Convert to Islam Tests Boundaries of Germany’s Terror Laws

Islamist preacher Sven Lau talks during a rally in July
in Hamburg, Germany.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Standoff between Islamist preacher Sven Lau and German security agents shows the difficulty of drawing a clear line between opinion and sedition.

WUPPERTAL, Germany—Fundamentalist Islamic preacher Sven Lau claims he has a simple test to separate undercover officers from passersby. He gives them the finger. If they don’t respond, he said, “they’re intelligence agents.”

German authorities have spent at least eight years monitoring Mr. Lau, a 34-year-old ex-firefighter from a Catholic family who now practices a strict form of Islam known as Salafism.

Officials say Mr. Lau is one of the most prominent Islamic preachers in Germany, with a charismatic message that lures young Germans into radical Muslim circles. The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency called Mr. Lau one of the country’s “best-known propagandists.” Authorities allege Mr. Lau inspired some of his followers to join Islamic militants in Syria and Iraq, and fear they will eventually spawn terror attacks in Germany and the West. Read on and comment » | Anton Troianovski | Sunday, November 02, 2014

Salafists Form 'Sharia Police' In Order To Enforce Sharia Law in Germany

RIA NOVOSTI: MOSCOW, Ekaterina Blinova - Eleven members of the self-proclaimed "Sharia Police," which were allegedly trying to "influence and recruit" German youths, were stopped by local police on Wednesday, September 3, in Wuppertal, a city of 350,000.

"These people's intention is to provoke and intimidate and force their ideology (upon others)," claimed Peter Jung, Wuppertal's mayor, adding that Wuppertal has always been an "open and tolerant city, which is proud of the fact that people of different religions and convictions live together in peace," as cited by Deutsche Welle.

The followers of Salafism, a fundamentalist form of Islam were seen on Wednesday, September 3, dressed in orange traffic safety vests with the words 'Sharia Police' on their backs, 'patrolling' the streets of Wuppertal. The Salafi volunteers have declared the nightlife areas of Wuppertal to be a 'Sharia Controlled Zone,' and persuaded young people "to refrain from alcohol, drugs, gambling, attending concerts, watching pornography or visiting prostitutes," the media source notes. » | Saturday, September 06, 2014

Right-Wing Extremism: Germany's New Islamophobia Boom

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Across Germany, right-wing organizations are using anti-Islam rhetoric to further their ideas -- and finding a receptive audience. Now legal experts are debating whether it's time for a new kind of hate-crime legislation.
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Stachus is one of Munich's nicest squares. It is rich in tradition and filled with pedestrians -- and perfect for Michael Stürzenberger's purposes. Hand balled into a fist, he paces back and forth and screams, "The Koran is the most dangerous book in the world." Because a couple dozen people have come to demonstrate against Stürzenberger, police officers in bullet-proof vests are watching over the area.

A decade ago, Stürzenberger, 49, was the spokesperson for the Munich office of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union. But since 2012 he has been active in a splinter party called Die Freiheit ("The Freedom"), of which he was elected federal chairman three months ago. He preaches hate against Islam and compares the Koran to Hitler's "Mein Kampf." For two years now, he's been collecting signatures opposing the planned construction of an Islamic center in Munich. He has already held over one hundred anti-Islam rallies.

The Freiheit leader isn't alone. Several supporters, have joined him on Stachus, some carrying signs such as "No mosque on Stachus," or "Stop the enemies of democracy." Stürzenberger screams that Sharia instructs men to hit women. His voice cracks. "We don't want that in Bavaria!" A retiree asks where he can sign "against Islam."

For most Munich residents, Stürzenberger's verbal assaults are an embarrassment. CSU city councilwoman Marian Hoffman compares his incitements to the "droning speeches of the Nazis." The city government of Mayor Christian Ude, a member of the center-left Social Democrats, is worried about possible conflict during the upcoming local elections. Munich, he says, has become the focus of "experimentation" by radical anti-Islamists with the right-wing populists from Die Freiheit testing whether or not their attacks on the Muslim minority have majority appeal. If Stürzenberger gathers enough signatures for a citizens' initiative against the mosque, it would send a signal across Bavaria and beyond that Muslims are not welcome. » | SPIEGEL Staff | Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Brave German Women against Islamic Prayer in Protestant Church

CBN NEWS: 'Brave German Woman' Rebukes Islam's Lie » | Thursday, February 08, 2014

Koran Handouts in Germany: Freedom of Religion vs Fears of Islamism

Islamic radicals have been distributing free copies of the Koran in downtown Berlin - sparking concerns about the spread of Muslim extremism in Europe. There's nothing illegal however about the move - which those behind it say is freedom of expression. RT's Egor Piskunov investigates.

