Neukölln meeting place

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Neuköllner meeting (NBS) is an association of which the Islamic- Sunni denomination associated Dar-as-Salam Mosque in Berlin-Neukölln operates. The NBS is visited by up to 1500 believers for Friday prayers, making it one of the largest mosque communities in Berlin. Most of the visitors come from Arab countries, with the native Palestinians making up the largest proportion. The NBS is a member of the Central Council of Muslims and the Islamic Federation , which u. a. is responsible for teaching Islam at schools in Berlin.

The Neukölln meeting place has been the subject of discussions since 2016. On the one hand, because of its commitment to interreligious dialogue, integration and understanding, the mosque community enjoys a reputation among organizations that regularly work with it, such as B. the state center for political education, representatives of the Evangelical and Catholic Church and the Humanist Association or the non-profit association Leadership Berlin - Network Responsibility . The mosque chairman and Imam Mohamed Taha Sabri received u. a. the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin, and the documentary Inschallah "about Taha Sabri and his mosque community won the audience award of the Duisburg Film Week in 2017 .

On the other hand, the mosque community is listed in the constitution protection report of the state of Berlin and is the object of critical reporting e.g. B. on the part of the journalists Sascha Adamek from rbb , Frank Jansen from Tagesspiegel , Ahmad Mansour and blogger Sigrid Herrmann-Marschall and most recently in December 2017 in Bild , BZ and Die Welt . Connections to the Islamic Community in Germany , which is considered by the constitution protection authorities as the German arm of the Muslim Brotherhood , were discussed (see below #Controversy about entry in the protection of the constitution report and #critics at the Neukölln meeting place in detail ).

Engagement against Islamist extremism and anti-Semitism

After the bullying of a Jewish student at the Friedenau School in spring 2017, the Neukölln meeting place under its Imam Taha Sabri initiated a declaration against anti-Semitism and won 12 Muslim associations and 6 imams as co-signers. In the statement it says u. a .: “We were horrified to learn from the media that students of the Jewish faith were and are teased, insulted and threatened by their Muslim classmates because of their religion. We condemn this very much and appeal to all who consider themselves Muslim to also behave worthy of our faith. In our opinion, the discrimination against people of other faiths cannot be justified by the Islamic faith ”. With the statement, the undersigned declare that they are ready to participate in the meet2respect project of the non-profit association Leadership Berlin - Network Responsibility e. V. to speak out against anti-Semitism together with rabbis in the school concerned and other schools at which such incidents occurred. The statement also states that the signatories are committed to the meet2respect declaration of principles of Jewish and Muslim representatives on peaceful coexistence, including the recognition of the State of Israel.

The mosque took part in the laying of the Stolperstein in memory of Jewish murder victims in the Holocaust - rabbis and Jewish religious representatives were guests in the mosque several times. The last time the author and activist Ármin Langer read a book from his book Ein Jude in Neukölln took place on March 1, 2018 . My way to the coexistence of religions in the majority of Palestinians visit mosque instead.

As a sign against Islamist terrorism, the liberal Parisian Imam Hassen Chalghoumi and his Jewish friend, the artist Marek Halter , organized the “March of the Muslims against Terrorism” in July 2017 , during which 60 imams visited places of terror together on the bus to show their grief and to oppose the abuse of their religion. The imam of the Neukölln meeting place, Taha Sabri, took part in the action and mobilized those involved in the Berlin march against terrorism. In an interview with Die Zeit , he said:

“However, one must also acknowledge that these terrorists with their acts of violence are spreading images of my Islam in the world: Islam is terrorism, Islam is blood, Islam is violence. We have to prove that we can produce even stronger images. Of course, the fascist ideology and its few verses from the Koran without context have nothing to do with my religion. But in the end she uses my religion and I owe this protest to her to free her from Islamism. "

After the decision of the US President Donald Trump to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem , there was a protest demonstration by Palestinians in various cities in Germany and Europe. This was followed by great public outrage across the media landscape about Muslim anti-Semitism, especially in view of a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin, at which around ten of the more than 2,000 demonstrators burned Israel flags they had made themselves against the will of the organizers, and according to numerous media should have given mass "death to the Jews" calls. In the generally charged mood, the Dar-as-Salam mosque, which is mostly attended by Palestinians, and its Imam Taha Sabri published a clear appeal against anti-Semitism. In the statement it says u. a .:

