April, 2004

MUSLIMS IN GERMANY: THE LAW VS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL REALITIES

Samia Bibars

Germany’s Muslims are the country’s second largest religious group, after Christians (Protestant and Roman Catholic) and they account for 3.45m of the total population of some 82m. The majority of this community, around 2.2m, emanate from Turkey, while the rest have various cultural origins.
Turkish workers began emigrating to Germany during the 1960s and their numbers increased significantly in the early 1970s. Limited numbers of intellectuals and academics from around the Middle East (especially Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran) and Afghanistan also moved to Germany, and Muslims from Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo fled there from ethnic disputes in the Balkans, seeking to work, trade, study or even to benefit from the social security and health services provided by the German government to its citizens.
Most of the Muslim communities in Germany planned to stay for a short period of time before returning home as soon as their living and political conditions improved, and this was reflected in their treatment as temporary guests by the German government. Yet after around 30 years, some of these communities reconsidered their status and began asking for German nationality, rendering Islam an integral part of German life.
In terms of organising themselves, Germany’s Muslims have various Islamic centres, institutions and associations, and they are actively working to preserve their cultural heritage, defend their interests, and to solve the problems they face on a number of levels. These Islamic organisations also exert great efforts to enhance understanding between Muslim immigrants and other German citizens. The four main organisations are: the Turkish Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion (DITIB), the biggest Islamic organisation in Germany comprising around 800 Islamic associations; the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD); the Union of Islamic Cultural Centres (VIKZ); and the Islam Council.
The growing role of Islamic organisations in the area of inter-faith dialogue has led to the establishment of several Islamic-Christian associations on the domestic and regional levels.
Germany is a democratic secular state whose constitution takes non-biased positions regarding different religious issues on the basis that the country has no official religion. The German constitution stipulates the right of religious freedom on the condition that such freedom does not violate the rights of others. The third article of the constitution prohibits discrimination or the granting of advantages to any citizen over another on grounds of religious belief. The constitution also guarantees equal treatment for devotees of all religions.
However, the German authorities impose several restrictions on the activities of Islamic organisations under the pretext that they do not comply with the law of the land. The government also prohibits the activities of certain Islamic organisations that it considers to be extremist, while others are monitored by intelligence bodies.
German building law recognises the importance of places of worship, and despite some legal disputes related to the height of minarets, considered by some as an encroachment to the dominant Christian culture, there are some 2,000 mosques in the country. These are not only places for worship but include facilities for teaching, meeting and administrative affairs, as well as cafés and food shops.
The country’s labour law, meanwhile, ensures that most Muslim employees face no difficulties or impediments at work on the legal level. They are also allowed to perform their prayers during breaks within working hours, and to leave early on Fridays to attend prayer services.
Yet despite the religious freedom granted by the German constitution, there have been cases of discrimination against some religious minorities and various issues have recently become quite sensitive, including the provision of Islamic education in schools and the building of mosques. Two issues in particular have been the subject of extensive debate in the EU, and in Germany in particular: Islamophobia and the veil.
The events of 11 September 2001 fed the phenomenon of Islamophobia throughout the EU, and in Germany Muslims were subject to discrimination and harassment, including attacks against women and children, while the veil, above all, came to raise considerable animosity. Some Islamic organisations even received threats of destruction.
Germany’s Muslims responded by criticising the country’s media for not doing enough to differentiate between Islam and terrorism, while the authorities made various accusations against certain of the country’s Islamic organisations. German intelligence asserts that there are around 3,200 Muslim extremists in Germany, and the government is considering new legislation that would allow its intelligence agencies to monitor the activities of certain organisations under the pretext of protecting national security.
Controversy over the veil reached a new high a few years ago when Muslim teacher Fereshta Ludin, of Afghan origin, was dismissed by the education department of the southern state of Baden-Württemberg for refusing to change her mode of dress. Ludin, backed by Islamic groups, took her employers to the constitutional court and won her case, allowing her to return to school, veiled.
On 20 August 2003, the constitutional court issued a law prohibiting the dismissal of Muslim women for wearing the veil on the basis that such action has no legal basis. In Germany’s federal system, though, each state still has control over its own educational system, with central government only authorised to intervene in cases filed before the constitutional or federal courts.
German president Johannes Rau opposes the issuance of any law that would expressly prohibit Muslims from wearing the veil. He stated in February 2004 that any such law should be accompanied by similar legislation prohibiting the wearing of large crosses and the Jewish skullcap. He further warned that banning the veil would destroy secularism in Germany. German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, on the other hand, opposes the wearing of veils in schools and in state bodies, though he added that he could not prevent veiled girls from attending school.
Five states, meanwhile, have proposed legislation to ban the veil in government schools and institutions: Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony, Bavaria, Hessen and Saarland.
The expected change in the structure of German society as a result of increased Muslim immigration and this community’s high birth rates has raised concern in some quarters over the country’s cultural identity, and the likelihood that the growth of this minority could lead to changes on the social, cultural and political levels. Internal demographics have also no doubt played a part in recent German foreign policymaking, with the German government now very much concerned about its relations with the Islamic world.
The government has proposed and funded various projects in this regard, including a programme for European Islamic dialogue, and the foreign ministry has created the post of “commissioner for dialogue with the Islamic world,” currently filled by Dr Gunter Mulack.
The German vision of dialogue with the Islamic world is based on a “culture of tolerance,” which aims to attain a clear agreement on common values in order to prevent disputes and to combat fanaticism and extremism. This vision relies on the acknowledgement of cultural diversity and the need to respect and protect it, while maintaining dialogue between different communities.