From The Treaty Of Charlemagne And Harun Al-Rashid To The Islam Conference In Berlin
Summary: Bara Mohammed Awad Islam In Germany – An Inventory Of The Historical Perspective And Contemporary Reality
In The Midst Of The Heated Political And Social Debates Witnessed In The European Arena In General, And The German Arena In Particular, The Urgent Need Arises For Voices Of Reason And Solid Scientific Analysis That Steer Clear Of Fleeting Emotions And Prejudices. Based On The Book “Der Islam In Deutschland Eine Bestandsaufnahme”, We Read In This Work A Glimpse Highlighting The Book “Islam In Germany – An Inventory Of Reality” By The Prestigious German Author Mathias Rohe.
Many Long Decades Have Passed And Muslims Have Been Living In Germany As An Integral Part Of Its Demographic And Economic Fabric, Yet, Some Still View Them As Foreigners, And It Even Reaches The Point Where Some Groups Consider Them An Explicit Threat. From This Thorny Standpoint, Mathias Rohe Steps In To Make A Major And Pivotal Contribution Aimed At “Rationalizing” The Debate And Giving It An Objective And Realistic Character, Away From Ideological Tensions. The Book In Its Essence Does Not Merely Ask Questions, But Rather Presents A Detailed Historical Narrative Of The Presence Of Islam In Germany, And Reviews The Massive And Rich Diversity That Characterizes The Contemporary Islamic Presence In The Country.
To Understand The Weight Of This Book, One Must Pause At The Exceptional Personality Of Its Author. Mathias Rohe Is Not Just A Writer Or A Distant Observer, But Rather An Academic Figure Who Combines Two Specializations That Rarely Meet In One Person; He Is An Experienced Jurist And A Profound Researcher In Islamic Studies. Rohe Holds The Position Of Professor Of Civil Law, Private International Law, And Comparative Law At The University Of Erlangen-Nuremberg, In Addition To Being The Founding Director Of The Erlangen Centre For Islam And Law In Europe. This Dual Background Gives Him A Precise Magnifying Glass Through Which He Analyzes The Legal And Sharia Challenges That Muslims Face In Their Daily Lives, Starting From Issues Of Building Mosques, Minarets, And Raising The Call To Prayer, Down To Adhering To Religious Dress Codes, And Observing Rituals Such As Fasting, Circumcision, And Halal Slaughter, As Well As The Extent To Which Islamic Standards Are Compatible With German Law.
In The Introduction To His Book, Rohe Lays Down A Strict And Decisive Methodological Rule For Dissecting The Public Debate In Germany; Which Is The Necessity Of Complete Separation Between Problems Resulting From Immigration Or Economic And Social Conditions, And Issues With A Purely Religious Dimension. The Author Clarifies This Point Through Live Examples From Reality: A Person Who Does Not Master The German Language Well Enough To Get An Education Or Job Opportunity Does Not Need Religious Guidance Or Fatwas, But Simply Needs German Language Lessons. Conversely, If A Person’s Invitation For A Job Interview Is Rejected, Despite Their High Competence, Simply Because Their Family Name Sounds Turkish Or Arabic, This Does Not Reflect A Religious Controversy, But Rather Reveals A Real And Deep Problem In How The German Society Deals With The Repercussions Of Immigration. This Methodological Distinction Posed By Rohe Is Considered The Cornerstone For Any Healthy And Fruitful Debate About Integration And Peaceful Coexistence.
The Writer Takes Us On A Historical Journey To Trace The First Roots Of Encounters Between The Islamic World And Germany, Which Are Encounters Dating Back To Eras Older Than The Founding Of The Modern German State Itself. The Shared History Was Not Just Bloody Conflicts As Some Promote, But Rather Witnessed Milestones Of Early Diplomacy And Cultural Exchange. Historical Records Indicate That Emperor Charlemagne (Karl The Great) Received In 777 In Paderborn The Muslim Ruler Of Zaragoza, Sulayman Al-Arabi, Who Was Expelled By The Emir Of Cordoba, Where They Concluded A Treaty For Cooperation. Accounts Continue About The Legendary Diplomatic Relations That Brought Together Charlemagne And The Abbasid Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, Which Were Relations Primarily Driven By Pragmatic Political Motives And Interests. Because Germany Was Geographically Far From The Direct Lines Of Contact In The First Centuries Of Islam, It Did Not Witness Direct Military Confrontations On Its Lands At That Time, Which Made Mutual Interest Limited In The Beginnings.