“We condemn the anti-Semitic riots, the calls for violence and the public burning of flags in the strongest possible terms. The right to demonstrate must in no way be abused to stir up violence and hatred. Of course, we recognize the unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the USA as an affront to the world community and we agree with our Federal Government that the final political status of Jerusalem must be decided through direct negotiations on the basis of UN resolutions on both sides. However, displeasure with the decision of US President Donald Trump must not lead to legitimate, peaceful protests and demonstrations turning into dangerous hate riots. We call on all Muslims to stand up loudly against anti-Semitism and hostility to Jews. It is the duty of all of us to preserve and protect the internal peace and the pluralistic basic order of Germany. "

At a time when there was a demand in many media that Muslims should finally speak out against anti-Semitism, the Neukölln meeting place sent its renewed appeal against anti-Semitism on December 12, 2017 to over 300 media representatives. However, this was not taken up by a single medium, which in turn u. a. criticized by Martin Germer, pastor of the Berlin Memorial Church in a post in the Tagesspiegel on December 19, 2017, or by Thomas Schimmel, managing director of the Catholic Franciscan Initiative 1219 and chairman of the Long Night of Religions, in an open letter to the rbb.

Controversy over entry in the Berlin Constitutional Protection Report

The association is monitored by the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution and is considered to be close to the Muslim Brotherhood. In the 2016 report on the protection of the constitution, the association is listed under the heading “Muslim Brotherhood” (MB) / “ Islamic Community in Germany e. V. “(IGD) mentioned several times. This is justified with a meeting of the “Fatwa Committee Germany”, which had recently been founded in a hotel and which met on March 11th and 12th, 2016 in the NBS. Participants in the event included many Muslim scholars and theologians from the most diverse currents and associations, including some who are said to be close to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Neukölln meeting place filed a lawsuit against the performance in the 2015 and 2016 Constitutional Protection Report in September 2017. From their point of view, the mention in the report for the protection of the Constitution is based only on a "contact guilt", which relates to a few of the many hundreds of contacts and guest speakers, among other things. a. also those with representatives of the IGD. The IGD is also officially a founding member and a strong individual member of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany and, despite this fact, is not listed in the Federal Constitutional Protection Report, nor does the direct connection mean an obstacle for the Federal Chancellery, Federal President's Office or the Central Council of Jews, joint events to carry out with the Central Council of Muslims.

From an article from the Berliner Morgenpost dated August 21, 2016:

“The Dar-As-Salam Mosque is not a member of the IGD, has no official connection to the association or is financed by it. 'We are autonomous and act alone,' assures Sabri. But he actually knows the chairman of the IGD. Quite well, actually. They were both from Tunisia. Both got involved in the Muslim community. You inevitably have to do with each other. Is that bad or dangerous? According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the IGD is the 'Muslim Brotherhood supporters' organization with the largest number of members in Germany' and something like their extended arm. It is one of the most influential organizations in the Central Council of Muslims (ZMD). Its chairman, Aiman ​​Mazyek, who was born in Aachen, is a regular talk show guest and one of the most important contacts for the federal government when it comes to matters relating to Muslims. Photos show Mazyek next to the Federal Minister of the Interior. Or arm in arm between Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and Federal President Joachim Gauck (independent). "

Aside from the alleged “guilty of contact” with the IGD, the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution has so far failed to provide evidence that women, homosexuals, Jews and Shiites have ever been hounded in the mosque or that violence has been relativized or that preaching has been carried out contrary to our free democratic basic order and the Basic Law . However, such claims are sometimes made by the media, for example in the Tagesspiegel. The mosque community was also able to successfully defend itself legally against a misrepresentation by the Evangelical Press Service, which had described the mosque as “Salafist” in an agency report, which was then adopted by some media and obtained an injunction from the Berlin Administrative Court. The way the media was dealt with - especially with the Neukölln meeting place - meant that on January 3, 2018, an alliance of personalities from the most diverse faiths and work areas publicly called for fair dealings with Muslims in the media, politics and administration. The first signatories included a. Martin Germer, the pastor of the Protestant Memorial Church, who carried out several joint events and memorial services with the Neukölln meeting place; Werner Gräßle, the President of the Lichtenberg District Court, who visited the Neukölln meeting place with a group of gay executives in 2016 and got to know its stakeholders, or Winfriede Schreiber, the former head of the Brandenburg Constitutional Protection, who held a total of 3 events in 2016 and 2017 moderated in the Neukölln meeting place, including u. a. a visit by a group of gay executives to the Neukölln meeting place.

