Clarity and Good Neighbourly Relations: Christians and Muslims in Germany An Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) Guidelines EKD Text 86

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction 1. Protestant Christians in encounter with Muslims in Germany 1.1 The truth and the tolerance of the Christian mission 1.2 Opportunities and restrictions presented by the belief in the “one God” 1.3 The intentions of the Protestant Church in its encounter with Muslims 2. Muslims in the democratic society – areas of tension in social integration 2.1 The role of religions in a secular democracy 2.1.1 Democratic Principles and Islam 2.1.2 Religious freedom as a basic right 2.1.3 Freedom to change one's religion 2.2 Human rights and Islam 2.2.1 Sharia: The basis of Islamic law 2.2.2 Human rights and minority rights in Islam 2.2.3 Areas of conflict 2.3 Religiously legitimized violence and the peace mission of both religions 2.3.1 Religious struggle and the House of Islam 2.3.2 Jihad 2.3.3 The mission of peace in both religions 2.4 Religion, migration and integration 2.4.1 Immigration and the vision of integration 2.4.2 Controversy and the "multicultural society" 2.4.3 Integration and social dialogue 3. Muslim life in Germany - areas of tension in practical coexistence 3.1 Marriage and family life 3.1.1 Relations between generations 3.1.2 Gender roles 3.1.3 Christian-Muslim marriages 3.2 Public education 3.2.1 Early childhood education 3.2.2 Islamic religious instruction 3.2.3 Teachers and headscarves 3.3 Communal religious life 3.3.1 Mosque construction 3.3.2 Public call to prayer 3.3.3 Muslim use of church buildings 3.3.4 Halal slaughter 3.4 Muslims and diaconical service 3.4.1 Intercultural openness 3.4.2 Muslims in hospitals 3.4.3 Muslims and care for the elderly 3.4.4 Muslim employees in diaconical agencies 3.5 Matters of death and dying

4. Organized Islam 4.1 Facets of organizational cooperation 4.1.1 Forms of official contact 4.1.2 Organizational particularities and corporation status 4.2 Appearance and political orientations 4.2.1 Membership in Muslim organizations 4.2.2 Leadership of Muslim organizations 4.2.3 Activities of Muslim organization 4.2.4 Media 4.2.5 Basic religious-political orientation 4.2.6 Islamism and Jihadism 4.3 Muslim organizations 4.3.1 Individual Muslim associations 4.3.2 Muslim umbrella organizations 4.3.3 Alevis 5. Goals and content of inter-religious cooperation 5.1 Experience and aims of Christian-Muslim dialogue 5.1.1 Dialogue experience and criticism 5.1.2 Guidelines for cooperation with Muslim partners 5.1.3 Information concerning dialogue partners 5.1.4 Planning and evaluating dialogue activities 5.2 Common prayer and worship? 6. Outlook Appendix: Bibliography

Foreword In this document, the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany provides guidance on essential questions concerning living together with Muslims. This text continues the work of a previous EKD guidelines published in 2000, Zusammenleben mit Muslimen in Deutschland. Gestaltung der christlichen Begegnung mit Muslimen (“Living together with Muslims in Germany. Defining Christian encounters with Muslims”). With a revised outlook, this guidelines is intended to provide the Protestant Church and the general public with an overview of this issue, while contributing towards an open dialogue with Muslims in Germany. New developments and the questions they pose have now made it necessary to revisit this topic. One need only think of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, as well as subsequent attacks in other countries, both in Europe and elsewhere. The perpetrators committed their acts in the name of Islam, which has fuelled a new anxiety over radical developments within the Islamic world. Other issues have been the discussions in Germany on the integration of Muslims into society and whether Muslim women teachers should be permitted to wear headscarves in public schools (state schools), or the debate regarding initial negotiations with Turkey on its future membership in the European Union, in which fundamental questions have risen concerning the relationship between European culture and Islam. We must also, however, take into consideration the redoubled efforts that have been made to establish Islam as an integral component of our society. These efforts have included increased cooperation within Muslim associations as well as new Christian-Muslim cooperative projects. Today, there is a demand for both the development of Islamic religion classes in schools and for the future training of imams who will serve at the mosques of Germany. Islamic attitudes toward family, as well as the position of women in Muslim society have also become a matter for discussion. The 2000 publication was not able to address many of these developments, or, at least not to the extent of their importance today. We have, therefore, now decided to return to these questions, since many people look to the Protestant Church for explanation and direction. The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany therefore asked a working group chaired by Dr. Jürgen Schmude to dedicate itself to this task, a process which has resulted in these guidelines. The EKD Council would like to extend its heartfelt appreciation to the working group, which has prepared this document with a great degree of care, determination, and expertise. The recommendations from 2000 maintain their value and validity today. The new text often refers to the earlier one in order to avoid repetition and to underscore previous insights and positions. These references, however, also serve to point out where a more extensive and solid standpoints are now needed. Numerous individuals, congregations, and task groups within the Protestant Church have had long and intensive experience in working together with individual Muslims, as well as mosques and Muslim organizations within Germany. The trust that has grown out of this cooperation is crucial for the maintenance and further development of these relationships. Numerous things that do not appear in the headlines, and which, therefore, often receive too little attention and appreciation, such as mutual greetings and invitations extended at holidays, meetings of Christian-Muslim working groups, adult education projects, events at the German

Protestant Kirchentage (church gatherings), regional events, along with cooperation in schools and preschools, hospitals and care homes, families and neighbourhoods, are also important components of these relationships. Still, problems continue to arise. These are precipitated not only by international conflicts, in which religion is misused to justify aggression and violence, but are also connected with the aggressive or disturbing behaviour of individuals and groups, whether Muslims or non-Muslims. News of any upsurge in intolerant, radical, and fundamentalist attitudes leads to fear and uncertainty. For many, it is not easy to keep things in perspective: to decide where acceptance and trust should give way to distance and objection. Islam is a world religion with a vast variety of orientations and groupings, just as in other religions. Despite Muslims’ common sense of belonging to a single world community, there are also tensions and violent conflicts to be found within Islam. Muslims hold differing views on numerous core issues, making it, at times, difficult to clearly define what serves as truth in Islam. This title of these EKD guidelines, “Clarity and good neighbourly relations” was chosen advisedly. The title presupposes a respect for the faith and beliefs held by Muslims. But beliefs, even those of faith, cannot justify denying others of respect, questioning fundamental human rights, or attempts to instil respect for one’s own convictions through intimidation, threats, or use of violence. Respect for the faith of others includes being able to pose critical questions while also being ready to be confronted with such questions oneself. This paper has made it its task to reflect upon these matters, as an invitation to a discussion, even in those areas of our society where such a discussion has yet to begin. At the time of the publication of this paper, the German government has begun a dialogue with Muslims in an effort to bring about further steps toward social integration. It is the hope of the EKD Council that the reflections presented here will help to clarify important matters and to support good neighbourly relations in our society. Dr. Wolfgang Huber, Bishop Chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany Hanover, November 2006

Introduction Since the beginning of the large-scale immigration of workers into Germany in the 1960s, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) has focused attention and efforts on neighbourly relations with the country’s new Muslim residents. The Church understood its initiatives then primarily as social outreach. With time, however, the full extent of the integration process became clear: another religion and culture was unfolding and establishing itself in German cities and villages. In 2000, the EKD published Zusammenleben mit Muslimen in Deutschland. Gestaltung der christlichen Begegnung mit Muslimen [“Living together with Muslims in Germany. Defining Christian encounters with Muslims”]. This publication sought to assist in the formation of a basic orientation, from a theological, legal, and pragmatic perspective. Since then, much has happened to have an impact on the atmosphere and content of discussions on Christian-Muslim relations – the terrorist attacks in the United States, Europe, and, in many places in the Islamic world, the debates on headscarves and on the prohibition of ritual slaughter practices, along with increasing criticism of Christian-Muslim dialogue. In the light of these developments, this text seeks to take stock of the situation, and, in building on the previous EKD publication, to examine the arguments and positions held on burning issues that involve – directly or indirectly – relations between Christians and Muslims, enabling the development of concrete perspectives in these matters. The title, “Clarity and good neighbourly relations”, alludes to two closely connected tasks. Encounters with Muslims are to be encouraged, in order to achieve good neighbourly relations and a mutually enriching coexistence. In so doing, however, difficulties and conflicts may not be simply ignored, but must be discussed in clear terms and, to the extent possible, resolved. From a theological perspective, it is of particular importance in these encounters to recognize that both religions, Christianity and Islam, are committed to spreading their faith and worship practices throughout the entire world. This mission is fundamental to a Christian church, following the words of Jesus Christ to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). The “call to Islam” is equally inseparable from the self-image of the Muslim community. When these two religions meet, these intrinsic tendencies towards mission and expansion seem to lead inevitably to their casting doubt upon each other. At first glance, this situation is disadvantageous both for a dialogue between the two religions, and for the coexistence of Christians and Muslims in our society. How can good neighbourliness be possible in such an atmosphere of competition? Further work on a theological understanding of religions can provide an important contribution towards resolution, and the reduction of this widespread uneasiness. The EKD guidelines published in 2000 on “Living together with Muslims in Germany” provided invaluable insights to this form of theological understanding, which finds in the underlying character of the Christian faith the justification for the Protestant Church’s openness toward encounter and dialogue with Muslims. These insights will not be reiterated in detail here. While this guidelines will take into account the position paper on Christian faith and non-Christian religions that was published in 2003 by the EKD Advisory Commission for Theology (Christlicher Glaube und die nichtchristlichen Religionen, [“Christian faith and non-Christian religions”], EKD-Texte 77, in German), further emphasis will be placed on a specifically Protestant theological understanding that addresses Islam.

Theological thought is always embedded in a societal and cultural situation. Serious theology is dependent on this understanding. Today’s theology is situated in a democratic, pluralistic society with a legal system that is anchored in the recognition of the dignity of each human being. In many ways, the culture and mentality of this society have been moulded by Christian values. But at the same time, society now encompasses a plurality of religions and worldviews that challenge Christians and their churches to redefine their place in the social order. The freedom of religion is a fundamental right, while the state remains neutral in regard to worldview. Muslims, therefore, have the same right as the adherents of other religions to be free to practice their faith. The legal order of our free and democratic society supports peaceful coexistence and good neighbourliness within the religious plurality of that society. The Protestant Church affirms the principles of this society and is committed to the realization of these goals in the development and maintenance of democracy. The Church accepts that it does not have a monopoly on representing fundamental values and convictions, neither in our political culture nor in relation to the state. The Church, however, reflecting a love for one’s neighbour that is derived from a faith in God, is a great advocate of respect for all people, as equal and responsible members of society. The Church therefore strongly advocates a prosperous and peaceful life in community with others, including those who subscribe to another religion or worldview. In keeping with this, the Church also stands up for Muslims and would like them to be afforded a friendly, neighbourly reception, along with assistance, and understanding, not only on the part of Christians, but of all those who live in Germany. The ultimate goal is for a coexistence rooted in mutual respect to become a matter of course, and to include cooperation in common endeavours, whenever this appears to be possible. Without a doubt, the majority of Muslims in our country, many of whom are indeed already citizens, have had such a positive experience. It cannot, however, be overlooked that many also have considerable problems with social integration in our country. This situation calls for an objective analysis of the reasons for such detrimental developments, and will require of us the courage to speak out on truths and realities, even when they are unpleasant. If this takes place in the spirit of mutual respect and a readiness to understand one another, ways can be found and followed to overcome these problems for the sake both of the Muslims themselves, and our society as a whole. This cannot, however, be the concern of the state alone – everyone must do his or her part. Local Protestant congregations along with numerous other Church-sponsored programmes in neighbourhood communities as well as in the workplace are in contact with Muslims in a variety of ways. The EKD thus sees itself as uniquely situated to work on the specific frictions that arise in the social integration of, and practical coexistence with Muslims, and to seek out ways of easing these tensions. This is the focus of this publication, with which the Evangelical Church in Germany calls upon not only Christian congregations, but Muslims as well, to seek each other out for dialogue and cooperation in solving those problems connected with the presence of Muslims within our society and the way they are treated by non-Muslims. There is no sustainable alternative to a dialogue, held at all levels, which fosters trust, and which supports joint action in tension-filled areas within the process of social integration and practical coexistence. The Evangelical Church in Germany would like to make a meaningful contribution to this process. 1. Protestant Christians in encounter with Muslims in Germany 1.1 The truth and the tolerance of the Christian mission

The gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of God’s gracious favour to all people, is the foundation of the Protestant Church. Christians live in the certainty that God extends the unconditional gift of his grace to everyone, liberating all from sin and guilt. He affirms all people as his beloved creations. The church of Jesus Christ is commissioned with bearing witness to this message. Its mission is to carry word of God’s justification to the entire world. This message also defines the relationship of the Protestant Church to members of other religions, and the way that the Church interacts with them. This does not call for a fearful dissociation from these people, their understanding of God, their forms of worship, or their ethics. Understanding that these are people who are also loved by God, the Church meets them with consideration and respect. Christians seek contact with members of other religions and are not put off by things that at first appear to be foreign and incomprehensible. Following their commission to witness also to Muslims that they are God’s beloved creations, these Christians will also stand for respect for the Muslim community. This indeed reflects the consideration and dignity with which God encounters every human being. The Christian mission, however, means more than just respectful encounter. This mission includes the witness to the Triune God, who, through Jesus Christ, freed people to enter true humanity. For the Protestant Church, remaining silent on this testimony, and not sharing it with the adherents of other religions is not an option. That would render the encounter, even with Muslims, less than genuine from the very beginning, and steer it in the wrong direction. The Protestant Church speaks of God in the certainty that God is truly revealed to humanity through Jesus Christ. People can unconditionally rely on God’s truth as expressed in the Bible. Even people who speak of the Triune God are not able to own this truth or make their own use of it. They remain sinners who depend on this truth to free them from sin and guilt. They speak to others – including Muslims – yet untouched by this truth of a God who justifies sinful people, with the expectation that God bestows them too with the certainty of their justification through his grace. This certainty cannot be forced into existence through tactics or persuasion. The Christian community thus encounters those who do not live in this certainty with the appeal and invitation that they also reconcile themselves with God (cf. 2 Cor 5:20). Invitations and appeals are the main form of Christian mission, in which intolerant coercion has no place. God reveals himself to people in love and not with the force of supreme divine power. He woos people to him, providing them with the time and space to hear his word and to be touched by his spirit. The Christian mission thus affords those it meets, including Muslims, with the space to make their own decisions for or against God’s truth. This mission trusts that God’s Spirit enables people to differentiate his love from all of their human, error-prone concepts of love. In an era in which all truths are seen as relative, the Protestant Church can easily be suspected of giving into the Zeitgeist with such an understanding of God’s truth. In a society characterized by pluralism of religion and worldview, absolute claims to the truth made by any one particular religion will indeed seem to run counter to the truth. Monotheistic religions, in particular, are confronted with the critique that they, with their faith in the one God, pursue an intolerant claim to the sole representation of the truth. When, however, one is expected to relinquish one’s faith in God’s absolute truth, the “truth” can from that point on only be viewed as an arbitrarily chosen belief. Such a truth is then only valid for those who purport it. When the Protestant Church admits that, with all its human shortcomings, it itself has, time and again, stood in the way of God’s truth, it in no way subscribes to this understanding of truth. Indeed, human uncertainty and ignorance, and the weakness and blame of Christians do

nothing to limit God’s truth, which justifies, affirms, loves, and saves. The humble realization that human knowledge is only partial knowledge (1 Cor 13:9) does not cast doubt upon the extent of God’s love and grace, which believers experience and which surpasses all human witness. The certainty of belief in the Triune God also guides the Protestant Church in its efforts to interact with Muslims. The church cannot limit itself to the level of mere human certainty, and qualify the truth of God, who, through Jesus Christ and the power of the spirit, reaches out to all people for their salvation. To proclaim a truth that could at the same time constitute untruth makes no sense. No one could build a life on such a premise. But God’s truth remains valid despite the limitations and incomplete nature of human witness. This is the basis upon which the Protestant Church seeks out a dialogue with Muslims regarding their faith, their worship of God, and the ramifications of these on their way of life. This, however, means that while Christians invite others to recognize the truth of the Triune God, other religions present another form of experiencing and worshiping God. God tolerates this by granting the time and space needed to come to know his love to those from other religions that deny God’s drawing near to us in Jesus Christ. When the Protestant Church witnesses this God to those of other faiths, such as Islam, it must not challenge God’s patience through the use of force. Intolerance and impatience in speech and action on the part of a Christian church damage the credibility of the truth. From a Protestant understanding, tolerance thrives only with trust in the manifest truth of God, not through the denial of this truth. The willingness and ability of the Protestant Church to engage in dialogue with Muslims is anchored in a tolerance regarding issues of spirituality and mentality. 1.2 Opportunities and restrictions presented by the belief in the “one God” From the perspective of the Protestant Church, Islam is a special case among non-Christian religions. It is a post-Christian religion, which frequently refers to the Old and New Testaments, thus appearing to indicate an interconnection to the Christian faith. The Bible and the Qu’ran both speak of God as the creator and judge of the world. For Christians, a belief in this God is indivisibly connected with a belief in Jesus Christ, his Son. Muslims deeply revere Jesus as a prophet, but do not, however, recognize him as the Son of God and Savior. While the person of Jesus and the Muslim reverence for him are therefore points of contact between the adherents of the two religions, this does not constitute part of a common, shared faith. An understanding between Christians and Muslims seems to at least be possible, by dint of the two religions’ shared reverence for “one God”. According to Muslim beliefs, this faith has, however, been distorted in Christianity. But Muslims do grant Christians that, through the revelation of God in Israel, Christians speak of the God from whom Muhammad received what Muslims consider to be the last valid revelation. From the other perspective, Christians can allow that Islam leads to the reverence of the same transcendental God of the Christian faith. The revelation of God in Jesus Christ, however, represents God as the father of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Saviour, while the Qu’ran depicts God as creator and judge. As valuable as the discovery of commonalities between Christian and Muslim beliefs may be, the differences between the two grow all the more distinct upon closer view. The focus on the “belief in one God” does not go very far in this regard. Islam is based on its own belief and image of God, even if it does allude to the Bible and the biblical teachings. Islam subordinates the biblical accounts to its own later teachings that do not acknowledge the doctrine of the trinity, a commitment to Christ, or the Christian doctrine of salvation.