With The Dawn Of The Crusades Starting In 1095, Which Lasted For More Than Two Hundred Years, The Encounters Took On A More Intense And Impactful Character. In That Dark Era, Islam Was Portrayed In The European Collective Consciousness As A “Christian Heresy” And A Dangerous Schism. The Church And Political Circles Used Crusader Propaganda To Fuel Emotions, As Muslim Warriors Were Portrayed As Disrespecting Sanctities. These Calls For Wars Were Accompanied By Bloody Repression Campaigns That Targeted Jewish Minorities In Major German Cities Like Cologne, Mainz, And Worms.
However, Amidst The Rubble Of These Wars, Complex Cultural And Human Interactions Emerged. Major German Epic Novels And Poems In The Middle Ages, Such As The Works Of Wolfram Von Eschenbach, Began To Take A Critical Tone Of The Crusades, Emphasizing The Values Of “Chivalry” That Were Embodied On Both The Christian And Muslim Sides. The Most Magnificent Forms Of This Change In European Perception Manifested In The Personality Of Sultan Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi (Saladin), Who Transformed In The German And European Memory Into A Symbol Of The “Noble Pagan”, Due To His Rare Tolerance And Humane Treatment Of His Opponents. The Famous German Writer Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Immortalized This Tolerant View In His Immortal Play “Nathan The Wise” In 1779, Where He Presented Salah Al-Din As A Just And Tolerant Ruler. In A Significant Historical Gesture, The German Emperor Wilhelm II Visited Damascus In 1898, Where He Ordered The Renovation Of The Tomb Of Sultan Salah Al-Din And Placed A Golden Wreath In Appreciation Of His Legacy.
The Matter Was Not Limited To The Change Of Concepts And Visions, But Extended To Include A Large-Scale Cultural And Scientific Transfer That Enriched German Civilization. Knowledge And Arts Flowed From The Islamic World To Europe, And Many Arabic, Persian, And Turkish Words Entered The Core Of The German Language, To Include Fields Of Science Such As “Algebra” And Decoration Such As “Damask” And Daily Essentials Like Seats And Mattresses. In The Field Of Medicine, German Manuscripts In The Fourteenth Century Relied On The Great Scientific Theories Of The Polymath Scholar Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Whose Philosophical And Medical Works Gained A Prestigious Position In Europe.
Perhaps One Of The Most Wonderful Visual Evidences Of This Amazing Cultural Blending Is The Coronation Mantle Of The Emperors Of The Holy Roman Empire Of The German Nation. This Mantle, Which Was Made In The Twelfth Century For The Norman King Roger II Of Sicily, Bears Explicit Arab-Islamic Decorations And Inscriptions, And Was Preserved As Part Of The Empire’s Treasures In The Hospital Of The Holy Spirit In Nuremberg Until 1796 Before Being Moved To Vienna. This Organic Overlap Between The Highest German Sovereign Symbols And Islamic Art Provides Conclusive Proof That Cultural Borders Were Always Fluid And Flexible, And That The Unilateral View That Separates Europe And Islam As Two Completely Contradictory Worlds Is A Short-Sighted View Lacking Historical Depth.
Rohe’s Book Lays The First Brick For A Deeper Understanding Of Contemporary Reality, Emphasizing That The German Relationship With Islam Is Not Only The Product Of Modern Immigration Waves, But Rather An Extension Of An Intertwined And Complex Civilizational Legacy, Carrying Within It Great Lessons About The Possibility Of Coexistence And Positive Interaction If The Will Is Present And The Language Of Reason Prevails Over The Voices Of Extremism And Ignorance.