Koran Handouts in Germany: Freedom of religion... by RTnews

No German, No Benefits: Turkish Family Fights Language Requirement

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Imhan K., a Turkish woman living in Germany, had her welfare benefits slashed after her husband refused to let her take German courses. Now a court must decide whether immigrants can be forced to learn the language and adopt Western mores.

After three-and-a-half years of legal wrangling, there's still no end in sight. At least officially, the case centers on €290.70 ($392). The K. family, thus identified to safeguard its privacy, is made up of ethnic Turks living in Germany. They claim that the state owes them the money. But, in reality, it's a matter of principle.

The questions at the heart of the dispute are: Can immigrants be forced to learn German? Can people who decline such an offer be denied welfare benefits? Or, viewed from the other perspective, can immigrants who live off state benefits refuse to integrate into society, or can they live as a group as if on an island and free of societal obligations?

The case of the K. family is typical of the problems German authorities face in dealing with immigrants from countries such as Turkey who don't want to integrate. » | Bruno Schrep | Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Islam in Germany: The Burqini Ruling Was the Right Call

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A German court ruled Wednesday that schools can require Muslim girls to participate in co-ed swimming classes. They were right to do so -- but not for the reasons many conservatives suggest.

In 2008, the German Islam Conference published an insightful study: Some 3.5 percent of Muslim schoolgirls in Germany don't participate in co-ed swimming classes on religious grounds, provided it is offered at their school. The absolute numbers are tiny.

Nevertheless, the nationwide significance attached to the question of whether Muslims should be allowed to opt out of school swimming is large. Germany's federal administrative court in Leipzig was tasked with clarifying this on Wednesday. The Helene-Lange-Gymnasium, a high school in Frankfurt, required a Muslim girl to take part in swimming class. She had the option, according to the logic of the Culture Ministry, to wear a full-body bathing suit known as a "burqini." Her parents filed a complaint. It was a case in which the educational mission of the state had come into conflict with religious freedom.

The court in Leipzig has now passed judgement: It is reasonable to require Muslim schoolgirls to swim together with boys, assuming she has the option of wearing a burqini.

They were right to do so. » | A Commentary by Dietmar Hipp and Maximilian Popp | Thursday, September 12, 2013

Germany Faced with "Loudspeaker Jihad"
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: "First there was no mention of a muezzin when the mosque was inaugurated; then on Fridays only; then three times a day, now five times a day." — Interview in Die Zeit

A Turkish mosque in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has begun sounding public calls to prayer from an outdoor loudspeaker system mounted on the roof of the edifice.

The mosque is one of a growing number of Islamic institutions in Germany (and other parts of Western Europe) publicly calling the Muslim faithful to prayer -- five times a day, seven days a week -- with cries of Allahu Akbar ("Allah is Greater").

Observers believe a precedent has now been established, and that many of the other 3,000 mosques in Germany will soon begin jumping on the muezzin loudspeaker bandwagon.

The sonorous prayer calls (known as adhan in Arabic) can be heard from great distances when amplified through electric loudspeakers; some German towns and cities are actually beginning to evoke the sounds and images of the Islamic Middle East. » | Soeren Kern | Friday, June 28, 2013


Listen to al adhan here

'Muslims in Germany Have Rights and Obligations'
DEUTSCHE WELLE: For the first time in Germany, a Muslim community has been granted 'corporation under public law' status. Abdullah Uwe Wagishauser, its chairman, tells DW that this includes rights as well as responsibilities.

The Culture Ministry in the state of Hesse has granted Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat (AMJ) in Frankfurt, a Muslim religious community, the status of 'corporation under public law' - a first in Germany.

Legally, the new status puts it on par with the major Christian churches and the Jewish community in Germany. Public corporation status gives the communities certain rights, including the right to pass laws for their organization and raise taxes from members.

Abdullah Uwe Wagishauser has served as AMJ chairman since 1984. Active in Germany since the 1950s, the AMJ, with its 39 mosques and more than 35,000 members in about 225 communities, is regarded as a moderate Muslim reformist movement. » | DW.DE | Interview: Klaus Krämer / db | Editor: Michael Lawton | Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Study: Germans See Islam as a Threat

DEUTSCHE WELLE: A major study of attitudes towards religion says Germans approve of openness towards other religions. But many are still suspicious of Islam.

Former German President Christian Wulff earned much praise but also much criticism when said in a speech during his tenure, "Islam is also a part of Germany."

The criticism can be partly explained by the "Religion Monitor," a survey put together for the Bertelsmann Foundation. The findings have been published, and among them is the fact that half of all Germans believe that Islam does not fit into the Western world.

The study, which surveys views on the social significance of religion and values, was carried out in Germany and 12 other countries, and included the views of 14,000 people.