In its belief in God in Christ, however, the Protestant Church cannot be satisfied with merely an approximate correspondence with other visions of God. According to a Christian understanding, faith is a personal trust in the God of truth and love, whom we encounter in Christ. In the words of Martin Luther, true faith is revealed in the question of what sort of God people believe in the first place, or, as he expressed it, whatever “you set your heart” upon is “properly your god” (cf. Martin Luther, Large Catechism) Christians would, however, have great difficulty in setting their hearts upon a god as described in the Qu’ran and revered by Muslims. This conclusion is of particular importance when it comes to the question of common worship (see below, section 5.2). The commonalities linking Christianity and Islam are at the same time a call to dialogue, even if there are occasional doubts concerning the sluggish process of dialogue between the Protestant Church and Muslims. There cannot be an absence of conflict regarding the manner of worshipping God as long as the claims of both religions to witness God’s revelation are to be taken seriously. Religions indeed take on life only in their historically developed forms and not in abstract theological constructs. The Protestant Church can, however, identify “traces” (as described in Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, 2000) or signs within these commonalities that the God of the Bible has not concealed himself from Muslims. These traces do not form a basis for a common faith, and certainly not for common religious proclamation or worship practice. They do, however, call upon Christians and Muslims alike to show people, in this broken world, the way to God. 1.3 The intentions of the Protestant Church in its encounter with Muslims Undeniably, the Qu’ran speaks often of God’s goodness and mercy. It is a matter of urgency to the Protestant Church that Christians and Muslims proclaim peace in the name of God and that the faithful of these religions underscore this proclamation of God’s peace with behaviour conducive to this end. This must come about despite calls within the Qu’ran – juxtaposed with statements to the contrary – for war and battle, and for attacks to be carried out in the name of Islam. The Protestant Church urgently desires that Muslims in Germany work together with Christians for peace throughout the world. Among these commonalities, we must also think of the responsibility of Christians and Muslims for the world, a responsibility that arises from a faith in God as creator. This belief is centered in the gratitude of the created for their creator. People should strive to shape the earthly world with a sense of responsibility toward their creator. Based on this belief in the creator, the Protestant Church would like to come to an understanding with Muslims in Germany regarding what now needs to be undertaken so that others can be convinced of this worldview. Like Christians, Muslims expect God’s final judgment at the end of times. The Islamic concept of this judgment is, however, different from that that of the merciful judge, Jesus Christ. Christians particularly reject the beliefs held by Muslim suicide bombers, who hope to avoid this judgment through their deaths as martyrs, in the belief that their actions will open the gates of paradise. Even those Muslims, however, who do not share this view, see, in the perspective of eternity, mortal life as a responsible task to counter the senselessness and emptiness, under which, in their opinion, western civilization greatly suffers. It is therefore imperative that Muslims and Christians work on an understanding of the ethics that are based on these views.

Many Muslims will view the interests of the Protestant Church in meeting and searching for common ground, as laid out in these examples, as an imposition, and will choose to see only the differences involved. This may, for instance, be the case in regard to the understanding of the status of humankind. While, according to the Christian point of view, people are to be accorded an unassailable dignity, Islam does not see people as having been created in God’s image. The body of traditional Muslim rules of living and Sharia law indeed assign unequal rights to men and women, Muslims, Christians by birth, and converts to Christianity. Critical questions, such as those posed in this paper, are, for the sake of truth, unavoidable in an exchange with Muslims. Muslims who live in a western society should allow critical questions regarding their tradition and culture as well as certain varying interpretations of the Muslim faith in order to actively support constructive coexistence within a common system of values. The Protestant Church is, nevertheless, itself aware of the fact that it has only learned to grapple critically with elements of its own tradition in the course of a long historical journey. Respect for each other and a partnership on equal footing can only be achieved when there is room for critical questions alongside respect for both religions. The Protestant Church therefore urges that critical questions should not be seen as an attack on Islam and Islamic cultural and religious identities, since questions concerning Muslim life in our society and the tensions that may ensue must be considered. It is important to the Church that this encounter with Muslims should take place in an atmosphere that focuses on what the two religions and their relationships with God can do to enrich and enhance life in our society. 2. Muslims in the democratic society – areas of tension in social integration Christianity and Islam come face to face in today’s Germany in a western country with a pluralistic social structure and a legal order anchored in recognition for the dignity of each person. This framework provides the opportunity for both groups to expand mutual relations, setting examples with new impulses. Each of these religions is able to grow under conditions of freedom. Many Muslims have no problem finding their way in Germany’s Federal States society, and in affirming the plurality of religion and worldview that constitutes a democratic society. Other Muslims, however, see their cultural background as putting them in a state of conflict or even opposition to and dissociation from their social environment in Germany. The Muslim identity is rooted in a cultural world that, unlike the western world, generally did not go through the changes associated with a religion affected by the age of science and technology and a secular state. The diversity of religions and beliefs, along with values and ways of life not based in religion, or even atheistic convictions, illustrate clearly to Muslims that life in a Christian-based and nevertheless secular and pluralistic society can lead to a decline in religious bonds. This can lead some Muslims to tend toward emphasizing more strongly their certainty in their own truths and connected habits and customs. They do so in the hope that they can thus perpetuate their way of worshipping God in accordance with their understanding and in the context of their traditional way of life. In accordance with its own self-conception and its biblical and Reformation traditions, the Protestant Church is concerned with relating a faith in God through Jesus Christ to the issues,

problems, and challenges facing people today. The church seeks to focus on the meaning and necessity of Christian faith as an orientation for living in the context of 21st-century western society. The Protestant Church would welcome Islam, a religion with over three million adherents in Germany, becoming active as a humanizing force in our society. A large portion of the secular, non-religious population in Germany is sceptical of all religions, posing a common challenge to both Christianity and Islam. In this sense, whatever one religion does or does not do has an effect on the other. It is the task of both Christians and Muslims to live out their faith in a way that supports their humanity and responsibility to God. 2.1 The role of religions in a secular democracy A partnership between the state and religious groups has arisen in Germany, which is characterized at a fundamental level by forms of cooperation between church and state. In contrast with countries with an absolute separation of church and state, such as France, the German state supports the autonomy and the civil-society function of the religious communities in accordance with the “principle of respectful non-identification” (Heiner Bielefeldt). In its 1985 memorandum, Evangelische Kirche und freiheitliche Demokratie [“Protestant Church and Liberal Democracy”], the Evangelical Church in Germany maintained that the thought underlying the principles of a democratic state shows a close affinity with the Christian view of humanity (p. 14). On the one hand, the publication made it clear that, in light of God’s coming judgment, every human form of legal or governmental order is but temporary and in need of improvement, and that democracy is not a “Christian form of government” per se (pp. 14 and 16). The publication did, however, state that Christians have a positive relationship with the democratic state as established by Germany’s Federal States Basic Law, a state that is based in the theological and ethical convictions of the Christian faith. The paper expressly refers to the human dignity derived from the creation of humans in God’s image as well as the freedom and equality shared by all. Protestants have come to these views only through a long and painful learning process. Centuries of religious struggle have led to the understanding that peace between churches and religious communities is a crucial and vital goal, and that every form of mission must abstain from the use of instruments of power. In Germany, Protestant Christians and their churches have publicly and self-critically worked through the errors of their past, which are often connected with a heavy burden of guilt. They have turned away from the erroneous attitudes of the past, closing once and for all with the entanglements of guilt. Once something is recognized as being clearly wrong, it should not be allowed to be repeated, whether by Christians or by others. Christians can thus be justified in not agreeing when the adherents of other religions attempt to defend their behaviour today by comparing it with the errors of the church in earlier centuries. People should never again be faced with intolerance, violence, or force due to their faith or lack of faith. All religious communities should thus feel obliged to look self-critically into – and convincingly overcome – their own errors, blame, and propensity towards violence. Islamic groups that carry this sort of burden into the present, and which refuse any course of change with the argument that this would violate their religious commandments, cannot be exempted from demands that they alter and reformulate their principles. By not criticizing their intransigence, neither the fundamental rights protected in the constitution nor the tenets of Christian tolerance are reflected.

A democratic state does not require Muslims and their organizations to follow the example of the Church and prepare a convincing theological justification of the compatibility of their religion with the basic values of a liberal democracy. It is enough that the religious communities on its territory show allegiance to the law of the land. It is, however, desirable that religious communities publicly and plainly expound and explain their relationship to the state and society, just as the Protestant Church has done. In light of the diversity of the Muslims living in Germany, it is primarily a matter for discussion amongst Muslims themselves to decide how to resolve questions of their identity as believers living in a modern democratic state. In order to attain the goal of social integration, such a process will require the support of the majority in society – as difficult as this may be. The cultural framework and life experience that have moulded Muslims in their countries of origin must also be taken into account in this discussion. In some countries, persecution, exile, political assassinations, hatred, violence, and other forms of serious endangerment testify to the explosive power of this discussion. People of Turkish origin constitute a clear majority of Muslims in Germany. Turkey's approach to combining Islam and a modern democratic state plays a great role in their thought concerning democracy in Germany. Turkish Muslims wish to be seen as reliable democrats especially since, in their view, they come with sufficient experience with the democratic Turkish state. Although since its founding, Turkey has time and again adopted European legal standards, the situation and legal system in Turkey cannot be transposed directly into a German context. The democratic society needs to prove its ability to integrate, particularly with a view to the highly tense discourse delineated above. The Muslims' will to integrate, especially among those of the second and third generations, needs to be strengthened and must not be disappointed. 2.1.1 Democratic Principles and Islam It is not an uncommon opinion that there is a nearly irreconcilable contradiction between Islam as a religion and democratic principles. The history of Islam shows that Muslims have generally been quite pragmatic in their view of politics and the state, although the political leadership has usually striven to derive their basic legitimacy from religion. There have thus been both phases of close links between politics and religion – such as the era of early Islamic community in Medina – and also phases in which there has been a real separation of the two. Religion has, however, often been exploited for political goals. Most Muslims in Germany are of the opinion that Islam is by all means compatible with democracy, since the Qu’ran does not lay down any theories concerning politics and governance. The Qu’ran offers only a few principles, such as that of shura or “consultation” mentioned in suras 3:159 and 42:38. Muslims are thus free in regard to forming specific forms of government. Whether or not these approaches can develop into an affirmation of secularism and pluralistic democracy depends not least on whether the Islamic view of submission to God's rule is compatible with democratic principles, and, in particular, with that of the sovereignty of the

people. Defining the role of Islamic legal traditions remains a matter for a discussion among Muslims. Sharia, i.e. Islamic law, and its interpretation by a number of scholars would appear to provide a particular approach to the pragmatic recognition of the secular, democratic state. While the faithful remain duty-bound by their religion to follow Sharia law even in the diaspora, they are also expected to respect the law of the land in which they live as a minority. Muslims therefore explain, in what seems to outsiders to be a contradiction, that they unqualifiedly observe both the German Basic Law as well as the God-given Islamic law. They also point to the fact that they have lived for years as respectable members of society. There are, however, also Muslims who openly express anti-democratic opinions and whose aim it is to create a supposedly ideal Islamic state. These Muslims, also known as Islamists, reject free democracies as a human creation, and compare them to the rule of God, the realization of which lies in the hands of his true servants. They often link this with the conviction that Islam, as they understand and practice it, is the solution to all of the world's problems. They believe that they are able to clearly ascertain the holy will of God from the revelation of the Qu’ran, and wish to translate this understanding directly into political action. Muslims may also reject the secular constitutional state due to a lack of knowledge or through misunderstanding. Terms referring to the creation of a modern society can too quickly be misinterpreted, such as when the constitutional principle of a secular state is confused with more extreme secularism in the form of an anti-religious ideology. 2.1.2 Religious freedom as a basic right Religious freedom is a basic right accorded equally to all, both as a universal human right, and as guaranteed in Germany by Article 4 of the Basic Law. The freedom of religion is limited only by the basic rights of others, along with other constitutionally protected interests such as those involving the democratic state and its neutrality regarding religion and worldview. Limiting or narrowing the freedom of religion affects all members of society. Religious freedom as a basic right can, if necessary, be fought for and won in court, and Muslims in Germany make use of this option. It must be stressed that the freedom of religion and conscience necessarily includes all religions, as well as atheists, adherents of ethnic religions and traditional cults, and polytheists, not to mention minorities within the Islamic tradition. This indeed contrasts with the limited freedom of religion in a number of majority-Muslim countries, and thus the experience of many Muslims in their countries of origin. Muslim associations should be open to discussions concerning violations of the freedom of religion in their countries of origin when they have the ability to influence the situation there. They should work there to protect these freedoms both for individuals and for groups, such as local Christians. No limitations, however, may be placed on the religious freedom of Muslims in Germany in an attempt to place them in the same deleterious situation suffered by Christians in most countries with a Muslim majority. This would also be legally inadmissible (cf. Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, p. 46). The right and the ability to make a free decision about one's own faith and to live out that faith constitute an essential cause of Protestant Christians and their churches, a cause that is derived from Christian faith. “The Christian Church … affirms … the right, worthy of protection, of every religion to flourish in our society.” (cf. Christlicher Glaube und nichtchristliche Religionen, p. 21) The enjoyment of religious freedom may not be

questioned, even if the beliefs involve a clash with the dominant values and ways of living in Germany. The freedom of religion and conscience provides an area of protection in which one may think and believe things that may seem unacceptable to the vast majority of the population. The freedom of religiously motivated action is, however, in no way unlimited. Anyone who violates the constitutionally protected rights of others, and perhaps threatens to limit their religious freedom, cannot then appeal to their own religious freedom in defence. In some such cases, the state needs to use its powers to counteract this behaviour. The demand that stipulations of Sharia law be given official state status, due to the religious importance of Sharia, can, in particular, not be honoured (cf. Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, p. 48). Such ideas and efforts are perceived by Christians to be a great threat to their freedom of belief, their own private lives, and to a free society. Christians should explain this to Muslims in their discussions. These discussions will also include mention that a basic separation of the religious and political realms in society is an alien concept to traditional Islam. This holds true in theory and practice throughout the Islamic legal system. The disentanglement of these two areas of society and the recognition of the principles of the modern democratic state not only follow the stipulations of the German Basic Law, but are indeed a precondition for the peaceful coexistence of different religions and worldviews. Those who act in defiance of the constitution or of law – even if for religious reasons – must face the appropriate sanctions of the state. In a democracy based on rule of law, Christians have no faith-based reasons to act in ways that are illegal or detrimental to society. In order to protect religious freedom for all, Christians expect that others will also not be given the right to conduct themselves in such ways. This is particularly the case when collective religious practice results in new religious groupings or new types of religious communities. (Cf. Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, p. 46.) The behaviour and principles of such groups can have a particular effect on coexistence in society. They must therefore open themselves up to critical appraisal in the press, in artistic expression, and in the general public, the same way the Christian faith and church life are open to criticism. When addressing the conflicts that can ensue, one must remember that, as with the freedom of religion, the freedoms of opinion, press, and artistic expression are basic human rights, which are to be observed and protected. These freedoms are closely connected, allied, and related to the freedom of religion. When criticism is expressed in ways that seriously offend religious sensitivity, this can entail a violation of law or of provisions in place to protect minorities. Those injured can resort to state courts, justifiably demanding state protection from anti-Semitic and other ethnically discriminatory attacks, libel, insults, and from hate speech targeting beliefs and religious communities. As the freedoms of opinion, press, and artistic expression are a high priority in a democratic state, only particularly serious cases are met with legal intervention. This does not mean that offence to religious sensitivity that are not met with legal intervention need to be accepted meekly. Honouring the freedoms of opinion, press, and artistic expression does not exclude strong protests against offence to religious sensitivity, such as when Christians, Jews, or Muslims are offended by publications and artwork in which religious