After We Have Turned The Page Of Early Interactions And Cultural Exchange In The Middle Ages, Mathias Rohe Takes Us In His Book To A Highly Important Historical Station That Formed A Turning Point In The German View Of The Religious Other, Namely The Prussian Era. In This Context, The Name Of King Friedrich The Great (Frederick The Great) Emerges As A Pivotal Figure Who Laid Early Foundations, Albeit Pragmatic In Nature, For Religious Tolerance. In The Mid-Eighteenth Century, Stemming From The Enlightenment Philosophy He Adopted, And Out Of His Desire To Strengthen The Power And Economy Of His State, The King Made His Famous Statement In Which He Confirmed His Readiness To Build Mosques For Turks And Muslims If They Decided To Come And Settle In His Country. These Statements Were Not Just Empty Political Rhetoric, But Were Realistically Reflected Through The Integration Of Muslim Soldiers, Such As Tatars And Bosniaks, Into The Ranks Of The Prussian Army, Which Later Led To The Allocation Of The First Islamic Cemeteries In Berlin, Constituting The First Permanent And Documented Spatial Footprint Of The Islamic Presence On German Lands.
With The Major Geopolitical Transformations That Swept The World In The Late Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, These Ties Deepened To Reach Their Peak During The Strategic And Complex Alliance Between The German Empire And The Ottoman Empire During World War I. Rohe Documents How This Turbulent Period Witnessed The Building Of The First Fully-Fledged Mosque With A Dome And A Minaret In Germany, In 1915 Inside What Was Known As The “Crescent Camp” In The Wünsdorf Area South Of Berlin. Although The Purpose Of This Mosque Was Primarily Political And Propagandistic, As It Was Dedicated To Muslim Prisoners Of War From The Allied Armies With The Aim Of Winning Them Over To Fight Alongside The Central Powers, It Represented A Milestone Architectural And Historical Event. With The End Of The Great War And The Establishment Of The Weimar Republic, Berlin Turned Into A Vibrant Urban Center Teeming With Thinkers, Students, And Muslim Exiles From All Over The World, And This Cultural Movement Culminated In The Construction Of The Wilmersdorf Mosque In 1925, Which Was Not Just A House Of Worship, But A Cultural Edifice That Opened Up To The German Elite And Witnessed Deep Intellectual Dialogues Before The Dark Cloud Of The Nazi Era Cast Its Shadows On The Entire Scene.
However, The Deepest And Most Impactful Demographic Transformation, Which Redrew The Societal Features Of Modern Germany And Forms The Core Of The Sociological Analysis In Rohe’s Book, Emerged From The Womb Of The Destruction Left By World War II. With The Launch Of The Wheel Of The “Economic Miracle” In West Germany, The Country Faced A Severe Shortage Of Manpower, Which Prompted It To Sign Bilateral Agreements To Bring In Labor With Several Countries, Most Notably Turkey In 1961, Then Morocco And Tunisia. The Prevailing Political And Societal View At The Time Was Characterized By Extreme Naivety; These “Guest Workers” Were Treated As Merely Temporary Human Energy, Who Would Work Hard, Reside In Modest Collective Housing, And Return Back After A Few Years. Here, The Brilliant Quote By The Writer Max Frisch, Which Echoes In The Folds Of The Book, Manifests Clearly: “We Asked For Workers, But Human Beings Came.”
These Human Beings Brought With Them Their Hopes, Their Families, Their Cultures, And Of Course Their Religion. Rohe Excels In Narrating The Story Of This Slow And Painful Transition From The Illusion Of The “Temporary” To The Inevitability Of The “Permanent”. In The First Decades, The Islamic Presence In Germany Was Almost Invisible, Where The Practice Of Rituals Was Limited To What Became Known As “Backyard Mosques” Or Dilapidated Basements In Industrial Areas, In An Attempt To Preserve Identity Out Of Sight. But, As These Communities Took Root And Germany Belatedly Realized The Reality Of Its Transformation Into A Country Of Immigration, Muslims Began To Organize Their Ranks. The Battle Moved From Merely Searching For A Space To Pray To Striving Towards “Visibility” In The Public Sphere, Which Was Embodied In The Transition Towards Building Representative Mosques With A Clear Islamic Architectural Character. This Transition From The Shadows To The Light Did Not Pass Quietly, But Rather Ignited Stormy Societal And Political Debates About Architectural Aesthetics, The Freedom To Raise The Call To Prayer, And The Extent To Which The Traditional German Urban Landscape Could Accept These New Religious Symbols.
