BONN, January 24, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Renowned German Muslim scholar Murad Hoffman Advised his fellow Muslims in the European country to uphold their Islamic identity, ignore their own ethnic divisions and live the true essence of their faith, not just focus on the code of dress, in their bid to face Islamophobia and get integrated in the society.

He, however, rejected terms like "European Islam" and "civilized Muslims".

"I believe that the terms mean that Muslims get overwhelmed by the European style and a civilized Muslim should not pray, fast or meet other religious obligations, simply saying that they hold God inside their heart.

"We don't want this model," he told IslamOnline.net Monday January 23.

"We always have to remind our surrounding environment that we do not accept being dissolved under the concept of integration. Theoretically, Europe is a construction made of different blocks and each block can keep its identity. I call this integration," he said.

When people speak integration – especially in Germany – they mean getting dissolved and that Islam remains only a folklore, he added.

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.

Western Muslims – as the case in the Muslim world – suffer from internal racial divisions, he said, noting that some Muslims in Germany say they pray in a Moroccan, Tunisian or Turkish mosque instead of simply saying they pray in a mosque.

"The first step in integrating Muslims in the society is to put racial identity aside, stop sectarian struggle and not getting identified with a specific religious sect," he pointed out.

The German Muslim scholar also rejected the focus of Muslims on the code of dress of Islam.

"We have to explain the true tenets of Islam. And this can not be achieved by roaming around in a jilbab, turban or head cover. If we do this, we present Islam as a strange thing. We have to present Islam as one of the three monotheistic faiths," he said.

Hoffman further urged Muslims to abandon radicalism. "In fact, there are Muslims who scare their own fellow Muslims," he said, noting that radicalism results from changing the notion of religion to armed racism.

He advised Muslims to adhere to the Noble Qur'an and Sunnah (Prophetic Tradition) in solving their daily problems.

"Every Muslim should embrace Islam anew," he said, explaining that Islam for Muslims-by-birth becomes a routine.

Third-generation Muslims constitute the dominant bridge between Islam and the West, he pointed out.

"They have the complete chance to be accepted in the society here, since they speak fluent German. They are recognized as Muslims by their names and not by their costumes or language which is very important.

"This generation does not accept that they merely exist in Germany. They need recognition and acceptance and seek social justice."

The main mission of the third-generation Muslims in Europe is to get Islam out of cellars, he said, noting that Germany has over 2,000 mosques, the majority of them are in cellars that nobody sees.

"Although they are fine and clean, they do not represent Islam since it is not a cellars' religion," he said.

Hoffman also criticized anti-Islam campaigns after 9/11 attacks on the United States.

"On the contrary, more people are embracing Islam," he said, noting that the number of Germans accepting Islam annually has increased to 1,000 people, the majority of them are females.

Hoffman has a PhD degree from an American university. He worked as head of the NATO information agency and served as German ambassador in Algeria. He embraced Islam in 1980 and performed hajj.