symbols are criticized, lampooned, or ridiculed. It is a matter of duty to bear witness to a society that often ignores religious concerns, and to react to such offence clearly but peacefully. Dialogue with artists and cultural organizations should be sought out, and, whenever necessary, institutions of voluntary self-regulation (e.g. press council, advertising council) or legally created supervisory bodies such as broadcasting commissions should be called upon. Making use of one's freedoms of opinion, speech, and artistic expression does not, however, mean that everything that is allowed within the legal framework should, in fact, be done. Freedom also entails self-control and consideration of others. Limits of decency and taste can be crossed when one exercises, or makes references to, freedoms of opinion, speech, and artistic expression. In such cases, the public discussion must remain objective. Not every irritation involving an art form is an insult, as attested to by the cultural history of the western world. Artists have often been demonized and driven away, whose work, now counted among the classics, can be found today adorning the altars of important cathedrals. Artists often do not even mean to offend religious sensitivities; it is often merely the result of ignorance and a lack of religious education. Offence to religious sensitivities can never justify attacks on or threats to others, or any restriction on their rights. Calls to respect holiness do not fit together with threats and use of violence. Those who react to injurious criticism with violence and threats cast doubt upon their own credibility, act outside the law, and must expect to be dealt with by the judicial system of the state Reacting to attacks appropriately is indeed part of the requirement of all religious communities to comport themselves in a way conducive to society and in accordance with the constitution, both in their teachings and in practice. If such groups are not willing or able to comply with this principle, society and state institutions will take this into consideration in their treatment of, or potential cooperation with, those groups. This would otherwise lead to an inappropriate “blind equal treatment” in relation to other religious communities that would be steered only by respect for all things religious and, in some cases, would ignore potential damage to the common good. Freedom of religion does not protect believers and their community from being taken to task for incompatibilities between their convictions and activities and the constitutional order and common good. The importance of religious freedom for just and peaceful coexistence is also a topic for discussion with Muslims. One must work to deconstruct the stereotype that religions are unpredictable and dangerous. 2.1.3 Freedom to change one's religion Freedom of religion includes the right to abstain from believing or to change one's religion. Such choices are, however, by no means accepted universally throughout the Muslim world. In numerous states with a Muslim majority, there is no or only limited freedom to change one's religion. Even in Germany, the opinion on this issue varies among Muslims. The Islamic Charter published by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany in 2002 states that the Muslims represented by the Central Council “accept everybody's right to change his religion, to have another religion, or none at all.” This expressly allows for the freedom to opt out of any form of religious community. Leaving a community refers normally to a voluntary separation from a constituted religious community such as the Christian churches. Muslims do

not, however, have such fixed organizational forms. If, however, a Muslim clearly decides for a change or for no religion at all, this is comparable to leaving a religious community. Practically speaking, a major portion of Muslims in Germany have accepted this freedom. Many have made use of this freedom themselves by, in effect, turning away from religious practice, with or without formally distancing themselves from Islam. The freedom to give up one's religion may in no way be placed in question with the justification that such a step might be taken under the influence of “aggressive missionary activity.” The Christian church, but also Islam and other religious communities, view themselves to be duty bound to conduct missionary work. That this must not be connected with pressure or even violence is obvious in the context of religious freedom. While insistent solicitation may, in some forms, be met with justifiable qualms, neither mission nor a change of religion is illegitimate as long as those involved are allowed to make their own free decisions. Neither does a charge of “aggressive proselytizing” justify a challenge to the right to change religion. 2.2 Human rights and Islam 2.2.1 Sharia: The basis of Islamic law Sharia – a word that originally means “path to the drinking trough” – is the complete body of Islamic laws and rules of living derived from the Qu’ran and other traditions. Sharia plays a crucial role in countries with a chiefly Muslim population where it constitutes the primary or even the only legal basis – at least in all of the Arab countries. While this is reflected in the legislature of the individual countries to varying degrees, it also remains deeply anchored in the legal thought of the people there. Sharia does not pertain only to criminal law. It also provides instruction for behaviour within the family and society (such as marriage and family law) and regulates worship (the “five pillars”: the testimony of faith, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage). Sharia thus regulates the relationship of each individual to God, the environment, the state, family, and society. Areas that are, from a western point of view, secular in nature, such as economic law, instead follow the same religious body of law as do dress codes for men and women. Individual countries, however, follow different rules and practices due to differences in the interpretation of the legal texts. There is thus no uniform Sharia system of law in the form of universally valid legal texts. Sharia is derived from the Qu’ran, Islamic tradition, and the interpretation of major theologians and jurists, chiefly from the first centuries of Islam. By the 10th century, at least one Shiite and four Sunni (Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafii and Maliki) legal traditions had arisen from early Islamic scholarly circles. Sharia has never been codified and is thus both fixed and, at the same time, flexible. It is fixed because the body of law was completed between the 7th and 10th centuries and because the interpretations of the early Islamic authorities generally continue to be viewed as normative today. Sharia is, however, flexible as well because it has been interpreted and shaped into specific laws (e.g. marriage and family law) in each period of history, and thus adapted to each individual situation. Sharia is indeed not a topic of interest only in countries with an Islamic background, but is also relevant to Europe and Germany, in the light of the Muslim communities there. Usually, it is not the specifically religious components of Sharia, e.g. prayer and dietary laws, that come into conflict with the German Basic Law, and therefore, it is not these that pose the real problem.

Conflicts arise primarily in criminal law, marriage and family law. One reason that Sharia is relevant to the western world is that, from a Muslim standpoint, it is, as a matter of principle, universally valid as God's law and thus cannot be declared invalid, even in western countries. Many Muslim immigrants, furthermore, view Sharia and its legal provisions as their true point of reference and orientation in a non-Muslim society, one which they desire to adhere to as much as possible. Problems begin to arise when, due to an allegiance to Sharia, parts of the Muslim community do not recognize the laws and social standards that are binding here in this country. Sharia has also become a topic of discussion as political Islamic organizations campaign for greater recognition, a parallel establishment, and, lastly, the gradual adaptation of Sharia in European countries. This would mean that Sharia and civil law would exist side by side, which would, de facto, abrogate the universal validity of the German legal culture. In Islamic countries and countries with a chiefly Islamic orientation, Sharia enjoys a position of primacy as the legal authority. However, in almost all of these countries, other legal traditions have also been introduced as well. Turkey, for example, has adopted a number of European laws. Afghanistan is currently emblematic for a whole group of countries in which traditional Sharia law tensely coexists alongside obligations assumed with regard to human rights conventions. Groups in northern Nigeria, Sudan, and in other countries are working to reinstate conventions of Sharia law. These can include lashing, amputations, and stonings – a practice that has justifiably received considerable opposition, especially as its victims are often women from under-privileged classes, who are unprotected in society. Efforts to reinstate conventions of Sharia law are at times more politically than religiously motivated. Institutions have come into being in a number of non-Islamic countries that allow Muslims to follow Islamic law. In most of these cases, these institutions are places for judicial decision and counselling outside of court. In certain states with a Muslim population (such as Israel and Lebanon), Sharia courts with limited jurisdiction are controlled by the state as part of the normal legal system. Such Sharia courts or similar institutions are unthinkable in the democratic state established by the German Basic Law. Christians reject any type of state recognition or even tolerance of this type of Islamic jurisprudence, not only as a means of defending the democratic system, but also as a protection of religious freedom. The processes and results involved would be of particular disadvantage to women; the inherent opposition to equal treatment of men and women would be fully unacceptable. 2.2.2 Human rights and minority rights in Islam The Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries with a majority Muslim population form one of the regions of the world, although not the only region, in which human rights organizations have documented numerous human rights violations. The reasons for this are complex and include social, political, and religious components. The topic of human rights is, however, a matter of intensive discussion for Muslim theologians as well. A look at Islamic human rights declarations, such as the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights, which was adopted by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in 1990, will show that they differ from international human rights declarations in one fundamental point: The Qu’ran and Sharia are given priority over the observance of all human rights. This can be

glimpsed in Article 24 of the Cairo Declaration, which states that “All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari'ah.” Article 25 continues that “The Islamic Shari'ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this Declaration.” In specific terms the priority given to religious law means that human rights which are based on secular grounds and are independent of – or even in opposition to – Islamic revelation, cannot be upheld. Instead, only rights that fall within the framework of Islamic law are recognized. The greatest differences to western views are in the areas of the physical punishment foreseen by Sharia law for capital offences, the treatment of religious minorities and converts, and the rights of women as defined in Sharia law. In Germany, as elsewhere, the largest number of practical conflicts occurs in these areas. 2.2.3 Areas of conflict The role of religious minorities in Islam Jews and Christians are given a special position in Islamic law as “People of the Book,” the recipients of earlier revelations. They thus attained the status of “charges of the state” in areas conquered by the forces of Islam, which allowed them the right to maintain their own beliefs, but imposed upon them additional taxes. As conquered peoples, not as citizens on an equal footing, they were treated mostly with greater tolerance than non-Christian minorities in the European Middle Ages. Although they at times enjoyed influence and a high standing, at other times they were repeatedly subject to mass repression or were the victims of various discriminatory laws. They never enjoyed an equal legal standing with Muslims, a situation that Christian minorities face to this day in countries with an Islamic orientation. They are not permitted to take on certain social positions, and some may not receive full state protection from attack. And to this day, Sharia law generally prohibits Muslim women from marrying non-Muslims, and does not allow non-Muslims to inherit property from Muslims. Islam is not only a personal belief, but also determines the social order and sets guidelines for society, politics, and law in places where Sharia is the main or even the sole basis for the legal system (e.g. in Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Pakistan, Iran, and parts of Nigeria). This is the case where the absolute majority is of Muslim faith – as in the Arab world – and where Islam is constitutionally established as the state religion. The state itself thus becomes a supporter of the religious ideas anchored in Islam, and of Islamic institutions, and hence often takes on important religious functions. Those who, through their allegiance to Islam, remain loyal to the state, enjoy full state protection, while non-Muslims, who are thought to lack loyalty to the state, are not granted a fully equal legal footing, and are not able to call upon state protection under all circumstances and in full. Renunciation of Islam In the view of Sharia, the voluntary renunciation of Islam (apostasy) is thus not a personal change of religion, but rather a political act of treason. Apostates are thought to endanger the stability of the Islamic society; only as Muslims could they remain loyal to the state. The Qu’ran addresses the renunciation of Islam only in general terms, while Islamic tradition is much more precise in its wording. There, Muhammad is known to have said: “If somebody discards his religion, kill him.” and “Whoever parts from you (or deserts you), he should die.”

According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad himself killed apostates for having changed their religion when he conquered Mecca, his hometown, in 631. In countries with a Muslim majority, most converts are faced with harm if their families or societies believe that they need to be cleansed of the “disgrace” of apostasy through the use of threats, intimidation, or by attacking life and limb of the convert. Common consequences for converts in these countries include a loss of property, inheritance, and employment, and a loss of family through banishment or forced divorce. Some converts are sent to prison, others are subjected to compulsory psychiatric treatment. Converts are forced, under certain circumstances, to flee the country. If it ever were to come to legal proceedings in a country with an Islamic tradition – which almost never happens – Sharia provides for the defendant to be beheaded. While this provision of Sharia law is seldom implemented, it does, however, have as its consequence that there is extremely little sense of social injustice when families set upon converts, causing them great suffering or even bringing about their deaths. While Islamists, in their advocacy for the death penalty for apostates, are the strongest voice, liberal views have also come to the fore in countries with a majority Muslim population. The latter allow for greater latitude in protecting human rights in accordance with standards of international law. For the time being, however, it does not seem that this sort of moderate view can gain ground against the leading theologians of influential Islamic countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The position of converts in countries with an Islamic orientation is not comparable with the position of converts in traditional churches. Although this sort of persecution is not always carried out by the state, it is frequently the family or immediate milieu that is responsible, which makes it no less life-threatening. This should indeed be taken into account in asylum proceedings in the defence of those fleeing persecution. These victims deserve every possible means of support. Quite a few converts – in addition to both Muslim and non-Muslim critics of Islam – are confronted with serious threats even in Germany. Intimidation and threats to, or even direct attacks on people with differing opinions, are not to be tolerated, even when one takes into account the values and norms of other cultures and religions. For this reason, even in western countries, one should not play down or deny the danger of threats by relatives, compatriots, or secret police services. Officials and civilians alike are instead called upon to do what they can to help through education, counselling, legal and financial help. The status of women When one speaks of the status of women “in Islam,” one must take into account that not all disadvantages that women experience in countries with a Muslim majority are originally tied to Islam itself. The reasons for some disadvantages are also to be found in culture and tradition. This becomes evident in cases where Christian Copts and Yazidi Kurds – or Muslims – value young wives only after the birth of the first son, or where a majority of marriages are arranged by the parents. In many cases, however, Islam has entered into an “unholy” alliance with tradition, where traditions that are disadvantageous to women are justified through Islam or tied to religious law, thus becoming difficult to reform. One example of this is genital mutilation, which began long before the advent of Islam, but which today in a number of – primarily African – ethnic groups is justified through Islamic rules of decency. Islamic marriage and family laws are of particular interest to the status of women since there is no body of independent and secular marriage and family law, free from religious norms, in

countries with an Islamic orientation. Only Turkey, with the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923/24, expressly rejected Sharia as a basis for the legal system, thus securing equal rights for women, with the goal of translating this into social reality. Women, however, often continue to be subject to oppression and external control, particularly in rural areas. Morocco was one of the first Arab countries to introduce a reform of family law that in practice ensures equal footing for women and men. In other parts of the Islamic world, the Sharia provisions for marriage and family law define the legal status of women in different ways, leading to a wide range of situations for women there. A number of countries have undertaken legal improvements in family law – and thus de facto new interpretations of Sharia law – which have been advantageous for women, especially those living in urban areas, who are no longer forced into marriages or into a way of living prescribed by their extended family. In some countries in which Islam is the state religion, the jurisprudence is now tied more closely to the principles of Sharia law than it has been in the past. Over the past several years, countries such as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Sudan have put on show trials – especially for adultery – as a public demonstration of the reintroduction of Sharia law. These are countries in which the right of women to self-determination is very limited. As a result of migration from these countries to Europe, these traditions and views of law are also of importance in the lives and legal views of some people in Germany. Although Muslim theologians stress that Sharia maintains justice between the genders and provides women with dignity and honor, in reality, Sharia marriage and family law clearly favours men and discriminates against women. Sharia, for example, links the men's obligation to support their wives with their wives’ obedience. And this obedience primarily involves the realm of sexuality – with the conclusion of a marriage contract and the assumption of the woman’s financial support, men enjoy a right of disposition over their wives (cf. suras 2:223; 2:187). A majority of Muslim scholars conclude from this that wives should always be at their husbands' disposition, whenever desired. In all countries with a Muslim majority, it is a woman's duty to obey her husband, father, and brothers. This, combined with the fact that men are not at any point obliged to obey women, has had an impact on German society, when, for example, male students (pupils) show no respect to woman teachers and other female authority figures, and are not willing to follow their instructions. Many provisions of Sharia law have had an effect in Germany as well, leading to an often observable contempt for women, to a broadly recognized right of men within the family to make decisions affecting women, and the frequent disciplining of wives, even within Germany. Some Muslim women in Germany manage to maintain their faith while enjoying newly-acquired freedoms, and manage to reconcile or even justify these freedoms with their faith. Others, however, are severely restricted by their families, and face numerous prohibitions – all of which is also justified on the basis of religion. In many cases, relatives from Turkey virtually purchase a German residency permit through marriage, only to dominate their wives, who grew up in Germany, and to subjugate them to traditional, rural standards. In other cases, women are “sold” from Turkey to Germany to be married. Such women often have no chance to make acquaintances in the German community, to learn the German language, or to make use of the opportunities and rights in German society. Some groups tied to Islamic history and tradition, such as the Alevis, have a considerably more liberal view of the role of women, based on a much less strict interpretation and observance of Sharia.