Among the Germans, 85 percent agreed or tended to agree that one should be open towards all religions. They saw most religions as an enrichment, especially Christianity, also Judaism and Buddhism, but a majority of 51 percent saw Islam as a threat. » | Marcus Lütticke / mll | Monday, April 29, 2013

Salafist Surge: Germany Faces Extremist Islamic Threat (April 28, 2013)
The radical Islamist movement is gaining ground in Germany with immigrants attempting to apply their traditions and laws to their new home. The country's government however is trying to cope the spreading amount of extremist Islamic sentiment. RT's Pieter Oliver reports.

Germany Cracks Down on Critics of Mega-Mosque
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: "Our work of information is not oriented against Muslims, but against the political ideology of Islam. Muslims are its first victims, most of all women." — Politically Incorrect

The Bavarian branch of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), has placed under state surveillance German activists accused of fomenting hate against Muslims due to their opposition to the construction of a mega-mosque in Munich.

The move to silence critics of the mosque for being "unconstitutional" was announced by Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann in a press conference on April 12, and represents an unprecedented threat to the exercise of free speech in post-reunification Germany.

Herrmann made the announcement while presenting an annual report about threats to democratic order in Germany. A seven-minute video of the press conference with subtitles in English can be viewed here.

Herrmann singled out a citizen's movement called Die Freiheit Bayern (Freedom Bavaria), as well as the Munich branch of a highly popular free speech blog called Politically Incorrect (PI), which focuses on topics related to immigration, multiculturalism and Islam in Germany. » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Islam in Germany: SPD Candidate Backs Muslim-Friendly Gym Class
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: When it comes to the integration of Germany's Muslim minority, the center-left Social Democrats tend to be much less hard-line than Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives. But on Wednesday evening, SPD chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrück may have gone a step too far when he waded into what in the past has been a hornet's nest of controversy in Germany. He expressed support for physical education classes in German schools to be divided by gender.

"If schools are able to do it, then they should," Steinbrück said in response to a question from the audience during a campaign appearance in Berlin. A Reuters reporter noted that the comment was greeted with silence. Steinbrück then added that the step should be taken "out of consideration for religious convictions."

Not surprisingly, critique from Merkel's Christian Democrats was immediate. Barbara John, formerly in charge of integration issues for the city-state of Berlin, told the newspaper Bild that the debate was antiquated and that "children and parents have to get used to the fact that genders here grow up together and live with the same rights."

She was seconded by Serkan Tören, a member of the federal parliament with the Free Democrats, Merkel's junior coalition partner. Tören, himself from Turkey, told the tabloid that "dividing boys and girls is akin to dividing society. Splitting classes by gender is also the wrong signal to send when it comes to integrating Muslims in Germany." » | Charles Hawley | Friday, April 05, 2013

Islam Leader Calls for Muslim Holidays in Germany
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Germany is home to some 4 million Muslims. With the long Easter weekend around the corner, a leading member of the country's Muslim community has called for legal recognition of two Muslim holidays, drawing criticism from among Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservatives.

In 2010 former German President Christian Wulff made the assertion that, "Islam belongs in Germany," provoking something of a conservative backlash. Now, Germany's Central Council of Muslims (ZMD) is bringing the topic back into the public eye -- and suggesting the introduction of statutory Muslim holidays throughout Germany.

Council chairman Aiman Mazyek told the Thursday edition of the regional daily Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) that granting one day during the holy month of Ramadan and another on the fast-breaking day of Eid would be "an important sign of integration" and "would emphasize tolerance in our society."

These holidays would not be work-free days for all citizens, specified Mazyek, but rather would serve to give Muslims the legal right not to work on these days. He added that Muslims in public services such as police could stand in for colleagues over Christian holidays like Easter.

The legal recognition of Islam has been a controversial issue in Germany, home to a population of 4 million Muslims which it has been accused of not doing enough to integrate. Public unease with this growing population came to the fore in 2010 when a book by former German central bank board member Thilo Sarrazin, in which he accused Muslims of sponging off welfare and refusing to integrate, was a huge commercial success. » | chw -- with wire reports | Thursday, March 28, 2013

Germany vs. Radical Islamists
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: More recently, Salafists have issued death threats against German politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "The groups aim to change our society in an aggressive belligerent way so that democracy would be replaced by a Salafist system, and the rule of law replaced by Sharia law." — Hans-Peter Friedrich, Ministry of the Interior, Germany

Germany has banned three ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups which the Interior Ministry says want to overturn democracy and install a system based on Islamic Sharia law.

