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The new mosque in Duisburg-Marxloh has drawn widespread admiration. |
Germany's largest mosque was opened recently in Duisburg, an old industrial city in the west of Germany, formerly best known for its steel. The mosque belongs to DITIB, an organization connected to Turkey's Ministry of Religion. It is not situated in the city centre or in a central, visible place, rather in the more outlying district of Marxloh, an old workers' quarter with a high proportion of Muslim immigrants.
The new mosque in Duisburg-Marxloh has drawn widespread admiration, not on account of its size but because its construction, unlike many other mosque projects, was relatively free of conflict.
What effects could such a large mosque have on the image of Muslims in the society, and what potentially positive contributions can come from the Muslim-majority districts of European cities, which are often referred to – wrongly – as ghettos? In this respect there are similarities as well as differences between European cities. Take France's banlieues for example. They are not really anything like Germany's immigrant urban districts.
What can nevertheless be said is that cities are becoming noticeably more segregated along ethnic, social and income lines. There are also more and more districts in which immigrants, especially Muslims, not only constitute the statistical majority, but also play a growing role in providing economic and social infrastructure from which the non-Muslim population can also benefit.
The concentration of immigrant and in particular Muslim populations in particular districts of big European cities has long been the subject of heated debate. Some sociologists have argued that segregation of this kind can have positive as well as negative effects. The social networks it encourages can provide immigrants with security, identity and self-confidence, they say, and can help them get used to the new society. Common needs can also be addressed mutually. What is generally agreed on, however, is that this should not become static.
There has been a counter-tendency – in Germany it was especially pronounced in the early 1990s – in which residents of immigrant areas who had become more affluent moved away into districts populated in the majority by indigenous people. But still, why do so many other immigrants remain in their ethnic colonies, which to outsiders look so unappealing, even when they could afford to live in other areas? Often it is precisely the ethnic infrastructure and social networks that have developed which assure them a better standard of living. Not that the infrastructure should necessarily be called "Islamic"; rather perhaps "ethnic/Muslim", be it Turkish as in Germany, North African as in France and Belgium, or Pakistani as in the United Kingdom.
In districts struggling under an ageing populace, social decline and the drifting-away of the old-established population, it can sometimes seem that the immigrants themselves, most of whom are Muslim, are what keep the otherwise dying district alive. But the problem with ethnic colonies is that they can become set in their modest ways, and so become impervious to social growth and contact with other ethnic groups. In this context it means that Muslims of a particular ethnicity keep to themselves because of their ethnically defined infrastructure, and have too little contact with the majority society and other ethnic groups. One consequence is that the majority population often comes to view Islam as a mainly oriental, cultural affair which has nothing to do with them. Another consequence is that many Muslim communities remain ethnically divided. Only over the past ten years have other tendencies emerged among younger generations, who are showing a greater openness towards majority peoples and Muslims of other ethnic origin.
Taking Germany as an example, the services offered by the Muslim population are generally received well among the indigenous. This has long been the case with restaurants and food stores, but nowadays many people also call on Muslim doctors, mechanics and building companies, to name but a few examples. However, when it comes to the mosques and the Muslims' charitable services in general, things still look at times sparse, although the mosques can play an important social role.
"The communities (meaning the mosque communities) function as a link not only between religious and ethnic groups, but also between citizens and administration, so they contribute towards the running of the society as a whole," wrote Gerdien Jonker and Andreas Kapphan in a study of mosques in Berlin in 1999. That is why countries like Sweden and the Netherlands support some mosques financially and in the building up of infrastructure.
A tendency does exist for mosques to assume more of a church-like role; in Germany this can be said of some of the large Turkish organizations. They may offer services such as language courses, sports clubs and so on, aimed especially at members of their own associations, but they fall well short of the classical function of the Osmanli "Külliye", which included a soup kitchen, healthcare and similar social welfare services directed at the general populace including non-Muslims. Nor have economic services emerged such as the setting-up of open, free markets.
Clearly it has not yet been realized that these kinds of facilities can be useful to the public in general if they are properly established and properly presented. Having said that, mosque associations have become more open to the outside world, especially since the 1990s. There are "open days" and contacts have been established with other social institutions, and some mosques run initiatives to combat drugs and criminality.
Looking at the United Kingdom, the signs are that minorities will become majorities in many cities over the next ten to twenty years – and similar changes can be seen in other European countries. In Britain, however, unlike France or Germany, social and ethnic diversity and self-organization has been officially recognized and promoted, and there has been little pressure to integrate, which is why ethnic segregation and the independent existence of groups is more pronounced there than elsewhere.
Some years ago the state began to realize that this policy was creating more segregation than was desirable, and they launched a new initiative called "community cohesion," which is a bottom-up approach in which the different segments of the populace establish contact with one another and get to know each other better. It aims to strengthen a sense of togetherness and create equal opportunities for all, while continuing to acknowledge diversity.