This Massive Demographic Development, And The Transformation Of Islam From A Passing Phenomenon To A Firmly Established Societal Reality, Inevitably Collided With The Strict German Legal And Institutional Structure. So How Did The German Constitution And Legal System Deal With This Unprecedented Challenge? And How Are Attempts Made To Reconcile The Absolute Freedom Of Belief With The Requirements Of Public Order?
In The Midst Of This Deep Demographic Transformation, And With The Transition Of The Islamic Presence In Germany From A Temporary And Hidden State To A Permanent And Declared State, A Fundamental Dilemma Emerged That Formed And Still Forms The Sensitive Nerve In The Relationship Of The German State With The Muslim Minority. Here, In This Thorny Space, Mathias Rohe’s Brilliance As An Exceptional Legal Scholar Manifests Clearly, As He Takes Us In His Book From Historical And Sociological Observation To Dissecting The German Constitutional And Institutional Structure, Attempting To Untangle The Complex Clash Between The Freedom Of Belief Guaranteed By The Constitution, And The Strict Requirements Of Public Order And The Mechanisms Of Minority Integration.
Rohe Starts From A Solid And Promising Ground At The Same Time, Emphasizing That The “Basic Law” (The German Constitution), Specifically In Its Fourth Article That Guarantees Freedom Of Religion And Belief In An Inviolable Manner, Possesses The Flexibility And Capacity That Makes It Theoretically Capable Of Accommodating Religious Pluralism, Including Islam. The German Constitution Does Not Adopt The Model Of Radical Or Exclusionary Secularism That Sharply Separates Religion From The State (As Is The Case In The French Model), But Rather Adopts A Concept Legally Described As “Open Neutrality” Or “Religion-Friendly Neutrality”. This Concept Allows For An Active Partnership Between The State And Religious Institutions In Vital Areas Such As Education And Social Care. But, If The Constitutional Ground Is This Accommodating, Where Do The Successive Crises Stem From?
The Book Answers This Fundamental Question By Highlighting What Can Be Called The “Structural Dilemma”. The German Legal System Has Been Designed And Developed Over Centuries To Deal With Christian Churches (Catholic And Protestant) With Clear Hierarchical Structures, Central Authority, And Registered Membership. In Contrast, Islam, By Its Theological And Historical Nature, Is Characterized By Absolute Decentralization; There Is No Islamic Church, There Is No Pope For Muslims, And There Is No Supreme Religious Authority That Monopolizes Speaking On Behalf Of Everyone. This Structural Contradiction Made The German State Stand Perplexed: Who Is The Official Partner That Can Be Negotiated With Regarding The Rights Of Muslims, Such As Teaching Islamic Religious Education In Public Schools, Or Collecting Religious Taxes, Or Spiritual Care In Prisons And Hospitals?
This Urgent Institutional Need, Supported By Pressure From The State, Pushed The Muslim Communities To Attempt To “Institutionalize” Their Presence Through The Establishment Of Major Umbrella Associations And Leagues, Such As The Turkish-Islamic Union (DITIB), The Central Council Of Muslims, The Islamic Council, And Others. However, Rohe Astutely Observes That These Entities, Despite Their Importance, Still Suffer From Massive Representational Challenges; They Are Mostly Divided Along Ethnic And National Lines (Turkish, Arab, Bosnian) Or Sectarian Lines (Sunni, Shia, Alevi), And Represent Only A Tiny Percentage Of The Total Muslims In Germany, The Overwhelming Majority Of Whom Prefer Not To Engage In Official Organizational Frameworks. This Complex Mosaic Scene Makes The German State’s Demand For A “Single Voice” Speaking On Behalf Of All Muslims A Demand That Lacks Realism And Ignores The Pluralistic Nature Of Islam Itself.
