repeatedly contained clues for extremist efforts”. The Islam expert Ursula Spuler-Stegemann and the member of the Muslim Academy and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Dr. Johannes Kandel rated Zaidan as a "Syrian Muslim Brother" and the Hessian Office for the Protection of the Constitution ascribed him links to the Muslim Brotherhood .

In 2004 Zaidan sued the Hessian Office for the Protection of the Constitution for deletion of his data and thus for the end of the observation. In contrast, his statements in the unsuccessful asylum procedure 1989–2002, in which he had emphasized contacts to the Muslim Brotherhood itself: “I am not officially a member, but I represent the ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood. […] I am not a Muslim Brother, but I have many close contacts with Muslim Brotherhood both in Germany and in other countries, and in particular contacts with leading people in the Muslim Brotherhood. ”As further evidence, allegedly falsified entries as an MSV functionary in the register of associations and also cited the ideological concepts recognizable in his writings. The administrative court rejected Zaidan's claim in 2005 with final and absolute effect.

Similar allegations were made in Austria from September 2006 in the Falter magazine and in the Vienna Landtag and addressed to President Schakfeh on ORF 2 . In September 2007 Jörg Haider described Zaidan as a “radical Islamist” and demanded that he be recalled as director of the IRPI. The IGGiÖ President Anas Schakfeh would be responsible for this , who in May 2006 assessed Zaidan as a “recognized scientist, a moderate Muslim”. Zaidan denies membership in the Muslim Brotherhood and has announced a lawsuit against Haider's statement.

Publications

Reference books

Articles and essays in journals and books

  • Faith and Spirituality in Islam , Muslim Youth in Search of Religious Identity; Muslim youth in Frankfurt am Main (1996)
  • Religions of the world . AMKA, Volume 47, Frankfurt / M. 1996, ISBN 3-931297-05-5
  • The headscarf and the new racism , texts of the Intercultural Council in Germany, 1997
  • Islamic religious instruction at state schools in Germany , Federal Government Commissioner for Foreigners Issues, Series No. 8, Berlin 2000
  • Being a stranger in the village - European experiences and work in the countryside. Intercultural Council in Germany, 2002.
  • Noah Alliance under the Rainbow? , Protestant Central Office for Weltanschauung questions, Jews, Christians and Muslims in conversation, EZW-Texte 163 (Ed. Ulrich Dehn , 2002)
  • Exegesis of the Quran , Evangelical Academy Bad Boll, 2003
  • Education and religion , writings on educational law and educational policy 10, Verlag Österreich, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-7046-3592-8
  • Healing and miracles , theological, historical and medical approaches; Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2007, ISBN 3-534-20074-8

Radio and television broadcasts

  • Thoughts for the day : Amir Zaidan for Ramadan, ORF broadcasts from October 2003 and October 2005
  • Religions of the World - On the Prophet's Birthday : ORF broadcast with Amir Zaidan, April 8, 2006

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aqiidah weekend seminar. (No longer available online.) In: dmk-luma.de. German-speaking Muslim Circle Ludwigshafen Mannheim, archived from the original on August 20, 2017 ; accessed on April 21, 2020 (see section “About the person”).
  2. ↑ Short biography on the website of the German-speaking Islamological Institute
  3. ↑ Jamia Nizamia (Arabic University). In: jamianizamia.org. Retrieved August 20, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Rezultati pretrage za “zaidan” - Faculty za islamske studije. Retrieved on August 20, 2017 (bs-BA).
  5. ^ Suspicious unit In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 6, 1998
  6. ↑ a b c d Judgment of the Wiesbaden Administrative Court ( Memento of November 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (AZ: 6 E 2129/04) of September 14, 2005
  7. ^ Annual conference 2002 of the “Society of Muslim Social and Spiritual Scientists”. V. “(GMSG) Cologne
  8. ↑ Graz Declaration on Determining the Position of Islam in Europe ( Memento of March 8, 2005 in the Internet Archive ), June 2003
  9. ^ Final document of the First Austrian Imams Conference in Vienna, 2005 ( Memento from May 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Muslims active against FGM ( Memento of December 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Vienna Conference against Female Genital Circumcision, June 2005
  11. ↑ Final declaration of the Conference of European Imams and Pastors in Vienna, April 2006 ( Memento of July 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ^ ORF broadcast “Imame Conference in Vienna” , April 10, 2006
  13. ↑ Imams vow to preach values ​​of Islam . In: Washington Times , April 10, 2006
  14. ↑ Norbert Müller: Review for the journal Die Brücke
  15. ↑ For example, in the sense of “sociological historiography” as used by Bassam Tibi , who describes himself as the founder of “Islamology” in Germany, see Bassam Tibi: Trilogy for the foundation of Islamology, which appeared in the series Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch-Wissenschaft (vol. 531/1985, 650/1987 and 889/1991). Civilization conflicts and cultural dialogues. For a new science of Islamology . In: Universitas 5/1995 ISSN  0041-9079 , pages 459-470. The real imam. Islam from Mohammed to the present day . Piper, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-492-22713-9 , page 437.
  16. ↑ Methodology of Islamology ( Memento from September 5, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Fatwa of the Fiqh Council of the IRH of January 7, 1998, signed by the chairman Amir Zaidan ( Memento of July 29, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Ahmet Senyurt: Freedom ends at kilometer 82 . In: taz , July 13, 2000
  19. ↑ a b c Allah and he . In: Falter , May 2, 2006
  20. ↑ Violent CDU criticism of the Islamic religious community of Hesse. In: Wetzlarer Kurier , January 5, 2005
  21. ^ Hessian Constitutional Protection Report 2004 ( Memento of February 3, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
  22. ↑ Ursula Spuler-Stegemann: Churches and universities as contacts for Islamist activists ( Memento from January 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) 2002
  23. ↑ Johannes Kandel: Everyone is for “dialogue” . (PDF; 205 kB) FES , ISBN 3-89892-187-5
  24. ↑ Hot discussion in the Vienna state parliament kismetonline
  25. ^ "In the center" on ORF 2 television discussion on September 16, 2007, 51st minute  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / video.google.com  
  26. ^ Religious education: Head of Islam Academy complains Jörg Haider. In: Die Presse.com , September 24, 2007
  27. ^ The headscarf and the new racism, texts of the Intercultural Council in Germany, 1997 ( Memento from May 11, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
  28. ↑ Amir Zaidan for Ramadan, ORF broadcasts from October 2003 and October 2005
  29. ↑ ORF broadcast Religions of the World - On the Prophet's Birthday , April 8, 2006
personal data
SURNAME Zaidan, Amir
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zaidan, Amir Muhammad Adib (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Syrian Islamologist
DATE OF BIRTH July 22, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Ruhaibeh , Syria