In Islam, women are also legally disadvantaged in the areas of testimony and inheritance law, in regard to polygamy, the unilateral banishment of women, divorce and child custody law. In all, Islamic marriage lacks balance, coming out strongly in favour of men, which women traditionally have been able to counteract with their families' influence, their education, and background. This is, however, almost exclusively the case in urban areas. The definition of what constitutes a “disadvantage” for women is different, however, from a Muslim point of view than within the Christian-oriented western context. The expectations of marriage also differ in many areas between the western world and countries with a Muslim majority. In countries in which women are increasingly subjected to provisions of Sharia law, Sharia has not kept its promise to provide women with dignity and freedom. Women, alongside religious and ethnic minorities, are instead the first to suffer the ramifications of a growing Islamization of society, as can be seen in the examples of Nigeria and Sudan. In Germany as well, it is imperative that we intensify our focus on the principles behind Islamic marriage and family law. Society and the state must intervene when Muslim women who have grown up in Germany are forced into marriage, or when violence or death threats are used to defend an antiquated view of honour. People may not keep silent, as if it did not matter. The discussion among Muslims concerning these sorts of practices plays an important role itself in changing old traditional attitudes. Women who become the victims of abuse must receive consolation, practical help, and encouragement. Christians and their churches should also assist them when it comes to seeking out the police for the protection and support that can improve their life situations. It is the task of the justice system to hold offenders accountable with all due rigor. 2.3 Religiously legitimized violence and the peace mission of both religions War and violence, peace and reconciliation have been topics central to the existence of people throughout history. These topics present now, and have presented in the past, opportunities for “cultural” relations between groups, states, and peoples. Going to war in the name of God is a concept that is well-known in the world of religion; it has been carried out in a variety of forms throughout human history and has occurred in nearly all religions. Over the past several years, the connection between religion and violence has received particular public attention and become politically explosive. Terrorist attacks, brutal uses of violence, and suicide bombers are time and again justified using religious motives. It has been the danger and potential of violence inherent in religion, and not the contributions of religion towards peace that has occupied the centre of public interest. Beyond the religious justification of violence by Islamic groups, numerous voices from within the Islamic world have emerged to explain that the use of violence, suicide and terrorist attacks are incompatible with the Muslim faith. This thus calls for an explanation of the status of war and violence, peace and reconciliation in Islam. The testimony of the Qu’ran, the views of the Islamic schools of jurisprudence, and current receptions and interpretations are all of importance in this regard. 2.3.1 Religious struggle and the House of Islam Islamic texts that are understood to be divine revelation contain both statements that limit violence (e.g. suras 4:90; 5:34; 8:61; and 9:6) as well as those that legitimize violence (e.g.

suras 2:190-194; 4:76; 4:89; 9:5; 9:14-15). The latter, however, are much more frequent. The Qu’ran proves to be a book with many voices. The Qu’ran is ambivalent in the orientation of its views on war and peace. It presents the view that incursions of infidels need to be beaten back and that non-Muslims and “polytheists” need to be fought, juxtaposed with the instructions that one should give priority to peace and place the search for peace above war and fighting. Statements on war and peace are closely connected with the history of the expansion and defence of Islam. Its internal goals were to strengthen the faith, to ensure obedience, and to preserve the unity of the community. The external goals were the acceptance of the faith, the triumph of the law, and the protection of the community from dangers. The medieval theory of the opposition between two realms of Dar al-Islam (“House of Islam”) and Dar al-Kufr (“House of Infidels,” also known as Dar al-Harb or “House of War”) dominated Islamic political thought for centuries. While this theory is still supported today, especially within the Wahhabist movement, it is not suited to improving the presence and situation of Muslims in the “European diaspora”. This view is also seen by many Muslims to be lacking and problematic. This schematic division of the world furthers a form of polar thinking in terms of good and evil, friend and foe, which does not lead to peace. Even the term Dar al-‘Ahd or “House of Truce,” coined by the legal scholars al-Mawardi and ash-Shafi’i, which is used in the “Islamic Charter” of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, does not lead to the enduring recognition of the democratic legal order. Within discussions among Muslims, Islamists often take the position that Europe is part of Dar al-Islam. They explain that even in the Islamic world, not all Islamic laws are observed and, due to the religious freedoms enjoyed in Europe, Muslims there have even better chances of “Islamizing” the majority society. Individual legal scholars and intellectuals characterize the non-Muslim world as Dar ad-Da’wa (“House of Invitation or Mission”) and as Dar ash-Shahada (“House of Testimony”), making clear that Muslims can be pragmatic in recognizing the legal order of European countries as long as the freedom of religion, including that of peaceful mission, is safeguarded. The current debate demonstrates how difficult it is for Muslims, with a critical look into their own traditions concerning war and peace, to find a theologically substantial justification for the acceptance of democratic legal orders. This rings particularly true in relation to the term “jihad” and its meaning. 2.3.2 Jihad The Arabic word “jihad” is linked to the verb “jahada”, meaning “to strive, to dedicate oneself to”. The term is used to describe both internal and external struggles. Jihad can refer both to individual religious practice and war against infidels, a commendable undertaking for which one is later received in paradise. The defence and expansion of the Islamic area of power were, and still are, seen as a particular form of jihad. The various meanings of the word – a struggle with the heart, the tongue, the hands, or with the sword – are mirrored in the variety of interpretative perspectives. Similarly, this variety is reflected indirectly in the range of differing Islamic voices, up through the Islamist and extremist interpretations of jihad in the 20th and 21st centuries. Traditional Islam knows no fundamental division between religious and political spheres. This is true both for the understanding and practice of jihad as well as for the Islamic legal

system as a whole. Both aspects, religious and political, were conjoined in the life of Muhammad himself. Disentangling the two and recognizing the principles underlying the modern democratic state is, from the perspective of the German Basic Law, a precondition for the peaceful coexistence of different religions and worldviews. 2.3.3 The mission of peace in both religions The various Muslim associations in Europe have begun to define their understanding of faith in relation to other religious communities and to the constitutional principles of the European states. As part of this process, the following will need to be clarified: - Qu’ranic texts on the subject of war, peace, and violence must be viewed within the context of the wide range of their reception and their fixed position within an historical framework. An interpretation is needed, which, in a way that appears possible and meaningful, allows for agreement with European constitutional realties (a secular democratic state as the prerequisite for religious pluralism and a peaceful coexistence of religions). Many Muslims have already departed from the main tenets of traditional jihadist thought. This is likely to be the case for most Muslims of Turkish origin, as they were already familiar with the secular Turkish state form. It is, however, not enough to emphasize that the Islamic religion supports peace. It must also be demonstrated that the renunciation of violence as a means of expanding Islam is a fundamental part of the Islamic self-image. - A self-critical look into one’s own history, including instances of religiously motivated fanaticism and fundamentalism, is necessary in order to alleviate the potential for violence within the religious tradition. This holds for all religions. In this vein, one must not only expect of Muslim scholars that they are honest in their discussion of history and that they distance themselves from violence-prone Islamism, but also that they provide a well-argued interpretation of the texts of the Qu’ran and Islamic law, illustrating that a renunciation of violence and a peaceful resolution of conflict are in accordance with their religious convictions. - Muslims have supported peace within society through their active participation in peace initiatives, prayers for peace (e.g. 1986 and 2002 in Assisi; 2004 in Cologne), protest events against the misuse of religion, and in work for social justice. In doing so, they establish in practice a non-violent interpretation of their tradition. It is up to the adherents of all religions to work toward supporting peace and toward the reduction of the potential for violence and aggression in a shared society. 2.4 Religion, migration and integration 2.4.1 Immigration and the vision of integration Over the past decades, Germany has developed into a veritable country of immigrants and in the course of this, for the first time, Muslims have come to Germany in considerable numbers. In Germany’s Federal States 1925 census, less than 3000 people were adherents of a religion other than Christianity and Judaism. The 1964 census in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) counted fewer than 2000 members of non-Christian religious communities. The presence of over 3 million Muslims in Germany today is therefore almost exclusively the result of the wave of migration to West Germany and West Berlin that began in the 1950s.

Only after the reunification of Germany did this development begin to affect the other states (federal countries) of eastern Germany as well. The immigration law in effect since 1 January 2005 pays testimony to a new basic political consensus. Expressly welcomed by the EKD, the law took many of the church's central demands concerning immigration rights into consideration. The Protestant Church takes part in the discussions regarding the vision and overall concept for integration and contributes its broad spectrum of experience, such as its migration advisory services, asylum and refugee work, its educational work, and numerous initiatives in the area of inter-religious dialogue. Protestant Christians have sought to be active as “integration pilots”. “The experience with expulsions, migrations, and settlements in foreign lands that are described in many parts of the Bible, in addition to the biblical rules on the treatment of foreigners play the greatest part in the churches' understanding of their role. This translates into a particular obligation to live in solidarity with migrants, people of other backgrounds and languages, who have left their home countries for a variety of reasons.” (Zusammenleben gestalten, S. 14) Integration entails political, social, and cultural dimensions and presents a continual challenge to society as a whole. Integration makes demands of both the host society and of the immigrants. It requires that the host society open up avenues to the immigrants to integrate, reaching as far as equal participation in the central areas of activity and institutions of our society – politics, economy, employment, residence, social services, recreation, education, and culture. The political sphere and society as a whole must be persistent in ensuring that all social groups are able to lead lives of their choosing. Conversely, integration demands of the immigrants that they are willing to learn the German language and basic knowledge of Germany’s Federal States history, society, and culture. The main requisite for the coexistence of “natives” and “immigrants” in Germany is the recognition of the fundamental constitutional principles of the secular, democratic, and social state (constitutional loyalty) and the will to play an active role in the shaping of civil society on the foundation of basic democratic values. 2.4.2 Controversy and the “multicultural society” The ecumenical committee responsible for the preparation of a special day dedicated to foreign residents spoke in 1980 of the fact that a “multicultural society” was developing in Germany. Since then, there have been heated discussions, full of controversy, on how to deal with the cultural plurality. Cultural diversity is a social resource that can enrich the lives of all. Experiencing other cultural backgrounds and traditions – and accepting them in their otherness – requires a willingness to be tolerant that is a necessary virtue in a diverse society. The term “multicultural” is often used in different ways and frequently conjures up the vision of a disorderly juxtaposition of ethnic groups, religions, and cultures. It is thus preferable to speak of a “culturally pluralistic” society. Such societies are “difficult ways of living” (Wolfgang Huber) since the political recognition of cultural differences regularly conflicts with the constitutional principle of equality for all. Culturally pluralistic societies therefore require a political framework that ensures the equal participation of all, as well as participants in civil society who play their part in creating a critical “culture of recognition” in people's everyday lives.

Cultural identities reach their limits when they conflict with universally valid human rights. Systematic social and political inequality between men and women, for example, as manifested in so-called honour killings, female circumcision, and forced marriages, are therefore, under no circumstances to be tolerated in a democratic society. The authoritarian, patriarchal, and often religiously legitimized reduction of women to their supposed natural roles, their confinement to domestic life, and their continual supervision, combine to pose a contradiction to the basic values and virtues of a democratic order, which includes the principles of self-determination and participation in public life. These principles receive the strong support of the Protestant Church together with democratically-minded Muslims. In the course of the events of the past several years, there has often been talk of “parallel societies” developing in Germany. This is a reference to situations in which the communications between insular social groups and the majority society break down or are broken off, and alternative institutions are deliberately created in the areas of economics, the employment market, education, and recreation. Social control on the part of dominant leaders or ethnic, religious, and cultural groups intensifies into mental and physical duress. These parallel societies run the risk that individual human rights will be restricted when dominant groups prevent these rights from being exercised. Parallel societies can be deemed to be fully developed when they also develop their own legal order and hinder or attempt to undermine the state monopoly on the use of force. There may not be two forms of law. German legislature alone is relevant within Germany. Only in limited cases does the law allow for the recognition of regulations from other countries (e.g. in marriage and family law). Parallel societies contradict the goal of a “culture of recognition,” endanger individual human rights, the coherence of society, and integration. Interreligious dialogue is either impossible or possible only to a limited degree in parallel societies. There are not yet any completely developed parallel societies in Germany although, particularly in urban areas, one can observe a trend towards ethnic and religio-cultural groups closing themselves off, and Islamist-oriented groups increasing the pressure they exert on Muslim communities. 2.4.3. Integration and social dialogue The majority of Muslims in Germany make efforts to further their integration and affirm democracy as put forth by the German Basic Law. Muslims in Germany seek to live in peace, to uphold their faith publicly, and to pass their faith on to their children. Many, inspired by their religious convictions, become involved in various ways in society and politics, and as partners in an inter-religious dialogue. This is deserving of particular respect and support. Doubt is often cast upon the willingness of Muslims to integrate, with the argument that many questions commonly posed by non-Muslims are not given adequate answers. Such questions are often an expression of fears, uncertainties, and a sense of alienation. At times, these questions are even the result of hidden resentment and enmities. There are, however, also justifiable inquiries that may entail criticism of the way Muslims deal with their religious traditions and practice. For example, discussions on controversial topics frequently arise within the framework of everyday coexistence. These touch on matters such as decisions as to what is essential to an Islamic lifestyle, and the effect of traditional religio-cultural practices, such as dietary and dress codes, the construction of mosques, and loud calls to prayer in a social environment that is not, by tradition, Muslim.

The situation offers great opportunity for dialogue and for the practice of mutual tolerance and willingness to compromise. To the same degree that one can ask Muslims to open themselves to an understanding of the cultural, religious, political, and legal traditions in Germany, one may ask their non-Muslim counterparts to show a willingness and an interest in hearing and thinking over the questions, irritations, and criticisms of people from other backgrounds. Recognition and respect for other convictions is an absolute prerequisite for a reciprocal relationship of this kind. 3. Muslim life in Germany – areas of tension in practical coexistence The areas of tension involving social integration, which are outlined in the previous chapter, most strongly affect practical coexistence in society. We must remember that, in Germany, Islam is mainly the religion of people who are in the country on a permanent basis. A major portion of the Muslim population in Germany, however, is still made up of Muslims from immigrant families, while the number of children born to parents of differing nationalities and religions has also risen. The Evangelical Church in Germany actively supports the view that this two-fold (cultural and religious) separation from the majority society need not be seen as a hindrance to integration, and that dialogue and shared activities can lead to mutual acceptance. This process must, however, be a bilateral one. The EKD sees a perspective for a peaceful and constructive coexistence with Muslims in Germany only if efforts are made by both groups to promote integration. This will be a long and difficult process, in which children and adolescents from immigrant families will need to be provided with particular support. 3.1 Marriage and family life 3.1.1 Relations between generations Since most Muslims in Germany come from an immigrant background, their family life, relations between the generations, and child-rearing methods are often influenced by traditions that differ from European and western conventions. For families with a traditional orientation, life in Germany generally means straddling two worlds. While this can indeed enrich the lives of those involved, it can also prove to be quite overwhelming. When this happens, the German environment can be perceived as a threat, which can lead to a retreat into self-isolation. In turn, the majority society may eye the immigrants with suspicion. This can frequently lead to misunderstandings, tensions, and conflicts. Many families that have migrated to Germany now live in economically and socially precarious situations. This has a negative impact on the educational opportunities of the younger generation. Maintaining relatively strong ties with family and relatives is very important for many Muslims. This reflects the fact that in majority Muslim areas, the responsibility of one generation for another has served as a form of security in facing the risks of life. Even today, many parents expect material security in times of illness, emergency, and in their old age in exchange for their investment in their children – both material and in terms of intellectual and emotional nurture. This reflects a sharing of responsibilities and a division of labor among the generations that coincides with a greater sense of loyalty and mutual control within the extended family, with a clearer delineation of roles.