The German State Did Not Stand Idly By In The Face Of This Intractable Predicament, Which Manifested In A Milestone Political And Historical Step That The Book Observes With Interest, Namely The Establishment Of The “German Islam Conference” In 2006. This Government Initiative Was Tantamount To An Official And Final Declaration That “Islam Has Become A Part Of Germany”, As Senior German Politicians Later Stated. This Conference, Which Gathered State Representatives With Islamic Organizations And Independent Figures, Aimed To Create A Permanent Institutional Dialogue Table To Translate Abstract Constitutional Rights Into Practical Reality. Despite The Many Criticisms Leveled At The Conference, Whether Regarding The Mechanism For Selecting Participants Or The Politicization Of Some Of Its Files, It Achieved Tangible Breakthroughs, Perhaps The Most Important Of Which Was Laying The Foundations For Teaching The Islamic Religion In Public Schools In The German Language, And Establishing Institutes For Islamic Theology In Prestigious German Universities To Graduate Imams And Teachers Fully Aware Of The European Context.
But, Is This Superstructural Institutionalization Enough To End Daily Clashes? Mathias Rohe Moves Us From The Halls Of High-Level Political Dialogue To The Streets Of Cities, The Courtyards Of Courts, And The Classrooms Of Schools, Where The Dry Legal Text Collides With The Pulse Of Daily Life For Muslims. So How Does The German Judiciary Deal With Highly Sensitive And Complex Issues, Such As Wearing The Hijab In Public Jobs, Slaughtering Animals According To Islamic Law, And The Participation Of Girls In Mixed Swimming Classes? And How Do Prejudices Intersect With Legal Texts To Produce Acute Social Crises?
When Walking In The Corridors Of The German Judiciary, It Becomes Clear That The Courts Are No Longer Just Halls For Adjudicating Traditional Disputes, But Have Turned Into An Arena Of Confrontation To Bridge The Gap Between The Constitutional Text And The Realities Of A Diverse Society. In His Book, Mathias Rohe Digs Up A Series Of Hot Legal Files That Have Sparked Heated Debates In The Public Sphere, Pointing Out That The German Judiciary, Especially The Federal Constitutional Court, Has Often Played The Role Of The Protective Bumper For Religious Freedoms In The Face Of Waves Of Political Fear And Popular Pressure.
The Issue Of Wearing The Hijab In The Public Sector, Especially For Female Teachers In Public Schools, Comes At The Forefront Of These Typical Battles. Rohe Reviews The Course Of This Crisis That Began With Banning Muslim Female Teachers From Teaching Under The Pretext Of Preserving “State Neutrality”, And How The Scene Was Flipped When The Federal Constitutional Court Intervened To Overturn The Blanket Ban, Considering That Merely Wearing The Hijab Does Not Pose Sufficient Danger To Undermine School Peace, And That Banning It Should Be Limited Only To Cases That Involve A Tangible And Proven Threat To Neutrality. This Historic Constitutional Decision Represented A Victory For The Concept Of “Positive Neutrality”, Which Does Not Mean Excluding Religious Symbols From The Public Sphere, But Rather Coexisting With Their Diversity.
And The Issue Of Halal Slaughter Was No Less Complex; The Freedom To Practice Religious Rituals For Muslims (And Jews) Collided Directly With The Principle Of Animal Protection Enshrined In The German Constitution. Here Rohe Explains How Legal Jurisprudence Was Able To Find A Balanced Way Out, As Judicial Decisions Provided Legal Exceptions Allowing Slaughter According To Sharia Provisions Under Strict Conditions That Ensure The Humane Treatment Of Animals And Respect Legitimate Religious Practices, Refusing To Sacrifice A Fundamental Right For The Benefit Of General Legislation Without Considering The Religious Exception.
