BERLIN,
April 17, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Building places of worship is no
longer an easy job for Germany’s Muslim minority, already facing a
vicious campaign spearheaded by the country’s Christian opposition.
The
building of the Grand Mosque in Berlin has been suspended since
January after a local court ruled that the mosque officials should
give guarantees to the neighbors that construction works would not
cause damages to properties, the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper
reported on Saturday, April 16.
The
mosque's construction works, championed by the Islamic league for
humanitarian works, began in December 2004.
The
Berlin construction department has refused to give license to the
Islamic Council of Ahl-ul-Bait in Germany (Irab) to expand a mosque in
the capital but this time without giving any reasons.
Similarly,
the municipality council in the Berlin district of Noe Kohlen rejected
a request by the Islamic Insaan body to build a cultural center
and a mosque, prompting the organization to take its case to court.
There
are 2,200 mosques and prayer rooms in Germany, most of which are built
by Turkish bodies. The oldest mosque in Germany was built in the
capital Berlin in 1924.
Work
is in full swing in Dusiburg to build Germany’s biggest mosque
funded by the government, the European Union and Muslim bodies in the
north-central European country.
The
construction of the mosque, with a capacity to accommodate 3,000
worshipers, is expected to be completed by early 2007.
Under
the German constitution, acknowledged Islamic bodies have the right to
receive government assistance to establish Islamic centers.
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The
opposition Christian Democratic Union pressed for more
restrictions on the Muslim minority.
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More
Restrictions
The
Berliner Morgenpost's report came only one day after the
Christian opposition pressed for more restrictions on the Muslim
minority.
During
a parliamentary session on Friday, April 15, the Christian Democratic
Union criticized the government for failure in tackling threats to
national security posed by “Islamic extremists”.
The
opposition party proposed, inter alia, banning their political
activities and scraping their residency permits.
“It
is unacceptable to allow foreigners to move between Islamic
extremists’ training camps in and outside Germany,” it claimed on
its Web site.
A
study recently conducted by the University of Bielefeld’s Institute
for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence showed that
Islamophobia was
on
the rise in Germany.
However,
a German intelligence report
revealed
that only one percent of Germany’s Muslim minority are members of
organizations that pose serious threats to the country’s national
security.
Islam
comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity.
There
are some 3.4 million Muslims in the country, including 220,000 in
Berlin. Turks make up an estimated two thirds of the minority.
Germany’s
mass-circulation Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported in
July that Germans reverting to Islam have risen dramatically in the
past few years and are keen on leaving their indelible marks on
society.