In such families, there is a stronger division of gender roles with very different normative expectations of sons and daughters. This contrasts with a western view of the family that stresses the rights of each individual more strongly. We must, however, look more closely at this situation, as, for example, Turkish Muslim immigrant families in Germany often rear their children in a manner that emphasizes protection and control more than families in Turkey itself – or at least in the urban areas of western Turkey. Living in the midst of a foreign culture often seems to increase the need of parents to protect and control their children. In families with a Muslim orientation, religious values and rules of everyday conduct are passed on – in contrast with many Christian families – primarily from fathers and grandfathers to their sons and grandsons, and from mothers, aunts, and grandmothers to their daughters, nieces, and granddaughters. Families with immigrant backgrounds that have lived in Germany for a long time, or have become German citizens, as well as an increased number of bi-national families, have led to the creation of completely new constellations, which can lead to a loss of religious and cultural influence. In some cases, however, these traditions can be transformed and restructured, while in other cases, we can even observe a rekindling of the traditional identities themselves. 3.1.2 Gender roles According to traditional Islamic views, men are obliged to earn the family's living, while women are responsible for caring for children and the household. Men and women often inhabit two clearly separate worlds. This is also the case in conservative Muslim families in Germany, in which wives, in some cases, are prevented by their husbands from earning money or from enjoying their own personal freedoms, even if such freedoms cannot be legally restricted in Germany. Sons and daughters are raised in great conformity with their gender roles. Fathers make all decisions concerning the outside world, while women slowly gain in social standing with increased age, but continue to have only limited rights in traditional families. The broader public freedom of movement and action enjoyed by men is closely connected with the religious sphere. The Qu’ran requires of women and men alike that they fulfil their full religious duties, for which God will reward men and women equally. In practice, however, women are subjected to a range of limitations in their religious practice and in their independence from their husbands; only men are obliged to take part in Friday prayer at a mosque. With little personal income, women have greater difficulty in giving alms, while fasting and pilgrimages to Mecca are interrupted or made impossible by their regular periods of “uncleanness.” In accordance with Muslim tradition, it is part of a man's place to discipline his wife if she disobeys him (sura 4:34: “…talk to them, desert them in bed, and beat them.”) Even if this is understood today to mean “moderate discipline,” it still remains unacceptable. In countries with a Sharia-based legal system, a wife’s obedience can be sued for in court. Such cases usually already follow this sort of “moderate discipline,” which is often considered to be socially acceptable, even in Turkey. This type of discipline is, however, a criminal offence according to German law. It remains a criminal offence, even if immigrants reject this legal view, and continue to maintain other legal views and social practices from their home countries when they are in Germany. This is incompatible with fundamental rights, and therefore unacceptable. People living here must be expected to accept, and behave in accordance with, the fundamental principles of the Basic Law.

Some Muslim scholars maintain that this sort of discipline is not appropriate to our times, or support the interpretation that this is merely meant as an emphatic admonition. The Zentrum für Islamische Frauenforschung (ZIF, “Centre for Islamic Women's Studies”) in Cologne pursues something along the lines of a “women-centred Islamic theology”, leaving “patriarchic interpretations” behind in order to support the self-confidence and assertiveness of Muslim girls and women. The ZIF calls, for instance, for reinterpreting the “beating” of wives (sura 4:34) into husbands leaving their wives, thus viewing the Qu’ran as a text that rejects violence against women. The ZIF also deems the Qu’ran's pronouncements concerning women to “liberate and support women”. The German-based Islamic women's network, Huda - Netzwerk für muslimische Frauen e.V, does not reject the legitimacy of violence against women in the name of Islam, but replaces the traditional view of “beating” with alternative interpretations and strongly argues that the subjugation of women (acid attacks, stonings, genital mutilation) is never compatible with the spirit of Islam. Such views are, however, unfortunately uncommon among influential Muslim theologians. Women can, in fact, go to court in most Islamic countries if they repeatedly receive severe abuse; they do, however, require proof and family support. Because it constitutes physical assault, this type of mistreatment is prohibited in Germany by criminal law. This also holds for acts that are played down as “moderate disciplining of a wife.” State attorneys and the police are duty-bound to intervene in all serious cases. But even in cases considered by law to be “simple assault”, the authorities should always intervene for the sake of particular public interest, and not wait for the beaten women to file a complaint. Many women do not dare to take such an initiative; they forego seeking help due to feelings of shame and a lack for information. These women are therefore in need of every form of protection and support, including assistance from the church. 3.1.3 Christian-Muslim marriages There are no precise statistics concerning the number of marriages between Christian and Muslim partners, or which nationalities are involved in such marriages. This is because no statistics are kept of Muslim membership in Germany. It is, however, a safe assumption that the number of such marriages in Germany is continually on the rise. When Muslim men and Christian (or non-Muslim) women are married in western countries, they usually assume that the couple will continue to live in Europe indefinitely. This can, however, change when, for example, the man's ageing parents call him “home.” This can become an acid test for the marriage. When such women move from the European-Christian context to an Islamic country, they are confronted with great changes. Women, especially, are expected to conform to a range of behavioural rules that are defined in direct proportion to the degree of conservatism in the culture of the new place of residence. Certain socially sanctioned forms of behaviour are, however, also expected of the man in such cases. If a couple decides to live in the husband's Islamically-oriented home country, it is absolutely necessary that the woman seek out detailed information on the specifics of the marriage law, and a solid understanding of the legal, cultural, and religious particularities in that country.

Islamic marriages are, even today, often still arranged by the parents. Young people in modern urban areas, however, usually choose their own spouses. Arranged marriages are traditionally connected with values such as “decency” and “honour”, while “love marriages” are frequently characterized as “immoral” or “a western way of living”. According to traditional Islamic law, marriages are civil law contracts, which mostly set forth the dowry price and method of payment. This usually consists of money, furniture, clothes, or jewellery, to be paid by the family of the groom to the bride (or, rarely, to her family). The marriage contract can also in some cases stipulate additional rights for the bride. Protestant weddings, at least in Germany, supplement state weddings with a church service dedicated to thanksgiving, solemn prayer, and blessing. In an Islamic context, however, signing a contract constitutes the actual marriage. One does not ask for God's blessing at an Islamic wedding itself. Islamic weddings are not religious acts but rather document-signing ceremonies that, by establishing the amount to be paid in case of divorce, clearly take that possibility into consideration. Polygamy is, in most Islamic countries – except Tunisia and Turkey – always possible in principle, especially in cases of illness and infertility. Thus, in contrast with Christian marriage ceremonies, Islamic weddings do not require the promise of a life-long, exclusive bond to one's spouse with the affirmation that one will take care of him or her in “bad days”. When really “bad days” come – incurable illnesses, imprisonment, impotence, infertility, or other difficulties – this constitutes, according to Islamic law, generally recognized grounds for divorce. It is not the concept of a life-long bond with mutual responsibility before God around which Islamic marriage revolves, but chiefly the question of establishing each of the two partners' rights. While most mosques in Germany observe the law, and first send marriage-minded couples to civil registry offices, in some mosques there have been weddings with ceremonies to sign marriage contracts without the couple ever having been married in the eyes of the state. Such marriages are also frequently between a non-Muslim woman and a Muslim man. Particularly the non-Muslims in such “marriages” should realize that they have absolutely no recourse to the law. This does not constitute a marriage. This type of practice can lead to disadvantages and forms of dependency. Many Muslim parents agree to their sons marrying a European, Christian partner, since Jews and Christians are, as a matter of principle, recognized as “People of the Book”. According to Sharia law, a Muslim man can be married to a Christian or Jewish woman without the woman having the renounce her faith. In practice, however, some families have strong expectations that the bride convert to Islam. Some women may, themselves, in fact, feel pressured to take this step, in order to receive greater acceptance and to have a greater say in things. The issue of inheritance also plays an important role, since non-Muslim women cannot inherit from their husbands. And, if a non-Muslim marries an Iranian citizen, she should know that if they wish to visit Iran, she can only receive an Iranian marriage certificate if she officially converts to Islam. Such certificates are necessary if couples wish to enter the country. When, as is sometimes the case, wedding ceremonies are jointly officiated by an imam and a pastor, this can lead to confusion, as this constitutes neither a legally binding Islamic nor a Protestant marriage. Christian weddings are publicly pronounced pledges before the Triune God and the people, and are petitions for God's blessing. The bride and groom vow to uphold their exclusive relationship in devoted love and life-long loyalty. Christian weddings are thus fundamentally different from Islamic weddings.

Before Christians and Muslims marry, they should receive intensive counselling with information on the commonalities and differences between the Christian and Muslim understandings of marriage. Potential areas of conflict such as the children's religious education need to be addressed. When Christians and Muslims marry, both should know beforehand, for instance, that their children will always been seen as Muslims by Islamic law, and, in accordance with Sharia, will not be allowed to leave the Muslim faith since they would be considered to be apostates. Islamic marriage law also stipulates that the father alone has the right to decide where the children live. When families live in chiefly Muslim countries, divorce leads to the mothers losing their right of residence there, while the children often remain with the father. Bringing up children with both religions so that they can later decide for one themselves is thus always a concession to be made by the father, and does not constitute a right of the non-Muslim mother. Such a bi-religious upbringing is seldom possible, and, at best, quite difficult for families that live in majority-Muslim countries. If a marriage ends in divorce, Islamic marriage law, as a matter of principle, grants all parental rights to the father. Islamic marriage law, including the right of the husband to discipline his wife and limitations to women's freedom, has no legal validity in Germany. Many Muslims, however, still refer to Islamic law as a point of orientation, and treat their wives in accordance with the principles of Sharia law and age-old traditions – even if their wives are German and/or non-Muslim. Christian spouses can count on their churches for counselling and assistance both when preparing for marriage with a Muslim partner and throughout the marriage, especially in situations of conflict. 3.2 Public education 3.2.1. Early childhood education In a 2004 declaration entitled Wo Glauben wächst und Leben sich entfaltet (“Where faith grows and life develops”), the Evangelical Church in Germany encouraged teachers in the approximately 9,000 Protestant early childhood centres in Germany to see Muslim children not as children with difficulties, such as weak German skills, but also as a valuable asset. A large number of such children have already had life-changing experiences through the migration process, know how to adapt to different cultural settings, and can connect patterns of behaviour and ethical standards with the groups around them and people important to them. They act as liaisons between the different cultures in which they grow up. This makes it all the easier to view Muslim children not just as a strain on the group but also as an inspiration for intercultural competence (cf. Wo Glauben wächst, p. 43). Learning German is seen as an important first step in the integration of children from immigrant families. Protestant early childhood centres should therefore extend their facilities to these children as well. Often, however, parents turn down such offers. This can be due to a lack of understanding of how important kindergartens are for the development of their children, due to fears of not being able to communicate with staff or other organizational problems, or even just because they do not know who would accompany the children to and from the centre. The fears of immigrant parents can be overcome when volunteers from the congregations concerned help the Muslim parents with questions involving the centres, or organize the necessary transportation. This requires both organization and a willingness to

volunteer. Such neighbourly support does, however, also serve as a contribution on the part of the host society toward the integration of immigrants. The financial situation of immigrant families poses another obstacle to the early use of these facilities. Fees are currently different in each federal state and each municipality. One would hope that financially-challenged families throughout Germany will be exempted from kindergarten fees in the near future. Children can only find their way in the world when one addresses their entire personalities, taking into account all aspects of the social and cultural context. Early education centers thus need to get parents involved and provide additional family services. These services help in working together with parents to bring up their children, both expanding their horizons as parents and boosting their ability to integrate. Muslim mothers and fathers usually respond positively to this sort of offer. Work with Muslim families poses a particular challenge – especially when their values and ways of interacting are different from those of Christians. This requires teachers to be open, tolerant, knowledgeable, and highly competent, all skills that need to be stressed more in the course of teacher training. Teachers thus urgently require support and further training to solidify their knowledge of their own religion, while learning to deal with the religious and cultural patterns of Muslim parents. In areas with a high percentage of immigrants, there are Protestant early childhood education centres whose management deems it helpful to hire Muslim teachers. This can ease the understanding between the different religions and cultures, and provide access to the different languages of the children in their care. Only members of a church recognized by the National Council of Churches in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen in Deutschland) can, however, be employed by a church, since this service also involves the task of proclaiming the gospel in words and actions. The individual regional churches in Germany have dealt differently with exceptions to this rule in their church law, by choosing to employ or not employ non-Christians, including Muslims (cf. Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, pp. 56-58, 75). It is, regardless, a good idea to ask Muslim parents to participate voluntarily in the familiarization phase and the early part of the language programme. 3.2.2 Islamic religious instruction Both the Protestant Church and the Roman Catholic Church would like to see religious instruction, as provided for by Article 7 of the German Basic Law, be offered to students (pupils) throughout Germany and for all religious communities that qualify. Both major German churches have thus long been calling for the introduction of Islamic religious instruction in public schools (state schools) (cf. from the Protestant point of view: Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, p. 66; from a Catholic perspective: Christen und Muslime in Deutschland, German Bishops’ Conference, p. 261f.) It is the view of the EKD that religious instruction in schools is indispensable for a holistic education, as questions concerning the origins and justification of different faiths and religions should be integrated into the common learning process in schools. The state depends on the cooperation of the religious communities to this end. Despite continued structural difficulties, the Muslim community in Germany should, in principle, also be able to take on such a task. It is of importance to the EKD that this instruction is committed to upholding the free democratic order and that it is held in German.

There have been attempts in some of Germany’s Federal States to replace Islamic religious instruction in primary and secondary schools with instruction in Islamic topics in the students' native tongue. This form of Islamic instruction is, however, not a solution, as it is not a proper school subject and not taught in German. The actual problem is that a number of requirements that are necessary to introduce Islamic religious instruction in accordance with the Basic Law (Article 7(3)) have yet to be resolved by the Muslim communities. For one, a single organization among the Islamic religious communities would have to be named the legitimate representative of Muslims before the state in legal and theological matters. There should then be no reservations concerning loyalty to the constitution of such a representative organization, as demonstrated by the decision of the Federal Administrative Court of 23 February 2005 (6C2.04-NJW2005, 2101ff.). Another question to be resolved is that of participation in Islamic religious instruction. Since Islam knows no formal membership structure, this could be resolved, as the EKD has recommended, by parents or guardians signing a statement that their children are Muslims, or by the students themselves signing once they are 14 years of age. Trials are already underway in some German Federal States to introduce Islamic religious instruction in German. Such attempts should all aim at creating a proper course of religious instruction in accordance with Article 7 of the Basic Law. In order to introduce Islamic religion as a proper school subject in Germany, the state will need to ensure that teachers receive all necessary training. Some universities have therefore now introduced training courses for Islamic religion. Blanket coverage of Islamic instruction throughout Germany will have to wait a while longer due to the sheer number of teachers involved. Even so, this should not serve as a reason to compromise on the quality of such training courses. 3.2.3 Teachers and headscarves For years, there has been a heated debate within German society and political discourse, and also within the Protestant Church itself, on the question of whether Muslim teachers should be allowed to wear headscarves in public schools (state schools). The courts, the laws of the individual German Federal states, and administrative practice do not concur on this matter. In its previous term of office, the EKD Council expressed its views, on the occasion of the Federal Constitutional Court's decision of 24 September 2003 concerning the legislature of the individual states (federal country). The statement of 10 October 2003 establishes the following four basic points: “1. Muslim women invoke their religious conviction in regard to wearing headscarves. In doing so, they draw upon their freedom of religion. This is a higher good in our legal order. Religious freedom, guaranteed without constraints, is valid for all religions within the framework of the Basic Law. The public school (state schools) is also not a religion-free space, as the Federal Constitutional Court has repeatedly emphasized. 2. The protection of positive religious freedom extends also to teachers in public schools (state schools). However, the practice of religious freedom by civil servants reaches its constitutional limits when it collides with the religious freedom of students (pupils) and parents or with other basic rights, prominently including the parental right to determine a child’s upbringing and the school's educational mandate.