In Schools, The Debate Extended To Details Of Students’ Daily Lives, Such As Mixed Swimming Classes And School Trips. Rohe Analyzes How The Courts Seek To Achieve A Delicate Balance Between The State’s Duty In Education And The Social Upbringing Of The Child On The One Hand, And Parental Rights And Freedom Of Belief On The Other. In Most Cases, The Judiciary Tended Towards Finding Practical Compromises, Such As Permitting Muslim Female Students To Wear Modest Swimwear (The Sharia Swimsuit/Burkini), Avoiding The Total Exclusion Of Female Students Or Imposing Strict Coercion, And Emphasizing That Compromise Solutions Are The Only Way To Preserve Social Cohesion.
And Perhaps The Most Prominent Legal And Humanitarian Touchstone The Country Has Witnessed In Recent Years Was Represented By The Controversy That Erupted In 2012 Over Male Circumcision For Religious Reasons, Following A Ruling Issued By A Court In Cologne That Considered Circumcision To Be Bodily Harm. The Book Recounts How This Ruling Caused A State Of Shock And Deep Concern Among Both The Islamic And Jewish Communities Alike, And How The Legislative Authority (The German Parliament – The Bundestag) Rushed In A Decisive Manner To Enact A New Law That Clearly Guarantees The Legality Of Male Circumcision According To Medical Controls And Specific Standards, So That The German Legislator Reaffirmed Over And Over Its Commitment To Protecting Authentic Religious Traditions And Preventing Their Exclusion.
These Legal Battles, As Rohe Concludes, Reflect A Tangible Reality: The German Legal System Possesses High Flexibility To Accommodate Islamic Practices, But The Real Crisis Does Not Lie In The Law Itself, But Rather In Stereotypical Ideas And Anti-Islamic Sentiments That Sneak Into Public Discourse And Media Coverages. So How Do These Misconceptions And The Phenomenon Of “Anti-Islamism” (Islamophobia) Affect The Lives Of Muslims In Society? And How Do Muslims Themselves Interact With These Challenges Through Intellectual Diversity And Differing Religious Trends In Their Ranks?
Mathias Rohe Takes Us To The Depths Of The Social And Psychological Scene That Frames The Lives Of Muslims In Germany Today, Where The Challenges Do Not Stop At The Corridors Of Courts And Government Bureaus, But Rather Exceed Them To Touch The Details Of Daily Living And The View Of The Broader Society. The Author Boldly And Objectively Analyzes The Phenomenon Of “Anti-Islamism” Or What Is Known As Islamophobia, Pointing Out That It Is No Longer Limited To Extreme Right-Wing Margins, But Has Started Spewing Its Poison In Some Circles Of The Middle Class And General Media Discourse, Under The Pretext Of Defending “European Value” Or The Unjustified Fear Of The “Islamization Of The West”.
And Rohe Believes That Superficial Media Coverages That Regularly Focus On Crises And The Behaviors Of The Extremist Few Contribute Directly To Charging Public Opinion And Entrenching Negative Stereotypes. The Crimes Or Individual Behaviors Of Some Immigrants Are Often Reduced To Their Religious Background, While The Amazing Successes And Tireless Daily Contributions Of Millions Of Muslims In The Fields Of Medicine, Engineering, Education, Banking, And Arts Are Ignored. This Media Distortion, According To Rohe, Creates A Wall Of Mutual Suspicion, Where The Ordinary Muslim Always Finds Himself In The Position Of The “Accused” Demanded To Apologize For Actions He Has Nothing To Do With, Or Provide Continuous Proofs Of His Loyalty To The State And The Constitution.
But In Return, Rohe Refuses To Reduce Muslims In Germany To A Single Mold Or Treat Them As A Solid Homogeneous Mass. One Of The Most Important Contributions The Book Offers Is Highlighting The Amazing Internal Diversity That Characterizes The Islamic Presence In Germany. Muslims There Represent A Complex Mosaic Of Nationalities And Cultural Backgrounds; From The Turks Who Make Up The Historical Majority, To Arabs, Bosnians, Kurds, Pakistanis, Afghans, And Citizens Of The Former Soviet Republics, As Well As Native German Citizens Who Converted To Islam. This Ethnic Pluralism Is Accompanied By An Amazing Richness In Intellectual And Sectarian Orientations, Starting From Sunnis, Shias, And Alevis, Down To Sufi Orders And Secular Or Reformist Currents That Seek To Reinterpret Religious Texts In A Way That Suits The Modern European Context.
