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Islam in concrete. On the conflict surrounding the construction of a Friday mosque in Cologne-Ehrenfeld

Islam in Germany pushes for state recognition. Representative mosques are certainly the wrong instrument because they rather deepen the divide between Islamic and German culture, says Necla Kelek.

Mosques are not churches

If one wishes to see the largest mosque in Ankara, the Kocatepe Camii, one initially stands in front of a shopping centre. One goes through the trousers and shirts department of the department store until one finds the stairway to the mosque.

Religious Muslim during prayer
Photo: AP

The enormous mosque, which has in the mean time been incorporated into the city coat of arms, rests across its whole width over a shop. This is a tradition in Islam, as the Prophet himself was a merchant, and many practices within this faith are based upon trading with God. The mosque in another district of the Turkish capital city, too, is very distinctive – built as all new mosques in Turkey in the old style – as on its ground floor resides a shop selling the famous ”cek-yat” (pull and lie down) sofa beds.

Mosques, masjids, locations at which one throws oneself down. In Islamic tradition, these are not holy sites, but places where the men in a community gather for prayer and for business. In Islamic tradition, the mosque is a social and not a sacred place.
The Koran only mentions mosques in one verse "…in houses, concerning which God has given His consent to have them built and to have His name mentioned within them. …”(Koran Sure 24 , Verse 36)

Mohammed met his followers there; as the scholar of Mohammedanism, Peter Heine wrote in his 'Islam-Lexikon', (Dictionary) mosques fulfilled administrative functions: "Meetings of the tribal councils took place here, and they (the mosques) were the gathering grounds before men sallied forth on a crescentade”.

Two types of prayer houses have emerged. One is the prayer room for believers' daily prayer, and the other is the "Friday mosque", in which prayers are made and sermons are held on Fridays. Friday mosques have always had a political character; it is from these mosques that the Caliph announced his doctrine. The size and the interior of the Cologne mosque signify that it is not a house of prayer, but rather one of these "Friday mosques”.

In principle, there is nothing to be said against such a building being erected in Germany. Everybody has a right to religion and congregation. But the Islamic associations are not recognised religious communities. They have not attempted to receive this recognition; although they could apply for it at any time in the federal states - just as the Alevites, a religious persuasion which is not recognised by other Islamic associations as being Muslim, have already done successfully. However, the Milli Görus and the DITIB (a German branch of the Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Presidency of Religious Affairs)) have failed to do this so far – obviously they have assessed themselves as not having the prerequisites to apply. They prefer to build their mosques first, rely as a result of the Islam conference on political recognition at a federal level and hide themselves until then behind cultural associations and other legitimate auxiliary constructions. This saves them critical questions about members, financing and the influence of foreign governments.

Even following Muslim readings, mosques are not sacred buildings such as churches and synagogues, but "multi-functional houses”. This is preferred to be kept secret. Just like the fact that Islam is not a church. Islam does not define itself as a spiritual establishment, but as a philosophy of life which sees life, politics and religion as one unit. There is no mandatory theological doctrine. In this respect, the Islam associations function as a religious party; a political lobby. This means that the construction of mosques is not a question of religious freedom, but of political freedom. Building laws and Association laws are overstrained for matters such as these. For this reason, one criterion for the approval of a construction for a political Islam association should be the answer to the following question: are the laws maintained e.g. is it ensured that women are not discriminated against? And a second question may and must be asked: do such constructions serve to aid integration? Here, there is room for doubt. In the way Islam is practised in many mosques in Germany, it has proved itself a barrier against integration and is the germ cell of a counter-society. The larger mosques in Germany in particular have developed into "Medinas”. There, Muslims practice unchecked what they call the law of God. There, not only is spirituality cultivated and the salvation of believers cared for, but the world view of another society is taught and a life according to the sharia. There, children learn to distance themselves from German society - there, they learn to divide society into believers and non-believers. They learn that women have to serve men and that Germans are impure, because they eat pork and are not circumcised. All this takes place with no supervision whatsoever. These mosques develop into centres in which all requirements can be satisfied, as though they were a small town. Usually, a Koran school, kosher food shops, travel agencies, hairdressers, undertakers, restaurants and tearooms can be found in units in their immediate vicinity. Everything which a Muslim might need outside of his residence - everything if he doesn't just wish to pray, but also wishes to have nothing to do with German society.

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