Criticism of the Neukölln meeting place in detail

The association should have connections to the IGD and receive financial support from Kuwait . The rbb reports on indirect financing. Sascha Adamek speaks of a “double face” of the NBS and their imams. The Neukölln meeting place, however, contradicts the allegation of the rbb journalist Sascha Adamek that she received money from Kuwait. In a statement it says:

“During non-binding initial discussions (with the district and the Senate), the NBS asked for a“ clearance certificate ”to be issued so that it could possibly ask foundations in Kuwait for support, as the community is currently not alone with the necessary funds (for an expansion of the building) can muster. But the claim that the NBS is expecting a million donation from Kuwait is simply wrong. "

The Neukölln meeting place accuses journalist Sascha Adamek of deliberately tendentious, false reporting and of not having adhered to the agreement to make a complete interview accessible at least online. In a statement it says:

“We have never kept anything secret and would like to know how this statement could come about. However, due to the lack of access to the interview, we cannot say anything about it. Although you, Mr. Adamek, have repeatedly promised to make the entire interview available to the public and, above all, to us, this has not yet happened. "

In 2009 and again, despite an entry ban, in March 2013, the Saudi preacher Muhammad al-Arifi appeared in the NBS. According to the rbb, the 2009 sermon was shot by the Berlin Salafist Reda Seyam, who has meanwhile risen to become the “Minister of Education” of the so-called “ Islamic State ”, as a cameraman. He is criticized for his ideas about the chastisement of women. In the past, other speakers from the spectrum of the Muslim Brotherhood have also appeared, such as Ahmed al-Khalifa or the native Syrian Houaida Taraji , who was IGD Vice President from 2006 to 2010. The Neukölln meeting place points out in a statement that as a “meeting place” it had hundreds of guests, including critics of Islam like Ahmad Mansour, rabbis like Daniel Alter or Nils Ederberg, representatives of the gay and lesbian community, and politicians from a wide variety of backgrounds Parties including already three representatives of the AfD, but also representatives of other Muslim currents such as the Shiite religious denomination and the Ahmadiyya community were guests and in this respect they consider it unfair to be repeatedly reduced to 2–3 visitors at a different time and other places with Islamist statements attracted negative attention, the visit of which they had publicly regretted several times and which are certainly not welcome again in the NBS.

A visit by the district mayor of Neukölln, Franziska Giffey , earned this severe criticism from her predecessor Heinz Buschkowsky . She defended herself with the words: “I am very well aware that the association is a member of the Islamic Community in Germany, the association of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, almost every Arab mosque in Berlin has connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. ”The Neukölln meeting place rejects this ascription, which is wrong because the IGD only accepts natural persons and not associations as members. But also against the attribution from the Berlin report on the protection of the constitution, on which Dr. Giffey related, the NBS resisted. She therefore filed a lawsuit in September 2017 against her mention in the report for the protection of the constitution on the basis of alleged "connections" to the Islamic community in Germany.

In imitation of the legendary posting of theses by Martin Luther , the Freiburg Islamic scholar Abdel-Hakim Ourghi posted 40 theses on the doors of this mosque. He justified this with the relationship between the teachings of the mosque and the Basic Law and the content of the sermons of Mohamed Taha Sabri . The action of the posting of the theses encountered u. a. to criticism from Martin Germer, the pastor of the Evangelical Memorial Church, who objected in an open letter that Ourghi had only announced his theses to the press, but had not sought a conversation with the community, where he had even been a guest before. Dr. Thomas Schimmel, the chairman of the “Long Night of Religions” in Berlin, who compared the action with a “PR gag” Mohamed Taha Sabrih . The action had legal consequences after the Evangelical Press Service EPD had described the NBS as “Salafist” with reference to statements made by Abdel-Hakim Ourghi. The Neukölln meeting place obtained an injunction against the EPD against what they believed to be a false claim by Abdel-Hakim Ourghi. The EPD then sued the interim injunction with the argument that this attribution was covered by the right to freedom of expression, but was therefore defeated before the Berlin Regional Court in February 2018.