The Author Also Notes The Rise Of A Confident New Generation Of Muslim Youth Born And Raised In Germany. These Youths Do Not View Themselves As Foreigners Or Guests, But As German Citizens With Full Rights And Duties, Speaking German As One Of Their Mother Tongues, And Loudly Demanding Justice And Equality. This Generation Refuses To Be Made To Choose Between Their Islam And Their German Identity, Overcoming The Illusions Of Emotional Isolation To Create A New Model For “German Islam” That Marries Faithful Authenticity With Active Integration In An Open And Diverse Society.
However, This Optimism About The New Generation Collides With Two Parallel Dangers That The Writer Strongly Warns Against: The Danger Of Extremist Groups And Radical Salafism That Try To Polarize Marginalized Youth And Feed Their Feelings Of Isolation On The One Hand, And The Danger Of Racist Anti-Islamic Discourse Fueled By The Populist Right On The Other Hand. Both Currents Feed Off Each Other In A Vicious Circle That Threatens Civil Peace. So How Can German Society And Muslims Together Break This Closed Circle? And What Are The Future Recommendations And Final Vision Put Forward By Mathias Rohe To Consolidate Sustainable Coexistence?
Reaching The Last Station In Which The Author Presents His Forward-Looking Vision And A Set Of Practical Recommendations To Consolidate The Pillars Of Sustainable Coexistence Between The German State And Muslim Citizens. Rohe Rationally Refuses To Surrender To The Illusions Of The “Inevitability Of Civilizational Conflict”, Emphasizing That The Future Is Not An Inevitable Fate Imposed From Above, But Rather The Result Of Conscious Choices And Political And Social Decisions Made By Both Sides Of The Equation Today. The Basic Starting Point Towards A More Harmonious Future Lies In Rational Pragmatism And Prioritizing The Policy Of Practical Steps Over Futile Ideological Debates That Merely Charge Souls Without Providing Solutions.
Rohe Demands The German State And Societal Institutions The Necessity Of Actually Transitioning From The Stage Of Theoretical Recognition Of The Islamic Presence To The Stage Of Full Institutional Empowerment. This Requires Continuing To Expand The Scope Of Teaching Islamic Religious Education In All German States According To Recognized National Curricula, And Completing The Support For Institutes Of Islamic Theology In Universities To Provide Religious Cadres And Imams Who Master The German Language And Know The Cultural And Social Fabric Of European Society Deeply. He Also Emphasizes The Importance Of Granting Islamic Institutions And Leagues Rights Equal To Those Enjoyed By Christian Churches, Provided That They Fulfill Constitutional Conditions And Gradually Abandon Their Reliance On External Political Funding Or Direction, Which Enhances The Independence Of Local Islamic Decision-Making And Makes These Institutions An Authentic Representative Of Germany’s Muslims.
And In Return, The Writer Directs A Balanced And Frank Discourse To Muslims In Germany, Calling On Them To Embrace Their Dual Identity With Awareness And Pride, And To Practice Active Citizenship Away From The Cocoon Of Isolationism Or Retreating Into Oneself Driven By A Feeling Of Marginalization. True Integration, As Rohe Sees It, Does Not Mean Cultural Dissolution Or Abandoning Religious Constants, But Rather Means Active Participation In Political, Social, Syndical, And Voluntary Life. Islamic Institutions Also Bear A Moral And Legal Obligation To Decisively Confront All Forms Of Extremism And Exaggeration, Spread The Culture Of Open Dialogue, And Develop Islamic Jurisprudence In A Way That Suits The Context Of The State Of Law And Modern Democracy.
• The Published Opinions Do Not Necessarily Express The Opinion Of Nile Post.Harun Al-Rashid