3. The state, which is home to all of its citizens, must maintain its neutrality in questions of religious conviction. The behaviour of its civil servants must not violate this obligation of neutrality. This does not exclude civil servants from allowing their religious conviction to be recognizable, but does set limits to this. 4. Civil servants, furthermore, must stand for the free democratic basic order at all times and thus for equality between men and women as well. If a Muslim woman applicant to teach in a public school (state schools) wishes to wear a headscarf while in service, and defends this with an appeal to her freedom of religion, this behaviour, in light of the meaning of the headscarf in Islam, casts doubt on her suitability to be a teacher in a state school. The Evangelical Church in Germany calls for these basic principles to be applied equally to all civil servants at the federal (national), state (federal countries), and municipal levels.” The current council expressly has adopted this declaration as its own. This declaration includes statements that were, and still are, suited to lend expression to a wide consensus in regard to: • the unlimited right to religious freedom, applied equally to all religions; • the protection of positive religious freedom, including the freedom of teachers in public schools (state schools); • and the State’s obligation of neutrality. The statement remains controversial that, in light of the meaning of the headscarf in Islam, the behaviour of a teacher who wears one casts doubt on her suitability to be a teacher in a state school, even if she appeals to her freedom of religion. Reservations concerning this position were even expressed within the working group that prepared this guideline. The EKD Council, however, does not see any convincing reasons to depart from the statement from 2003, but instead reaffirms this statement. Since the aforementioned decision of the Federal Constitutional Court that required a legal basis for any “headscarf ban,” several Federal states have passed such laws. Such general regulations can be viewed, at the least, as permissible. They avoid long drawn-out disputes that could arise from the decisions of individual schools. There is no justification for legal provisions that prohibit all religious symbols from being displayed, at least by civil servants and state employees, within state schools (or even in other areas), with the argument that all religions should be treated equally. The right of adherents to all religions to protection for their positive religious freedom should be affirmed. That which is the same must, however, be treated the same; that which is different must be treated differently. It is thus not only acceptable but necessary to differentiate between such cases. In view of this sort of differentiation, one must observe that symbols of the Judeo-Christian tradition do not represent points of view that contrast with the values that form the basis of the German constitutional order. The Judeo-Christian tradition has, on the contrary, played a major role in laying the basis, in terms of culture and mentality, for free democracy. It does, moreover, seem questionable to accept the headscarf as a religious symbol. The piece of clothing itself bears no religious meaning. The opinion held within Muslim society, however,

that their religion demands of women and adolescent girls that they wear headscarves in public, does come in clear conflict with the equality clause of the German Basic Law. This remains true even in spite of the political implementation of this belief in wide portions of the Islamic world. 3.3 Communal religious life The growing establishment of Islam in Germany has been accompanied by an increase in areas of contact, exchange, and cooperation. In many places, mutual greetings and invitations during religious holidays have been commonplace for years. Mosques and Muslim associations have also been playing an ever greater role alongside church congregations in the areas of inter-religious cooperation and club activities in towns and neighbourhoods. There are, however, areas in which communal religious life leads, time and again, to tension or conflict. 3.3.1 Mosque construction A mosque is the central gathering place for Muslim congregations. It is the place in which adult, male Muslims meet midday Friday for their obligatory ritual prayers. The mosque, furthermore, serves important functions in the religious, social, and political life of Muslim society. Of the approximately 2,500 Islamic places of worship in Germany’s Federal States, only around 70 are recognizable as mosques in their external architectural form. Representing the classical style of Middle Eastern mosque architecture, there are outwardly recognizable mosques in several German states (federal countries). Most prayer rooms are, however, converted living quarters or former factories. This is chiefly due to the fact that, once all the required state permits are taken into account, furnishing prayer rooms by changing the previous use of existing buildings is less difficult and less expensive than building a new mosque.. Time and again, the construction of new mosques – generally following the Turkish model with a dome and minaret – is met with massive resistance on the part of the non-Muslim populace. There are numerous reasons for this: fear of foreign dominance and political agitation; fear of a loss of value of their own buildings in the vicinity of the mosque; and the belief that the “Christian West” should maintain its traditional visage, one which is shaped by Christianity. The position is often put forward, in this context, that Muslims should not build any mosques in Germany as long as the Christian minorities in Islamic country are also prohibited from building churches there. From a legal perspective, one must respond that in the Federal Republic of Germany, Article 4 of the Basic Law states that every person in Germany is guaranteed the freedom of belief and the right to practice their religion freely. The Protestant Church emphatically affirms this right both for itself and for others. This affirmation also includes the right to construct mosques as part of free and unencumbered religious practice. When people build mosques, this demonstrates publicly that they wish to live here permanently and to be accepted as citizens with equal rights. Everything should, nevertheless, be done – as set forth previously – to support the rights of Christians and other religious minorities in majority Muslim countries.

The construction of mosques signals, on the one hand, the public presence of another religion, and can thus be seen as a sign of effective integration. On the other hand, mosques can also become places for cultural retreat, and can thus serve as a place of distancing the minority from the majority society. Every new mosque requires permits. Building permits can be obtained only when the project does not run counter to stipulations of public law (e.g. zoning plans, height of the building or minaret, legal status of the congregation or of the builder). For many Muslims, the dome and minaret are important design features for a mosque. The majority society should view this with greater tolerance. Muslims, for their part, should take more strongly into account that mosques will be accepted more in a Christian environment if they work to create good relations with their neighbours and to avoid unnecessary areas of conflict. One should therefore avoid, for instance, naming a mosque “Fatih Mosque” (“Conqueror Mosque”) after the conqueror of Constantinople. 3.3.2 Public call to prayer It is part of the Islamic tradition that the faithful are called to prayer five times a day from atop the minaret. This call is always in Arabic and can be translated as follows:

- God is the greatest. (4x) - I bear witness that there is no God except God. (2x) - I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. (2x) - Make haste towards prayer. (2x) - Make haste towards welfare. (2x) - God is the greatest. (2x) - There is no God except God. (1x)

The muezzin’s second and third calls are abbreviated forms of the Islamic creed. The muezzin thus does not call the believers only to prayer, but offers his own public testimony of his faith. This differentiates the call to prayer considerably from the sound of church bells. The call of the muezzin is often a reason for neighbourhood conflict, especially if it is amplified through loudspeakers or if there are plans to do so. Muslims have differing opinions as to whether the public call to prayer is a core element of Muslim religious practice. There is even a school of thought that views the use of speakers to amplify the call as incompatible with the Qu’ran. In Germany, freedom of religion is expressly protected as a basic right within our legal order, and this includes the public Muslim call to prayer. One must, however, ask what conditions must prevail so that the muezzin can use speakers for the call. Religious freedoms are limited by the basic rights of other citizens such as the basic right to physical integrity (Article 2 (2), Basic Law). Legal protection from exposure to sounds is one form of this right. Calls with a verbal message make for particular problems, as the intensity of such a disturbance and incursion upon the rights of others is not only measurable by its volume but also by the type of sound involved. It can thus be advisable to forgo amplified calls, in order to preserve good relations with the other inhabitants of the neighbourhood. Whatever the case, both sides should follow a policy of understanding and trust when it comes to situations involving conflict and in the search for amicable solutions that are appropriate for the local state of affairs. 3.3.3 Muslim use of church buildings

Christian congregations are often asked by Muslims to allow them to use their parish facilities for a limited period of time. In deciding whether to assent to such a request, congregations must differentiate between church rooms used only for worship, and other rooms belonging to the congregation (cf. Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, p. 116). Inquiries made by Muslim families or groups concerning the temporary use of church rooms should always be viewed as a challenge to maintain contacts, to extend one's hospitality, and to further dialogue. Nevertheless, requests need to be decided on a case-by-case basis to determine if and when congregation facilities can be used for occasions as diverse as Islamic weddings and circumcision ceremonies, ritual prayer, religious celebrations, and language classes. Particular care must be used in deciding on religious celebrations. If such requests are turned down, the decision should be explained in an understandable way and, if possible, help should be provided to find other suitable venues such as municipal facilities. Church buildings themselves should be excluded from uses that conflict with the symbolic meaning of a church building. Such cases must be distinguished from the sale of church buildings to Muslims. An increasing number of parishes have been merging in reaction to demographic change, which has, in turn, precipitated the frequent sale of parish buildings. Before possible sales to Muslim communities, the parish in question needs to examine very carefully whether the members of the congregation and general public could be persuaded to accept such a sale. Conflicts between parties involved should be avoided. The situation is completely different if a church is to be sold to a Muslim congregation, thus converting the church into a mosque. Although, from the viewpoint of the Protestant school of thought anchored in the Reformation, church buildings are not holy places per se, one must nevertheless differentiate between their actual use and their symbolic value. And, when churches are transferred to Muslim communities, their symbolic value predominates. It continues to be difficult to persuade congregations to accept the loss of churches, since many people sense an emotional attachment to church buildings. The conversion of churches into mosques is, however, often not only sensed as a personal loss for many Christians, but can also upset the general public. While the externally perceived symbolism remains that of a church, another religion is practiced within. This can lead to the public impression that Christians are losing ground to Islam, or that Islam and Christianity are indeed interchangeable religions. 3.3.4 Halal slaughter The paper Zusammenleben mit Muslimen (p. 48) presented the limitations that Germany’s Federal States animal protection law (Tierschutzgesetz) places on the ritual slaughter of animals in accordance with Islamic dietary laws. The anesthetization of animals before their slaughter, as allowed by certain Islamic schools of thought, was mentioned as possibly constituting a compromise. In 2002, the Federal Constitutional Court did, in fact, allow Halal slaughter for Muslim consumption with a number of rules of conduct put in place to lessen the animals' suffering. This added a second legal exemption for this type of slaughter, after the existing exemption for Jewish ritual slaughter.

Since then, official state norms have been introduced for ritual slaughter in accordance with the Federal Constitutional Court that have narrowed these rules of conduct and made Halal slaughter possible only under the most difficult of circumstances. Muslims complain that they can seldom fulfill these requirements. Critical observers, in turn, suspect that irregular forms of slaughter violate the general prohibition still in place, while additionally pointing to the considerable volume of imported Halal meat. For the sake of the ethical treatment of animals and their protection from unnecessary suffering, one should welcome the fact that this form of slaughter for consumption by Muslims has not in fact become a mass phenomenon in Germany, but has remained an exception. It also represents an exception, as did the far less controversial exception for Jewish butchers. A new form of compromise has been found in a difficult case involving the conflict of opposing rights. The exceptional admission of this form of slaughter must remain of limited importance, as there is no Islamic rule stating that meat can only be eaten when slaughtered by a Muslim butcher. The Federal Constitutional Court, however, found it sufficient, in light of the request for such a ruling, that just one confessional group of Muslims saw this form of slaughter to be absolutely essential. It was deemed necessary that the state take this group's identity into account without seeking to evaluate or disqualify the belief system by comparing it with other Muslim views. This, in turn, fortifies the high status and fundamental inviolability of religious freedom, a view shared by the Protestant Church as well. 3.4 Muslims and diaconal service Christians and Muslims come together in diaconal services and institutions as well. Christians and Muslims live and work side by side in childcare centres, schools, occupational rehabilitation centres, hospitals, counselling centres, institutions for the disabled and elderly, and when young people provide their mandatory civilian service or a voluntary year of social service. Both groups are then confronted together with the common tasks of everyday life. Diaconal services are dedicated to helping people in physical need, spiritual distress, and socially unjust circumstances, in order to bear witness to God's love in Jesus Christ. Diaconal institutions and services therefore also work to support Muslim people when they need help. They have the commission of extending their services to Muslims, while continuing to maintain a recognizable Christian profile. 3.4.1 Intercultural openness The integration of Muslims into the normal network of diaconal services is a matter of considerable importance, as special services for Muslims could not, alone, currently keep up with their social needs. Protestants welcome Muslim attempts at creating their own social services, but independent Muslim initiatives have yet to be established in the areas of healthcare or care for the disabled and elderly. It is a matter of course at diaconal centres and services, especially hospitals, that the Muslim children and adolescents in their charge, and other Muslims looking for help and support, are able to carry out their religious duties there. This includes observing prayer times and dietary laws, and respecting dress codes.

In large urban areas, a large, and often growing, percentage of Muslims can be found making use of childcare centres, services for the elderly, health services, youth social work, and immigration support. Muslims can be found less frequently in institutions dedicated to helping physically and mentally disabled people. Many Muslim women make use of women’s shelters and mother-child centres run by Protestant organizations. The conflicts leading to their search for protection often have to do with Islamic views on the family. 3.4.2 Muslims in hospitals Muslim patients present new challenges to hospitals in regard to medical care and treatment. Providing optimal health care at hospitals often includes taking into account the cultural and religious values of their patients. The issue of health spans biographical, cultural, and also religious and spiritual dimensions. Hospitals run by church and diaconal associations are therefore bearing in mind more and more the Muslim background of their patients in order to provide them with adequate treatment and care. Religious Muslims consider illness to be a particular part of life, during which they maintain an important relationship to themselves and to their creator. Prayer is thus of particularly great importance during such times. If other patients in the same room feel disturbed by prayer five times a day, Muslim patients should be provided with another room for their worship. Caring for Muslims who are reaching death requires particular sensitivity and knowledge of religious traditions. Since family members, in religious families, gather around the death bed to read from the Qu’ran, it is a good idea to place Muslims who are dying in rooms of their own. 3.4.3 Muslims and care for the elderly Elderly Muslims currently make little use of existing social, cultural, and healthcare programmes for the elderly; the barriers to accessing these offers seem too high to them. These barriers may include poor German skills and a lack of information concerning these offers and how such institutions work. Immigrants often avoid communal in-patient facilities, since these are perceived to be a form of government office, and they are afraid of difficulties concerning their status as foreigners. Many Muslims also have problems with making use of residential homes for the elderly, as they see this as a failure of family structures. The campaign for culturally sensitive care for the elderly, which began in 2004 with the support of the EKD Social Service Agency, is an important step toward furthering an intercultural awareness in diaconal services and institutions. This signals that institutions of Christian care for the elderly are reorienting themselves toward providing regular service to a new clientele with special needs. However, while diaconal and church services and institutions treat Muslims with respect, they cannot actively support them in carrying out their religious duties, due to the services’ basic foundation in Christianity. 3.4.4 Muslim employees in diaconal agencies

In diaconal areas involving a great deal of work with Muslim children and adolescents, elderly, or others looking for counselling, Muslim employees can play a valuable role in dismantling barriers and working as facilitators. Individual churches (such as the churches of the Rhineland and Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Oberlausitz) have set down clear regulations for the employment of Muslim teachers (cf. Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, pp. 56-58; 75). The “Loyalty Guidelines” issued in 2005 for the EKD and the EKD Social Service Agency provide a current understanding of church service and the prerequisites for employment. Employees of diaconal agencies are expected to recognize and uphold the commission of the diaconal service. Since this service is an expression of the Church's life and character, it must maintain its Christian profile to be able to fulfil this task. Diaconal services thus, as a rule, employ Christians. Like all other non-Christian employees, Muslim employees must observe the Church's mission inherent to diaconal service, and fulfil all tasks given them in accordance with the Church’s intent (Loyalty Guidelines, Article 4(4)). But, it is not only as employees that Muslims are important within the scope of diaconal work. Muslim volunteers can also be of help as cultural and language facilitators. This not only helps these institutions and services, but also helps to support the integration process. 3.5 Matters of death and dying Today, an ever-increasing number of Muslims expect to be buried in a cemetery in Germany; thus, we see that “choosing a place of burial is closely connected with the question of social identity and social integration” (Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, p. 108). When Muslim burial practice collides with church or municipal cemetery ordinances, all involved parties should look for solutions that would allow Muslims to bury their dead in Germany. According to Muslim belief, the human body is inviolable, even after death. Muslims are therefore duty-bound to bury the body of a deceased Muslim with dignity. In order to fulfil this obligation, Islamic funerals must encompass several elements. Islamic burial ritual stipulates that no coffin be used. Burials with coffins are, however, allowed under certain circumstances, such as if the quality of the ground requires using a coffin, or if the cemetery ordinance makes it obligatory. Muslim graves must be dug so that the long side faces Mecca, and the head of the deceased must be angled to the right so that the face also turns towards Mecca. The grave is normally filled by the mourners themselves. Placing plants around the grave is unusual, as this could disturb the peace of the dead. All Muslim groups agree that graves must be permanent in nature and may not be removed. There have, however, been recent Islamic statements that allow for the levelling and reuse of Muslim graves. Muslims must, however, as a matter of principle, never be buried between non-Muslims. When church cemeteries need to accommodate all deceased within one municipality, use of the cemetery chapel for Muslim funerary prayers should only be allowed under the condition that Christian symbols – such as the cross – should not be covered, altered, or removed. In addition it is advisable to reserve special areas for the burial of Muslims.