Mohamed Matar gained nationwide fame as a representative of the NBS in December 2017 after saying a prayer for peace at the invitation of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church as a Muslim representative at the memorial event for the attack on Breitscheidplatz . In the Bild newspaper he was a. a. referred to as a radical imam. In a statement, the NBS stated that Mohamed Matar was neither an imam nor radical, but merely the youth chaplain of the community, who was also involved in interreligious dialogue and, for example, was a resident of the Jewish-Muslim housing project DialogWG in autumn 2015.

There are contacts between the Neukölln meeting place and the Palestinian Community in Germany PGD . The rbb reported: "NBS Imam also appeared in Hamas-affiliated organizations". In a statement, the NBS commented on this accusation: “It should be noted that the Palestinian Community in Germany (PGD) rejects the accusation of being an offshoot of Hamas. Apart from that, as far as we know, the PGD was the first to speak out clearly against anti-Semitism and violence to its members after Trump's Jerusalem decision on December 10 (see their Facebook page and website). No medium has reported on this and it is not included in such an article, but only unilaterally taken a simple visit by our Imam Taha Sabri to the PGD as evidence that he himself is part of PGD and Hamas and whatever. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Susanne Lenz: "Inschallah" - An imam from Neukölln in a documentary film portrait . In: Berliner Zeitung , November 20, 2017.
  2. ↑ Start with Gerhard Schöne. In: MOZ. Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Julia Haak: Journalist Adamek - "No extremist movement grows as fast as Salafism" . In: Berliner Zeitung , September 28, 2017.
  4. ^ Frank Jansen: Franziska Giffey visits controversial mosque. In: Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Frank Jansen: Extremists preached in Dar-as-Salam mosque. In: Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Frank Jansen: Imam defends himself against allegations of extremism. In: Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Frank Jansen: Unnecessary flirtation with extremists. In: Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Ahmad Mansour: Islamism expert Ahmad Mansour criticizes the governing mayor after new rbb research. In: presseportal.de. Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Sigrid Herrmann-Marschall: Forward and don't forget: NBS - you should never ask me. Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Radical Imam spoke at a memorial service for victims of terrorism. In: image . Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
  11. ^ Declaration against anti-Semitism
  12. ↑ Muslims in Berlin condemn anti-Semitism and promote tolerance. In: Tagesspiegel. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Muslims in Berlin are concerned about anti-Semitism. In: FOCUS. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  14. ↑ "Muslims should behave worthy of our faith". In: Welt Online . Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  15. ^ Taha Sabri, Imam and board member of the NBS: Joint letter from Muslims against the discrimination and marginalization of Jewish classmates. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  16. ↑ meet2respect
  17. ^ Declaration of principles of Jewish and Muslim representatives on peaceful coexistence. Leadership Berlin - Network Responsibility e. V., accessed on January 4, 2018 .
  18. ↑ A Jew in the mosque. Dar-as-Salam Mosque. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Imams on a peace tour against Islamist terror. In: Domradio.de. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  20. ↑ For them, we are not real Muslims. In: Zeit Online . July 2017, accessed January 4, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Massive "Death to the Jews" calls at the Brandenburg Gate? In: uebermedien.de. Retrieved April 1, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Due to current events - statement on anti-Semitism and the protests in Berlin. In: nbs-ev.de. Neukölln meeting place NBS, accessed on January 4, 2018 .
  23. ↑ "We do not allow ourselves to be turned against each other". In: Tagesspiegel. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  24. ↑ Open letter to the rbb. In: http://nachtderreligionen.de/171220-2/ . Long Night of Religions, accessed January 4, 2017 .