Architect and town planner Mahmud Manning wrote a dissertation about the city of Bradford, one of the cities with the highest proportion of ethnic minorities in Britain. Bradford is often considered Britain's test case for anything relating to the Muslim minority.
"Friday prayers are always full and overflowing, high street trade is vibrant, dynamic and a refreshing counter-point to "official" city mall shopping centers. As city centers have imploded, shored up by regeneration injections – Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle – the Muslim population finds itself in an interesting position. Take them out of Bradford and the city collapses," claims Mahmud Manning.
Case Study: Marxloh, Duisburg
In the weeks since its opening, many non-Muslim, individuals and groups, have visited the new mosque to see it and find out more; which proves that there is a considerable interest.
In 2006, Duisburg-based social scientist Dr. Rauf Ceylan published an acclaimed paper on ethnic colonies using a similar district as an example. He considers the new mosque to be well placed, because, he says, mosques have to be built in places where Muslims live, they have to be near and easy to get to. "The building of the mosque has had many good effects, even before it was finished," believes Ceylan.
"The area is now cast in a completely different light, not just a negative one any more; the mosque has upgraded Marxloh's image." Ceylan also likes the fact that the mosque combines different functions. As well as the prayer room there is "a bistro, seminar rooms, a kitchen and a meeting place where events can be held." The mosque, he says, is already collaborating with other local players and the local authorities, and has applied for funding for a range of activities.
Ceylan cites the ethnic economy as another of Marxloh's plus-points. One industry which is flourishing is wedding clothing, for which customers come from all over Germany and even the Netherlands and Belgium. Although Marxloh used to be a workers' district it has gradually become a zone of high unemployment (around 20%), especially among the youth, which is definitely a major problem. But, Ceylan claims, the immigrant population – and especially the Muslims – represent considerable social capital. "Immigrants have the space here to express themselves culturally and socially in a way other areas of the city do not allow." The problems of districts like Marxloh, he says, are caused not by the presence of immigrants but by factors like high unemployment levels and the lower quality of schools.
In this part of town, around 60 percent of the population comes from an immigrant background. Inhabitants of Turkish origin command most of the infrastructure, which in turn attracts Turkish residents from other parts of the city. "Immigrant entrepreneurs are often very willing to take risks but have insufficient business sense, which is why there is a high level of fluctuation among enterprises." In addition to the typical, traditional ethnic businesses there are an increasing number of Muslim lawyers, doctors and other academically qualified professionals, who in turn create other jobs and represent a real economic factor, reports Dr. Rauf Ceylan.
Turkish people now own many shops and businesses in the centre of Duisburg as well, even if you cannot tell from the outside, and that provides jobs for members of the majority population. Many first-generation immigrants chose Marxloh consciously, and some have purchased property, which means that many of the second generation also remain there. There are of course social climbers who move away from the area. "Then again, there are also members of the indigenous German population who choose to live in Marxloh because they favor a multicultural lifestyle – students and academics, for instance." There are no visible conflicts in living together, he says, day-to-day living is harmonious and there are no uncrossable borders between the ethnic groups. Marxloh has an institutional Round Table which citizens can participate in.
"Migration always means social, cultural and also economic renewal," says the social scientist. "Immigrants have not only helped to halt the process of decay in these districts, they have breathed new life into them. And since more than 35% of the people of Duisburg are from an immigrant background, this will at some point apply to the city as a whole." The importance of the mosque, says Ceylan, has not been appreciated by German politicians, who instead make mosques into objects of scandal. But in reality they are social centers offering a range of activities which have brought forth a young and largely well-educated generation of people. The historical division of Turkish Muslims into different groupings, and their segregation from non-Turkish Muslims, which Ceylan and others criticize like the ethnic division of Muslims in Germany generally, is expected to disappear gradually as this new generation develops.
According to Rauf Ceylan, conditions in the ethnic districts of German cities are nothing like those of France's banlieues. The standard of living in the German areas is much better, the problems less pressing. "We don't have ghettos in Germany. An American journalist who visited Marxloh with me was astonished when I told him people call this part of Duisburg a ghetto. He said that if he were to live in Duisburg he would live there, because it was less boring than other parts of town, more colorful and lively." Poverty may be considerable, but you do not see homeless Turks because their families take them in. "The social capital is very important and is often undervalued. People help each other. That helps to alleviate and absorb poverty," says the sociologist.
"The iftar Tents that we know from Islamic tradition should be opened up to everyone again, rather than becoming meeting points for elites as they have," suggests Dr. Rauf Ceylan. Other things such as a soup kitchen and free homework tutoring, including for non-Muslims, could be part of a service offered to the wider community, and the funds could come from zakah and charitable donations.
The collapse of urban culture and social cohesion in Europe brings with it many opportunities for Muslim minorities. Indeed there are already many ways in which they can contribute positively to society. Yet this will require a change in consciousness, something which is only just beginning to make itself felt.
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