Schilly said Islam should be recognized and its cultural effect on European societies be appreciated

By Khaled Schmitt, IOL Correspondent

BERLIN, March 19 (IslamOnline.net) – German Muslims reacted with furious condemnation to the Madrid blasts, while rejecting suggestions for mosques to be under video surveillance or for Islam to be associated with terrorism.

Muslims strongly condemn the attacks and also attempts to link the name of their religion to any of such crimes, Central Council of Muslims chairman Nadeem Elyas said in an interview with German public broadcaster Deutschlandradio  late Wednesday, March 17.

The railway explosions that left more than 200 people dead and 1,500 others injured were blamed on ETA separatist group and Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.

Elyas said that Islam - as Christianity and democracy - could be exploited and misused in what he called abhorrent and unilateral way.

In Islam, aggression against innocent people is “a grave sin and a heinous crime, irrespective of the victim's religion, country, or race”.

Elyas warned that discrimination against Muslims in Germany – estimated at four million - is on the rise in the country, saying that suggestions to put mosques under surveillance is a case in point.

He said that suggestions that mosques be put under video surveillance were excessive and effectively made the majority of Muslims feel hostile toward the state.

Politicians' failure to take confidence-building measures, he warned, could cause Muslims to lose faith in the state.

The Muslim way of life should be accepted as long as it complies with the law, he said, adding that he experienced the opposite in regard to recent legal decisions restricting wearing hijab (by Muslim females) and the ritual sacrificial slaughter of livestock.

Elyas noted that police had recently searched more than 80 mosques and thousands of offices and private homes during the last two years but had found nothing.

They had only managed to alienate the Muslim community, he lamented.

Nonetheless, “we must indeed try to exclude fringe groups and to win over the majority of German Muslims as partners,” Elyas said.

Hard Situation

Weighing in, the Catholic Church urged German institutions to draw a line between moderate Muslims and other extremist elements in the community.

Islam should not be linked with terrorism, as pointing a finger at Muslims for the Madrid blasts does not justify generalizing accusations against the heavenly religion, Catholic Church bishop Karl Lehmann told Duetsche Welle.

Karl urged moderate Muslims to raise their voice of clear opposition to extremist groups and strengthening dialogue with Christians in the country.

German churches should also work hard to help better integrate Muslims in society.

Healthy Relation

The government prided in the fact that most Muslims in the country are of the moderate trend.

The community should work to attract this moderate majority for playing an active role that would bloc turning mosques into springboards for hostility to others, German Interior Minister Otte Schilly told the semi-official ARD channel Wednesday.

For setting up a healthy relation between the two sides, this requires recognition of Islam and its cultural effect on European societies, he added.

A new survey unveiled in December that Islamophobia is on the rise in Germany, with many people in the European country seeing Islam as incompatible with the western culture and civilization.

The poll revealed a number of surprises, including the rising anti-Islamic sentiments among middle-class Germans, rather than being limited to right-extremist groups.

It also found 65 per cent of the 3,000 people polled totally against Islam, claiming that its precincts are not harmonious with the atmosphere in the West.

Seven German states backed last year a legislation barring  hijab – an obligatory dress code in Islam - at a recent meeting of 16 regional ministers for culture, education and religious affairs in the western German city of Darmstadt while eight opposed such laws.

New Campaign

In the meantime, German security police launched a new wave of massive investigations into the Muslim community in search for individuals they suspect of being linked to “terrorism”.

The plan for the new campaign, which would be carried out by all workers in security bodies, depends on sensitive inquiry and hunting for the suspects on the minutest details.

It gives patrols and border guards broader powers to check the identity and bank accounts of suspects and frisk them.

Deutsche Welle said Thursday, March 18, that federal and regional German politicians are working on plans to overhaul the country's domestic intelligence service to be better able to combat terrorism and avoid attacks similar to the Madrid bombings last week.

Officials in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia said Monday, March 15, they have opened probes into more than a dozen suspected Islamic extremists with ties to the King Fahd Academy in Bonn, a private, Saudi-funded school that has been under investigation for alleged fundamentalist teachings.

In May 2003, German police announced the failure of a campaign to put on trial a single “terrorist” for alleged involvement in the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York.

The campaign included inspecting the details of personal life and bank accounts and external flights for more than 59,000 Muslims.