  25. ↑ Neukölln meeting place is in the constitution protection report. Retrieved December 29, 2017 .
  26. ↑ Constitutional Protection Reports . In: 2016, p. 75 ff. August 17, 2017, accessed on December 29, 2017 .
  27. ↑ Neukölln Dar-as-Salam Mosque still under observation. Retrieved December 29, 2017 .
  28. ↑ Mosque Association NBS sued against the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017 ; accessed on December 29, 2017 .
  29. ↑ Neukölln Dar-as-Salam Mosque still under observation. Retrieved December 29, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Marcel Leubecher: Berlin: Neukölln meeting place sued the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution . In: Welt Online . September 7, 2017 ( welt.de [accessed December 29, 2017]).
  31. ↑ Unforgettable. Terror did not win. In: FOCUS. Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
  32. ↑ How Mayor Giffey fell victim to a shit storm. In: Berliner Morgenpost . August 21, 2016, accessed January 5, 2018 .
  33. ^ Reply to "mosque visitors injured five police officers" on tagesspiegel.de. In: Tagesspiegel. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  34. ^ Temporary injunction against EPD 1. In: facebook.com. Neukölln meeting place, accessed on January 4, 2018 .
  35. ^ Temporary injunction against EPD 2. In: facebook.com. Neukölln meeting place, accessed on January 4, 2018 .
  36. ↑ Call for fair treatment of Muslims in the media, politics and administration
  37. ↑ Islam meets LGBTI in the Dar-as-Salam mosque. In: meet2respect. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  38. ↑ Berlin initiative calls for fair treatment of Muslims. In: Tagesspiegel. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
  39. ↑ Mosque association NBS expects donation of millions from Kuwait. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017 ; accessed on December 29, 2017 .
  40. ↑ Mosque Association NBS sued against the protection of the Berlin constitution. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017 ; accessed on January 2, 2018 .
  41. ↑ Sascha Adamek: Sharia capitalism: We finance the fight against our freedom ourselves . Ullstein eBooks, 2017, ISBN 978-3-8437-1648-2 ( google.de [accessed December 29, 2017]).
  42. ↑ RBB tries sensational revelations. Neukölln meeting place, accessed on January 7, 2018 .
  43. ^ RBB - the next attempt. Neukölln meeting place, accessed on January 7, 2018 .
  44. ↑ RBB article from December 15, 2017 - statement. In: nbs-ev.de. Neukölln meeting place, accessed on January 7, 2018 .
  45. ↑ The Saudi hate preacher spoke in Neukölln in 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2017 .
  46. ↑ Islamism expert Ahmad Mansour criticizes the governing mayor after new rbb research: Saudi hate preachers appeared in the Neukölln meeting place as early as 2009 . In: presseportal.de . ( presseportal.de [accessed December 29, 2017]).
  47. ↑ The Dar as-Salam mosque in Berlin-Neukölln. Retrieved December 29, 2017 .
  48. ↑ Statement on allegations from December 26, 2017. NBS e. V., accessed on March 13, 2018 .
  49. ↑ Because of the mosque photo - storm of protest against Franziska Giffey . In: bild.de . ( bild.de [accessed December 29, 2017]).
  50. ↑ rbb exclusive: Mosque Association NBS sues against the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In: rbb24.de. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017 ; accessed on March 13, 2018 .
  51. ↑ Islamic scholar defends "theses" on mosque. In: Domradio.de. Retrieved December 29, 2017 .
  52. ^ Controversial “theses” on the reform of Islam. In: Evangelisch.de. Retrieved March 13, 2018 .
  53. ↑ Don't say Salafism! In: FAZ . Retrieved March 13, 2018 .
  54. ↑ Radical Imam spoke at a memorial service for victims of terrorism. In: BILD newspaper. Retrieved March 13, 2018 .
  55. ↑ Comment on the article in the BILD newspaper from December 26, 2017. In: nbs-ev.de. NBS e. V., accessed on March 13, 2018 .
  56. ↑ Hats off to these Jewish and Muslim participants. DialoWG, archived from the original on February 22, 2017 ; accessed on March 13, 2018 .
  57. ↑ Juanita Villamor-Meyer: Comment on the article in the BILD newspaper from December 26, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017 .
  58. ↑ Sascha Adamek, Jo Goll: The Saudi hate preacher spoke in Neukölln in 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2017 .
  59. ↑ Facebook page
  60. ↑ pgd-online.de
  61. ^ Opinion of the NBS on allegations from the BILD newspaper. In: BILD newspaper. Retrieved March 13, 2018 .