The willingness of Protestant Christians, their churches, and their church institutions to meet Muslims in our country with an open and helpful attitude, must be made especially evident when help is needed, and in cases of illness and death. When Christians treat Muslims with respect and offer them their help, they show that they apply God’s love and act of salvation not only to themselves. This manner of approach should enable adherents of other religions to see first-hand that the Christian message of salvation is valid for all people. 4. Organized Islam 4.1 Facets of organizational cooperation The Evangelical Church in Germany, including all of its member churches and congregations has long used any and every opportunity to enter into dialogue with Muslims and with the representatives of organized Islam in Germany. This willingness to talk shows respect for the Muslim faith and its important place in religious life in Germany, with the aim of finding possible joint undertakings for the benefit of society. Visible contacts and discussions, moreover, always constitute a demonstrative affirmation of religious freedom for all. 4.1.1 Forms of official contact The question of organizational structures should not be the sole determining factor in efforts toward achieving understanding and dialogue with Muslims. The fact that Muslims are chiefly organized into a variety of associations and organizations, sometimes making it unclear just what each represents, rather than having an institution comparable to the church, must not be allowed to become a hindrance to dialogue. The following points, usual in the planning of church contacts, should, however, be observed in this regard as well. In cases that do not involve an exchange between theological experts, but, rather, the coming together of different religious communities, representatives who serve in similar functions and carry out similar responsibilities within their organizations should be chosen. The Muslims attending such events should be qualified to represent other Muslims, and mosque associations and organizations. It would be unfortunate if Church representatives were to be confronted after the discussions with the fact that their partners did not actually have the mandate to speak for an appreciable number of Muslims. The church is a religious community, and thus puts great importance in meeting with comparable communities and their representatives when questions of faith are to be discussed. If, instead, an association that represents political or social interests leads the discussion, it is not likely to lead to any real inter-religious dialogue. The legal status of the Muslim groups participating in discussions with the church does not generally present any difficulty. A church-like structure should not in fact be forced upon Muslims, despite assertions to the contrary. Representatives of associations are also welcome as dialogue partners. The membership figures of such associations, inasmuch as they refer to individual members, have a limited significance, as family members and other practicing Muslims may not be among those counted. Meetings and discussions with representatives of Islamic organizations in Germany that are currently in a phase of formation or consolidation are at risk of misunderstandings. Misunderstandings between the dialogue partners can lead to differences of opinion, but can also lead to a false sense of genuine understanding, and thus to unintended results. Because of

the media coverage often given these types of events, any such misunderstandings can also lead to errant ideas among the general public about commonalities between churches and Muslim communities. These can include commonalities that either are actually still quite uncertain and even presumed commonalities that were determined at the meeting not to exist. These risks should not preclude such meetings from ever taking place, but they should still be taken into consideration. Advance meetings should establish clarity in matters of commonality or differences of opinion so that this can be presented to the public in a clear manner. The Church enjoys public respect and trust, which extend to its role as a partner for dialogue with Muslim representatives. The Church thus must ensure that it does not meet with people or associations with whom no real understanding is expected, due to politically extreme or Islamist fundamentalist attitudes. This would, if nothing else, have the unintended result of raising the status of these groups. In cases in which there may be such a risk, or in cases in which the partners are under observation by the German Office for Constitutional Protection, the situation should be thought through very carefully. Such matters should, in any case, be clarified ahead of time. Formalities should be avoided that, by dint of outward appearance or otherwise, could establish an impression of similarity between the two dialogue partners. 4.1.2 Organizational particularities and corporation status After Protestants and Roman Catholics, Muslims now constitute the largest religious group in Germany. Islam, however, is not a church, and has neither synods and bishops, nor a pope or council as its authoritative speaker and representative of the faith. If Muslims in a non-Muslim state wish to establish collective rights of representation and enter into cooperation agreements with the state and with groups in civil society, they require legitimate representatives who can act as partners in dialogue with the various state authorities. Muslims have organized as religious associations in accordance with association law (cf. Article 140 of the Basic Law in connection with Article 137 (4) of the German (Weimar) Constitution of 1919). They have, however, yet to receive the status of a corporation of public law (Körperschaft öffentlichen Rechts). But it is not in the interest of the Church that Muslims and other religious communities be denied this status. A majority of widely differing religious and worldview societies have received this recognition. The Church does not, in fact, object to this. Objection would only be necessary if the tried and proven Körperschaft institution were to be altered through a change in its standards of imparting this recognition. And this institution has proven to be quite effective, and well suited for Church endeavours, providing a public legal framework that enables the Church to fulfil its tasks effectively, securely, and with complete independence. As the Church would not like to see the Körperschaft status endangered, it advocates leaving the requirements for the status and the form and significance of the status unchanged. The constitution (Article 140 of the Basic Law in connection with Article 137 (5) of the Weimar Constitution) requires that the organizations give assurance of their permanency and number of members. In contrast to situations of dialogue, this status is dependent on regular and clear-cut membership figures. Other forms of association with the religious community do not suffice, as the rights connected with this status grant the organization sovereign powers only with reference to their own members (Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, p. 53). There are also other unwritten prerequisites for the Körperschaft status. The Federal Constitutional Court includes, to this end, a general loyalty to the constitution and a positive

attitude toward the fundamental constitutional principles of the Federal Republic of Germany. This involves, for example, respect for basic human rights, and any efforts to reduce constitutional freedoms must preclude this status (Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, p. 52, 55). Christians affirm the liberal basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany and express this through their involvement as active democrats (Evangelische Kirche und freiheitliche Demokratie, p. 12, 16). Christians and their churches provide, for instance, long-term social assistance for the improvement of communal life. It is surely appropriate to take this into consideration in the granting of a status that involves rights otherwise only held by the state. Those who do not seek such involvement for the common good, but who instead provide reason to suspect activity detrimental to integration and democracy, should not receive this status (Zusammenleben mit Muslimen, p. 52). Churches and other communities do not enjoy privileges as the result of their Körperschaft status, but, rather, receive opportunities to take action, not only for their own benefit, but for the benefit of society as a whole. Communities could be viewed as only receiving privileges if they were to be granted such a status while refusing to make efforts to act, and without fulfilling the same requirements as other communities. Cases involving conflict or doubt can never be resolved by changing the form of the Körperschaft institution in order to make it “suitable” for new candidates, including Islamic organizations. Such a consideration would wrongly assume that a church or church-like structure is a prerequisite for the Körperschaft status. But there have long been organizations with this status that do not have any church or church-like organizational form. This status has more to do with having the appropriate legal framework as an institution that serves the common good and fulfils a specific religious function. Granting this status must not – not even to the smallest degree – entail an exception, for reasons of religion, from the necessary requirements. It would also be a poor idea to introduce a lesser class of Körperschaft status to allow less suitable candidates to attain some form of this status. Only the strict and equal treatment – at the same tried and tested high standard – of all organizations, whether they already enjoy Körperschaft status or are currently applying for the status, will ensure public respect for and the continued existence of this institution in the future. 4.2 Appearance and political orientations 4.2.1 Membership in Muslim organizations The question of membership in Muslim associations is of particular importance, but has yet to be adequately resolved. Membership size and form can provide information on the degree to which a Muslim partner represents others, and how great a role that partner plays in society. This can be important in dialogues where an expert discussion should be expanded to include a wider group of Muslims at events or in projects. When discussions are meant to lead to concrete resolutions, the question of the mandate held by the Muslim partners must be taken into consideration. Despite assertions to the contrary on the part of both non-Muslims and Muslims, there have yet to be any dependable and examinable answers to these questions. The following reasons can be named for this:

- State agencies may not ask questions about a person's religious identity without due cause. This is only allowed in the case of religious communities that are recognized by the German Federal states as corporations of public law and that have chosen to make use of the state's service for collecting their church tax. This has yet to be the case for any Muslim organization, meaning that the number of Muslims cannot be counted using such a method. The central registry for foreigners (Ausländerzentralregister) lists only foreigners' nationalities. There have, therefore, been frequent attempts to estimate the number of Muslims by focusing on the main countries of origin of Muslim immigrants. That this method can hardly be accurate becomes clear when one bears in mind the number of nationalized citizens who were originally foreign Muslims, or when one considers that the members of nearly all Orthodox and Oriental churches come from majority Muslim countries. From a Muslim point of view as well, membership in the Umma, the worldwide community of Muslims, is not always clear beyond a doubt. If one takes the five pillars of Islam as a criterion, the Alevis, who are mostly of Turkish origin, might not formally be included. The same would go for the Ahmadis, originally from Pakistan. And if it is accepted that the Islamic premise that every person is born a Muslim, converting to Islam can only mean a return to the faith. However, there is a lack of objectively determinable criteria for membership in the Muslim community As criteria such as a rite of admission or entry into a register are not necessary according to the Muslim understanding of what it means to be a Muslim. For external and internal reasons, it is thus impossible to compile reliable statistics on the total number of Muslims in Germany. The same holds true for attempts to establish the degree of organization or the membership of individual Muslim associations. Until now, only estimates and the figures of the organizations themselves are available. Academic studies cover only certain sections of the full spectrum of organized Islam in Germany. The following must be taken into account when considering membership in an association or organization: - Membership in an organization is not necessary for one's religious self-image. All Muslims can fulfill their religious duties and can go to places of worship without actually joining one of the over 2,500 Muslim associations in Germany. One can thus assume that the vast majority of Muslims are, from a legal perspective, in no way organized. This by itself says nothing about personal religiosity or affinity with organized Islam. - Muslims who were active in founding an association or who have joined one later can be viewed as members of an association in a legal sense. Experience shows that this holds for only a small percentage of Muslims. The minutes of membership meetings can provide this information. The member associations of DITIB (Turkish Islamic Union for Religious Affairs) are frequently the largest Muslim associations. - Muslims are often to be seen as members in a wider sense if they take part in the association's activities on a regular or semi-regular basis. This particularly includes participation in Friday and holiday prayer. - When tallying mosque attendance, one must consider that, in addition to the religiosity of each individual, annual celebrations also have an effect on frequency. Mosques are usually better attended on evenings in Ramadan, the month of fasting, than on a typical summer Friday.

- One must also remember that not all people of Muslim faith are required to attend mosques. Muslim men are obligated to attend at midday Friday, on holidays, and for prayers for the dead. Women, children, the sick and the infirm are all exempted from these obligations. - Estimations of the membership or constituency of a mosque must therefore go beyond those who are members in the legal sense, and beyond those who actually attend the mosques, to include family members as well. Taken together, these criteria result in a lack of reliable figures on Muslim membership in mosque associations and organizations. The figures and estimates provided by the organizations themselves cannot be checked due to the variable concept of membership. Due to the self conception of Muslims, the search for “the” dialogue partner for “the” Muslims is doomed to failure from the very beginning. No single organization can make this claim, nor can this be expected. It must instead be understood that Muslim communities do not share a uniform image. The individual groups can only speak for their members or those who feel that they belong to them. The different organizations thus represent minorities within Islam in Germany. In this context the “silent majority” for which there is little statistical information, that does not feel represented by organized Islam, is often referred to. Even if this group does not form its own representative bodies, its existence cannot serve as a reason for not seeking out opportunities to communicate and cooperate with existing organizations. 4.2.2 Leadership of Muslim organizations In addition to the matter of representation, defining the leadership of Muslim associations is crucial to dialogue and discussion. Who can act as a partner in religious matters? Who precisely does one contact in order to begin a specific Christian-Islamic dialogue? There are no clear and simple answers to these questions either. One must begin by assuming that most Muslim associations have a double leadership structure. Associations, in a legal sense, are run by a board and its chairman, who are elected at a general meeting. While the first generation of Muslim working immigrants founded these associations and established their places of worship, they have now been succeeded in many places by Muslims who were born and raised in Germany. They know the social situation in Germany better than their fathers and grandfathers before them; as a result of their employment, they are often in close contact with non-Muslims, and they speak perfect German. As is usual in many other associations, they are mostly active in the mosque association on a volunteer basis, using their free time for this. This means that they are often only available in the evenings or on weekends for dialogue events. To make things more difficult, they are usually not recognized experts in religious matters. This also prevents them from acting as discussion partners. An imam (prayer leader) who is also considered to be a hodja (teacher) is normally responsible for religious matters. Even if Islam has no clerical offices similar to those in Christianity, Islamic religious structures have developed that are connected with qualifications and functions within a single congregation. In mosques, one thinks of the muezzin, who leads the call to prayer, and the imam. While every Muslim with the proper knowledge and moral integrity can lead the common prayer, the imam has, in fact, developed into a type of profession. This profession is rooted in the study of the religious fundamentals at a religious school or state university. The choice and subsequent employment of the imam is decided either by the individual congregations, or in Turkey, by state offices.

In Germany, many mosques have imams on a volunteer or part-time basis. Due to the costs involved, only a small percentage of mosques have imams with full-time employment agreements. These are mostly DITIB mosques (cf. section 4.3.1). DITIB mosque associations are provided with an imam from Turkey for a period of four years to provide religious supervision. These imams are, in fact, officials of the Turkish state’s Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). Other non-DITIB mosque associations also recruit their imams from abroad. One reason for this is the lack of the necessary training venues in Germany. A problem that regularly arises with these imams is that they are not familiar with German living conditions and do not speak German well. They are thus not well suited as partners in dialogue. It is to be added that the leadership of communities devoted to Islamic mysticism is established in connection with a link to a spiritual leader or sheikh. The sheikh of each community maintains a lasting influence on the spiritual and social lives of his followers. Many mosque congregations are confronted with the following dilemma: The legal representatives of the association cannot always serve as suitable partners for religious matters, as they lack the necessary religious background. The imams, however, lack the necessary linguistic and social knowledge. This has an effect on the search for partners in the Christian-Islamic dialogue. Although many imams now have better linguistic and social qualifications, the following points are to be recommended for the dialogue process. One must have a clear idea of the level at which discourse will take place and the topic of the dialogue. At the level of dialogue between associations and regional churches, the elected representatives of the Muslim organizations must be seen as the primary discussion partners. At the level of church congregations and local dialogue groups, members of the congregation or representatives of the association can be chosen for language reasons alone. Many mosque associations now have representatives for PR and dialogue work who can, and wish to be, discussion partners for Christian congregations. And every Muslim interested in dialogue can serve as a proverbial bridge builder to their mosque. In particular, Muslim women and students have been increasingly motivated to enter into such a process. Association representatives can become involved in social matters relating to neighbourly coexistence. In specific theological questions, one must turn to the imams, often with the help of interpreters. There is thus no one single answer to the question of discussion partners in mosques. This choice must therefore remain flexible and correspond with the concrete situation at hand. 4.2.3 Activities of Muslim organizations Providing a place of worship and organizing the prayer times are the primary tasks of a mosque association. As a secondary task, many mosque associations also serve as centres for culture and tradition. Members thus also come to cultivate the culture of their home country or countries. Many such associations feature tearooms, present special programmes, and make their rooms available for other use. Associations can fulfil other tasks, spanning all matters that directly or indirectly serve religious practice. This includes stores that sell products and food from the members' home countries, all in line with ritual dietary laws. Many mosque associations provide religious literature or devotional items such as prayer rugs or strings of prayer beads. Mosques, through their own enterprises, can also provide a whole range of services connected to the religion.

This can mean organizing pilgrimages to Mecca, collecting and transferring donations for the Eid ul-Adha festival, or transporting the remains of the deceased back to their countries of origin. Larger associations usually provide these last three services, and earn a part of their income in this way. Not all associations run mosques. One can increasingly observe divisions made within organized Islam between different religious and social areas. There are now, for example, numerous women's, youth, and student associations. Associations dedicated to providing aid and social assistance are also on the increase. Before entering into dialogue with Muslim associations, one should obtain information on the range of activity of the organization in question. It should be kept in mind that Muslim organizations usually have neither the number of full-time employees needed, nor comparable structures for spiritual and social care. To date, for example, there are very few Muslim kindergartens or other social facilities. A realistic assessment of dialogue expectations should thus take into account the effects of other structural conditions. 4.2.4 Media For Muslims in Germany, the Internet has opened up new platforms for self-expression and new opportunities for internal communications, all of which are being used intensively. Nearly every association now has its own website, with numerous links to the ever-expanding wealth of available Islamic information. Muslims can gather and exchange comprehensive information concerning the fundamental questions of their faith, and the difficult legal and ethical issues involving life in a non-Islamic environment. A number of websites present views that run counter to any interest in dialogue and integration. And in many cases, this also holds true for the literature offered in mosques, Islamic bookshops, and over the Internet. This can include literature from a whole range of conservative-orthodox positions through to Islamist ideologies. This can provide the faithful with the image of an Islam that is conservative-orthodox, but at times even anti-Semitic and anti-Christian. The Internet is the most important communications platform for young Muslims, reflecting the limited number of print offerings, which enjoy little readership. For years, a number of Internet portals such as Muslim-Markt have been spreading opinions that appear to some readers to be anti-Jewish and anti-democratic. The globalization of communications has given rise to a “virtual Umma”. The Internet currently offers virtually inexhaustible information and communication resources related to Islam. Until now, the “virtual Umma” has remained a mass phenomenon only in Europe and North America, as only the educated elite of the Arab and Islamic world are able to use the Internet. One must not, however, underestimate the influence of this “virtual Umma.” The Internet is able to alter both perception and reception; it provides every individual with access to sources of fundamental importance, and offers, on numerous websites, information on the Muslim faith and ways of life. Online fatwa services provide Muslims with answers to nearly all questions related to Muslim life, and Muslims can participate in Internet discussions on matters of faith, ethics, and politics. Muslims groups and organizations use the Internet as a platform for self-expression and mission. The Internet offers marginalized groups (e.g. Ahmadis) the opportunity to spread their message around the world. This thus creates greater competition with traditional religious authorities. Television preachers and individual scholars all offer their own viewpoints (e.g. the Qatar-based Islamist preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi's regular Al-Jazeera programme). The Internet offers a wide range of Muslim positions, although