The ban, which took effect in the western German states of Hessen and North Rhine-Westphalia on March 13, comes amid Islamist death threats against German politicians -- and just days after German intelligence announced that the number of Salafists in Germany has jumped over the past year.

The Interior Ministry said that it had banned the groups "DawaFFM" and "Islamische Audios," as well as "An-Nussrah," which is part of the "Millatu Ibrahim" group that was outlawed in June 2012.

In an effort to enforce the ban, hundreds of German police officers raided the homes of radical Islamists in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gladbeck and Solingen, and seized computers, cellphones and electronic storage devices, as well as money, documents and Islamic propaganda videos in Arabic and in German.

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said: "Salafism, as represented in the associations that were banned today, is incompatible with our free democratic order. The groups aim to change our society in an aggressive, belligerent way so that democracy would be replaced by a Salafist system, and the rule of law replaced by Sharia law."

Salafism is a branch of radical Islam based in Saudi Arabia that seeks to establish an Islamic empire (Caliphate) across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe -- and eventually the entire world. The Caliphate would be governed exclusively by Islamic Sharia law, which would apply both to Muslims and to non-Muslims.

Also known as Wahhabis, Salafists believe -- among other anti-Western doctrines -- that democracy must be destroyed and replaced with an Islamic form of government.

Hans-Georg Maaßen, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), told the German newsmagazine Focus on March 10 that the number of committed Salafists in Germany had grown to 4,500 in 2012, compared with 3,800 in 2011.

Although Salafists make up only a fraction of the estimated 4.3 million Muslims in Germany, authorities are concerned that most of those attracted to Salafi ideology are impressionable young Muslims who are especially susceptible to committing suicide attacks in the name of Islam. » | Soeren Kern | Friday, March 15, 2013

Related »

Why Germans Distrust Islam
DEUTSCHE WELLE: Prejudice and the fear of too many foreigners is especially prevalent in Germany. With the growing number of Muslims, distrust of Islam is rising. Why are Germans afraid of the "foreign"?

The cashier at the supermarket wears a headscarf, copies of the Koran are handed out on the streets, and mosques have become part of some cities' landscapes. Islam appears to be encroaching on life in Germany and that bothers a lot of people.

"For decades, woman fought for equal rights, and we have attained something. And now, women are choosing to wear headscarves. I don't want that and it scares me," a unversity-educated woman from Cologne says.

Her attitude is not uncommon. In the long debate over the new Cologne Central Mosque, which will be one of Europe's largest, fear and distrust of Islam have come to light and are widespread. Islamism a "real threat" » | DW.DE | Monday, January 21, 2013

Koran Handouts in Germany: Freedom of Religion vs. Fears of Muslim Extremism

Nazism to 'Salafism': Islamists Threaten Germany

German Dentist Fined for Anti-Hijab Bias
RADIANCE VIEWSWEEKLY: A German court has ruled against a dentist who refused to employ a veiled Muslim woman because she had declined to remove her headscarf, blaming him for breaching the Equal Treatment Act. “The dentist broke the law because he refused the plaintiff the position only because she didn’t want to take off her headscarf,” the spokesman for the Berlin Industrial Tribunal said, reports said on October 20. Applying for an assistant job in his dental practices, the woman was asked by the dentist to remove the veil to get the job. Condemning the move as against non-discrimination laws, the woman took the issue to the court.

At the hearing, the dentist acknowledged the woman was qualified for the position but argued his refusal to employ her stemmed from the right to religious neutrality. The court ordered the dentist to pay 1,500 euros ($1,966) in damages to the young Muslim woman.

The Tagesspiegel newspaper said the decision was the first, and that the court insisted the headscarf was not optional but an expression of religious belief, which was unaffected by the fact some Muslims chose not to wear it. » | Saturday, November 03, 2012

Merkel Urges More Tolerance Towards Muslims

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on her fellow citizens to exercise more tolerance toward the country's 4 million Muslims, stating that Islam is part of Germany. People, she said, need to be careful to differentiate between extremists and the religion itself.

Germany should be more tolerant of its Muslims, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday night, calling the religion part of the country's makeup.

"We should be very open about this and say: Yes, this is part of us," Merkel said during a teleconference with some 7,000 members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union party.

In view of the violent protests that have taken place in recent weeks across the Muslim world against a controversial anti-Islam film and offensive Muhammad caricatures, Merkel said Germans should be careful to differentiate between Islamists and the religion itself. "We must be incredibly careful that we don't lump everyone together," the chancellor said. "The Islamists are not the Islam of Germany."

Indeed, the majority of the around 4 million Muslims living in Germany have distanced themselves from the violence abroad, Merkel said, adding that those who refuse to recognize the country's laws can naturally expect to face legal consequences. » | kla -- with wire reports | Thursday, September 27, 2012