“The secular nature of the country does allow Muslims as a minority to prove their mettle,” said Zayat.

BERLIN, November 21, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – As Angela Merkel will become Germany’s first woman chancellor Tuesday, November 22, German Muslims have adopted a "wait and see" stand, expressing cautious optimism at her grand coalition’s position on the burning issue of integration.

“Though immigrants are expected to experience hard times under the new grand coalition, Merkel and her new interior minister have made some positive gestures on their integration,” Ibrahim Al-Zayat, the chairman of the Muslim Assembly in Germany, told IslamOnline.net Monday, November 21.

“The new government is made up of Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), which both will dominate parliament and eclipse opposition parties defending the minorities like the Greens.

“But the secular nature of the country does allow Muslims as a minority to prove their mettle as the state guarantees freedom of expression for religious establishments and protects them since they play a pivotal role in public life,” Zayat added.

The Christian Democrats and the SPD will form Germany's first “grand coalition” since 1969, commanding a crushing majority of 448 of the 614 seats in the parliament's lower house.

The two main parties will also dominate the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat.

Merkel was forced to form a “grand coalition” after neither of the two main parties was able to secure a clear majority for either the left or the right in a September 18 general election.

Merkel's party is known for its anti-migrants stand. (Reuters)

Despite Merkel's party's visibly anti-migrants' stand, Zayat highlighted some positive gestures made by Merkel and her new interior minister on the integration of immigrants.

“Merkel reached out to Muslims when one member of her party suggested recognizing the Hamburg Declaration, a group of Muslim leaders hoped to liaise with authorities on behalf of the minority,” he said.

“Add to that, the new interior minister, Wolfgang Schäuble does not bear grudges towards Muslims unlike his predecessor Otto Schily, though it is too soon to jump to conclusions.”

Schäuble said last week that the integration file comes high on the agenda of the new government.

German daily Frankfurter Rundschau, however, said that Schäuble’s pledge will be put to the test while criticizing the new government for failing to come up with a clear vision on integration.

“It remains to be seen how this government is enthusiastic about providing job opportunities to the immigrants, educating their children and improving their living standards,” the paper commented in an editorial.

Zayat warned that Muslims are boiling over “injustice” done to them, citing a state ban on hijab in several states.

There are some 3.4 million Muslims in Germany, two thirds of whom are of Turkish origin.

Islam comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity.