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German Muslims
stayed behind the scene for more than
forty years. |
German Muslims have a unique
position in addressing the issues of identity,
integration, and citizenship. Alongside British
and French Muslims, the German Muslim community,
estimatedat 3.5 million, creates a significant
experience as one of the largest Muslim
population in Western Europe after France.
Unlike Britain and France, Germany was very
late in acknowledging that the "guest
workers" — the large waves of immigrants
— were coming to stay. Another point of
uniqueness is that the majority of the German
Muslims are from Turkish origins.
As European Muslims page continues to present
itself as a platform to discuss the possible
coexistence as well as the serious controversies
in the European& Muslim contexts, we decide
to focus on the experiences of German Muslims.
In our "German Muslims: In Focus"
special folder, we aim to examine the different
hypotheses about the German Muslims' capability
of integration and contributing to building
their country.
Forming the Community
German Muslims stayed behind the scene for
more than forty years. But eventually, they
sprang up. Back in the 1960s, they reached
Germany as guest-workers, mainly from Turkey and
North Africa.
The last ten years witnessed a leap in their
performance towards their society. German
Muslims, who form round 4% of the German
population, being the third largest religious
group in Germany after the Protestant and the
Roman Catholics, are facing a lot of challenges.
According to an article by Suliman Wilms, the
Managing Editor of Globalia Magazine, 84% of the
German Muslims are willing to stay in Germany
and 17% (600,000) of them are already German
citizens.
Turks form the largest majority amongst the
German Muslims. They reached Germany during the
1960s and 1970s, when it suffered from a
shortage in the numbers of workers after the
Second World War, and they came to fill this
gap, and formed the largest majority of
guest-workers, more particularly, of German
Muslims.
They intended to turn back after getting over
their tasks, but time went by, and instead of
returning, the Turks brought over their families
and spouses.
Visibility & Organization
As German Muslims are a religious minority in
a secular community, where religious
manifestations are not welcomed in the public
domains and since Islam was newly emerged in the
last ten years, a huge debate has been raised in
Germany concerning this religion. Muslims have
tried to integrate but many challenges faced
them.
Despite these challenges, many mosques and
Islamic organizations were built. Muslims
started with a few prayer rooms to practice
their religious rituals, but now, more than 2000
prayer rooms are opened. Therefore, Islam has
become recognizable and noticeable in Germany.
Moreover, Muslims started establishing
organizations and Islamic associations. Four of
them are forming the strongest coalition among
these organizations. The Turkish Islamic Union
for Religious Affairs, one of the largest
Islamic organizations in Germany, was founded in
1984 as branch of the Presidency of Muslim
Affairs, based in Cologne. It mainly aims to
teach the Turkish language.
The second organization is the Independent
Union of Islamic Culture centers. Their
superiority came due to the many mosques these
organizations have.
In addition, the Central Council of Muslims
in Germany (ZMD) and the Islamic Council of
Germany, are the two prominent umbrella
organizations among the German Muslims'
formations.
Muslims and non-Muslims established lots of
organizations to define Islam through culture
and amicable activities, such as Inssan
organization. These establishments aim to serve
Muslims and non-Muslims as well. Discussions,
interactive dialogues, and charity work, are
some of the kinds of activities held by these
organizations.
TheGerman State and Its Policy
The political scene in Germany affects the
status of Muslims. One of the major factors in
this context is the immigration laws and
procedures. The German government made the
German language obligatory for spouses from
non-EU nationals, as it considers that as an
essential way to integrate.
It also devoted 155 million euros for German
courses. The government also imposes fines upon
those who refuse to take the German courses.
In an article published by "The
Economist" magazine on July 19, 2007,
Germany issued laws that made it harder
for immigrants to integrate and to come to
Germany. Spouses who join their husbands in
Germany should pass a language test, and also
have to be above 18.
Previously, the non-German was defined as a
social problem, but since 2000, any German-born
child has the authority to take the German
citizenship. Upon reaching the age of 18, they
have to choose between German citizenship and
that of their parents. This condition has made
it harder for the teens to choose between the
two citizenships, which has complicated the
issue of integration among the teens.
Despite that these restrictive laws target
all ethnic minorities in Germany, Turks, being
the largest ethnic minority, consider these
measures as mainly targeting Turks.
Scope & Audience
The special folder "German Muslims: In
Focus" introduces the different attempts
among German Muslims to re-evaluate their
positions, including the issue of representing
Islam and Muslims.
The different generational, ideological,
ethnical and sectarian backgrounds are
considered in the Muslim Voices section.
The State & Society section tackles the
model of integration of the German state, its
immigration laws and policies to achieve the
social cohesion. It also tackles mainstream
attitudes towards Islam and Muslims in the
media, employment, and education.
Anti-Islam and Islamophobic manifestations
and their influence in flourishing extremism are
discussed in the Islamophobia vs. Extremism
section.
The different Muslim lifestyles, in relation
to the larger German context, are presented in
the Life Style section including hijab, halal
foods, and entertainment.
German Muslim youth forms the main target
audience of the folder, which aims to reach them
and analyze their main issues in depth. We are
looking forward to discussing their points of
view, which enables us to know their way of
thinking, and present the state of the young
Muslim generations.
Sources:
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