one cannot fail to observe a clear dominance of conservative-orthodox, fundamentalist, and Islamist views. This is particularly the case when it comes to websites that feature fatwas (religious edicts), such as IslamOnline. Large Turkish and Arabic newspapers in Germany frequently discuss religious topics with a broad effect on their readership. Since these media mould opinion, as well as views of Christianity and religious minorities, it is of particular importance that they provide objective reporting and that they do not distort facts or resort to polemics. The Islamische Zeiuing (IZ), which appears every three weeks and has a circulation of approximately 10,000 copies, is the only Islamic periodical with a significant level of recognition within the Muslim communities. The newspaper provides news, features, essays, commentaries, and interviews on Islamic life in Germany. The IZ calls for dialogue and integration, and protects the “rights of Muslims,” which it sees as being violated by the majority society. The IZ takes positions that vary between traditional-conservative and Islamist, although the newspaper sees itself as progressive and as an advocate for European Islam. The publisher of the IZ styles himself as the rais (leader) of the German Murabitun movement. The name “Murabitun” (“sentinels”) refers to the radical activists recruited from the Berber tribes of North Africa for the “re-Islamization movement” in accordance with the principles of the early Islam of the 11th century. Sheikh Abdalqadir as-Sufi, originally Ian Dallas of Scotland, is the head of the international Murabitun movement. Sheikh Abdalqadir preaches against the supposed worldwide Jewish capitalist conspiracy, is in favour of the reintroduction of the caliphate, and advocates an Islamic monetary currency. 4.2.5 Basic religious-political orientation Organized Muslims vary in their religious-political orientation from social democratic-liberal to conservative-orthodox to Islamist. Despite a few tentative beginnings, there is for now no clear development toward a “liberal” reform movement, which would, for example, tie into critical discourse on Islam and the modern age. Only a few Muslim intellectuals have dealt substantially with modern, i.e. historical-critical, Qu’ran hermeneutics, new interpretations of the tradition (sunna), and the openness of Islam to the secular state, pluralistic democracy, and human rights. The feminist discourse in the Muslim world (e.g. Riffat Hassan, Fatima Mernissi, Azizeh Y. Al-Hibri, Shirin Ebadi and others) has received only a very limited reception and has found little acceptance in the German inner-Islamic discussion process. This became quite clear in the course of the headscarf debate in Germany. 4.2.6 Islamism and Jihadism Islamism is a political ideology and movement that, with reference to an idealized early Islam of the 7th century, seeks to establish an Islamic state and/or transnational Islamic hegemony, and regulate all areas of life in accordance with basic Sharia principles. Islamism advocates against universal human rights, democracy, and pluralism. In spite of these generally shared basic features, Islamist movements, parties, and groups differ in their social makeup, organizational structures, culture, religious practice, actual policies, strategy and tactics, which may be adapted to individual circumstances. One should thus differentiate between peaceful “legalistic” Islamism, and militant and terrorist variants. Islamist movements can prove attractive through their mixture of ideology and action, combined with a lack of other convincing forms of political identification on offer in the Islamic world. Welfare agencies, social services, and opportunities for political involvement

are attached to religious-political ideologies. Islamist movements provide education – from Qu’ran studies to computer courses –, health care, cultural and recreational facilities. They combat poverty, work to create jobs, and provide prestige and opportunities to move up within the movements. Wherever Muslims are a minority, Islamists refuse integration, and seek to provide security from “infidels” in encapsulated parallel worlds. They reject universal human rights and democracy. They turn religious freedom into a tool to come closer to the Islamization of German society. Especially since 11 September 2001, public interest has increased in the terrorist form of Islamism, which is often known as Jihadism. Followers of Jihadism understand Jihad in a one-dimensional manner as an individual duty to take up arms in order to bring about the worldwide hegemony of Islam. They thus call upon Muslims throughout the world to destroy the “infidels.” Their violent actions are carried out against Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Jihadists are internationally active Islamist extremists, working together in loose networks such as al-Qaida. Over the past several years, there have been a number of anti-Semitic attacks across Europe, of which an increasing number have been perpetrated by young people from an immigrant –usually Arab – background. Anti-Semitism, which originally arose in Europe, has been growing in the Arab-Islamic world since the 1950s, and has now been “re-imported” to the Muslim congregations of Europe. The Office for Constitutional Protection estimates that "Islamists” account for approximately 1 to 3 percent of Germany’s Federal States Muslim population. This includes the Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüş and the Islamische Gemeinschaft in Deutschland. Of approximately 31,000 Islamists, several thousand are viewed as being “prepared to implement violence,” and over 200 are seen as terrorist “threats”. The Kalifatsstaat (“Caliphate State”) organization was prohibited in 2001 for its anti-democratic and anti-Semitic orientation. Its self-styled “Caliph of Cologne”, Metin Kaplan, following several years of imprisonment for his call for the murder of a competitor caliph, was deported to Turkey in October 2004. He was sentenced there to life in prison for high treason in June 2005. The globally active anti-Semitic Hizb-ut-Tahrir (“Party of Freedom”) was ordered to cease all activity in 2003. The small number of followers of Islamist groups, relative to the Muslim population as a whole, should not lead people to underestimate the real potential for the danger involved. Some Islamist groups continue to act without hindrance, such as Hizbollah (“Party of God”), which is supported by Iran, the Palestinian parties Hamas and “Islamic Jihad”, and the Al-Aqsa organization. A number of Internet portals, such as Muslim-Markt, have been spreading anti-democratic and anti-Semitic positions for years, and thus are coming close to warranting legal prosecution. There have also been individual cases involving initiators of hate speech. 4.3 Muslim organizations Over three million Muslims live in Germany, or around 3.7 percent of the population. Most of them are immigrants, while a small but growing number speak German as their first language. But Islam has long since ceased to be an “immigrant religion”. Muslims in Germany come from around 40 countries. They are diverse in their ethnicity (Turks, Bosnians, Arabs, Pakistanis, Albanians, and others), and in terms of social status, religious orientation (esp. Sunnis, Shiites, Alevis and Ahmadis), religiosity (whether religious or secular), and religious-political orientations (conservative-orthodox, Islamist, or secular). Islam in Germany has a strong Turkish influence. More than 2 million Muslims in Germany are either Turkish or from

a Turkish background. This group is followed by Muslims from Bosnia-Herzegovina, from Asia, Africa, and Arab countries. The vast majority are Sunnis, while 170,000 are Shiites, and between 400,000 and 600,000 are Alevis from Turkey. 50,000, mostly Pakistanis – with numerous converts – are members of the Ahmadiyya community. Over 600,000 Muslims are German citizens (both nationalized foreigners and German converts). The number of converts whose native tongue is German can be estimated at somewhere between 12,000 and 50,000. In order to protect the rights of individuals, religion is not systematically registered, so that these figures can only serve as estimates (cf. Bericht der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Migration, Flüchtlinge und Integration über die Lage der Ausländerinnen und Ausländer in Deutschland, Berlin 2005, pp. 216, 223). There is no exact information concerning the religiosity of Muslims. One admittedly unverified estimate identifies around one third of Muslims as being “very religious”, meaning that they follow religious rules in accordance with Muslim tradition (daily ritual prayer, fasting, Friday prayer in a mosque, clothing and dietary laws). Just under half can be seen as “secular” Muslims, meaning that they seldom practice their religion. The rest are mostly non-religious. There is however, a relatively clear trend toward religiosity in the strictest sense. The following overview details the most important organizations in the inner-Islamic discourse and in dialogue with non-Muslims. 4.3.1 Individual Muslim associations Only a small portion of Muslims in Germany, an estimated 15 percent, are organized in a mosque association, a religious interest group, and/or an umbrella organization. These are, however, precisely the groups that are often present in the public eye; they work concertedly toward the maintenance of Muslim religious life, they can thus be expected to provide representative information. It is difficult to maintain an overview of the diversity of Muslim associations and organizations with their considerable interconnectedness and expanding organizational and personal networks. The associations do not do enough to ensure transparency, which in turn leads to criticism and feeds suspicion on the part of non-Muslim observers, thus posing as an obstacle to dialogue. Over the past several years, new organizations have been established or have grown out of previous organizations. These are often oriented towards specific target groups, such as entrepreneurs, intellectuals, students, women, and youth. The leaders of such groups are often second and third-generation German residents and also include an increasing number of converts. They often serve as liaisons in the communications between first-generation leaders and non-Muslims. Their familiarity with the German language and local cultural traditions, along with their high level of education, make them natural facilitators and speakers. They also play an important role in the theological and political education of the second and third generations of Muslim immigrant families and of young converts. The following can be counted among the most important associations: The Turkish Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği, DITIB) was founded on 5 July 1984 on the initiative of the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İslam Birliği, DIB), an office established by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1924 for the administration and orientation of Sunni Islam in Turkey. DITIB was founded as a reaction to

radicalization tendencies in Turkish Islam in the early 1980s, which made it necessary to reform and reorganize the religious oversight of Turkish Muslims in Germany. From its own perspective, DITIB sees it as its responsibility to provide religious and social support for Muslims of Turkish origin in Germany. DITIB has recently sought greater dialogue with the political world and with society. DITIB would like to represent all Muslims in Germany, in the form of a corporation of public law (Körperschaft öffentlichen Rechts). From the German point of view, DITIB's close links with the Turkish state pose a constitutional problem. Its claim to be the sole dialogue partner for both church and state cannot be accepted. Around 500 people are employed in religious functions at DITIB places of prayer, according to the organization. The Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) seems to have recognized the problems that arise when imams are sent from Turkey to work in mosque congregations for a mere three or four years. These imams are not able to learn the German language or culture, and do not get to know the living situation of the people of Turkish origin living there, and can thus certainly not be effective in supporting the integration process. Diyanet now calls for more language courses for imams, and participates in imam seminars in cooperation, for instance, with the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Office for Political Education) and with church institutions. According to its own reckoning, DITIB is currently the largest organization representing 867 mosque congregations, with some 130,000 members. The Milli Görüş Islamic Community (IGMG) grew from regional associations (Turkish Union) in the 1970s. In 1976, the organization itself was founded in Berlin as a national association under the name of AMGT e.V. (Avrupa Milli Görüş Teşkilatarı, now known as: Mevlana e.V). Following the defection from Milli Görüş in 1984 of the followers of Cemaleddin Kaplan (see “caliphate state” below), the congregation went through a phase of reorganization, leading to the founding of the Vereinigung der neuen Weltsicht in Europa (“Association of the New Worldview in Europe AMGT”) in Cologne on 20 May 1985. The religious-social branch has gone by the name IGMG since 23 January 1995. AMGT was itself renamed Europäische Moscheebau- und Unterstützungsgemeinschaft (“European Mosque Building and Support Society”, EMUG), which is responsible for the real estate assets of IGMG. According to their own figures, the IGMG consists of 16 state associations with 514 mosque associations. Membership can be estimated at over 26,000, while the organization itself reports over 80,000 members. The organization has also joined the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (see below), and now dominates the council as its largest group in terms of membership. Following internal disputes with the only other significant member organization of the Central Council, the Nurculuk Movement (see Jama’t un-Nur, below), the Central Council has become virtually identical with Milli Görüş. The IGMG sees its mission as providing comprehensive support for Muslims, and offering attractive educational and recreational programmes, social counseling, and a representation of political interests, especially for women and young people. The organization’s ideological and religious proximity to the Welfare Party (Refah Partisi), founded in 1983 by Necmettin Erbakan, and its successor parties, justifies the organization's being characterized as Islamist. The IGMG has also been influenced by the prohibition and division of the Rafah successor Fazilet Partisi (Virtue Party) in 1998 into the insignificant Saadet Party (Felicity Party) and the governing AKP (Justice and Development Party) of current Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Although the IGMG sees itself as a Muslim association entirely dedicated to Germany, political debate in Turkey still plays a large role within the organization. The public’s

continued mistrust of the centralized-authoritarian organization is rooted in its complex and often confusing history, the facilitation of dubious business deals (e.g. through Muslim holdings), the distribution of Milli Gazete, a Turkish Islamist newspaper among IGMG contacts, and numerous attempts to pin court cases on critics of the IGMG. The IGMG has yet to distance itself publicly from the ideology and political goals of the Milli Görüş leader, Necmettin Erbakan, although a number of leading officials have attempted to reinterpret these matters. The organization therefore remains under observation for constitutional loyalty. In turn, the IGMG has sought to create a better image for itself as a democratic organization dedicated to integration and the constitutional system. A number of individual research projects, based in participatory observation, have come to the conclusion that parts of the IGMG are moving towards a form of “European Islam”. The reports said that under less external pressure, whatever Islamist potential that is left could be overcome from within. It is, however, currently difficult to determine whether these evaluations are correct. It still remains to be determined whether the IGMG will actually be able to successfully disentangle itself from Necmettin Erbakan’s ideas of an Islamic order, and will be able to develop a conservative-modern form of Islam that is compatible with the fundamental constitutional principles of a democratic state. Within the Protestant Church, there are a number of very different evaluations and prognoses concerning the future development of the IGMG. The long-term contacts maintained by individual regional churches with Milli Görüş mosque organizations lead to clearly positive evaluations. Other contacts and analyses of the ideological context that forms the basis of the IGMG have led more to caution and skepticism. Whether dialogues can be held with the IGMG, and if so, what forms these dialogues will take, depends strongly on the regional and local situations. A general refusal to meet formally with this relatively large organization would, however, not be advisable. A great degree of diversity is to be expected among its membership, and particularly among those who come to pray in the organization’s mosques on Fridays and holidays. This certainly includes a number of Muslims who are also members of other organizations and mosques associations, and who do not identify solely with their membership in the IGMG. The Verband Islamischer Kulturzentren (Association of Muslim Cultural Centers, VIKZ) was founded on 15 September 1973 by followers of the Turkish legal scholar and Sufi preacher Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan (1888-1959), who organized a Qu’ran course movement to oppose the state secularization policies of the 1930s, and called for a gradual re-Islamization of the state. The spiritual, conservative-orthodox, and elitist Süleymanci Brotherhood – which itself rejects that name – is part of the mystical tradition of the Naqshbandi order. The centrally organized VIKZ is the oldest Turkish-Islamic organization in Germany with 20,000 followers at 315 locations, according to its own figures. The association is primarily involved in educational work and has published a prayer textbook (Der kurzgefasste Ilmihal) in German. The VIKZ was actively involved in Christian-Islamic dialogue from 1995 to 2000 – for example, with the founding of the Islamischen Akademie Villa Hahnenburg in 1998 – but withdrew in August 2000 upon a change in the leadership of the Süleymanci movement, and left the Central Council of Muslims. Some VIKZ representatives have continued their contacts with Christian dialogue partners on a local basis, and recently, the organization has again increased its participation in the dialogue process. The association’s boarding-school projects have led to considerable anxiety in the general public, with fears that this could bring about a strengthening of isolationist tendencies and could possible lead to the development of Turkish-Islamic parallel societies. The organization was also criticized strongly for financial irregularities, and is currently making efforts at controlling the related damage.

The Jama’at un-Nur (“Society of Light”) was founded in Cologne on 14 January 1979 as part of the tradition of the mystical Nurculuk movement in Anatolia. The Nurcular (“bearers of light”) followed the teachings of the Islamic scholar Said Nursi (1873-1960), who wrote the monumental work Risale-i-Nur (“Letters of Light”). According to the followers of Said Nursi, also known as Bediüzzaman, the “Wonder of the Time,” he did more than merely interpret the Qu’ran, but created a comprehensive work for the “enlightenment” of the modern world through the teachings of the Qu’ran. After the founding of the Turkish republic, the Nurculuk Movement’s anti-secular stance was cause for frequent conflict with the state. Today, the “Nurcus” are able to operate without hindrance not only in Turkey, but all throughout the world. In Germany, followers of the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen (see below), of the Nurculuk Movement, began to appear in the 1990s. According to their own figures, 5,000 to 9,000 followers of the Nurculuk Movement are now active at 120 madrassas (houses of learning), including those of the Fethullah Gülen group. The Jama’at un-Nur belongs to the Central Council of Muslims. The media and education network of Fethullah Gülen, which has evolved from the Nurculuk Movement, has been rapidly growing in importance for Islam in Germany, although it has not joined any larger organization. Fethullah Gülen, born in 1938, has lived in the United States since 2000. While he is conservative, he seems to be a moderate, and is open for dialogue. Fethullahcis have been active in Germany since the 1990s, and now count more than 70 training centers in the country. Gülen was received by the pope in 1998, and maintains a wide variety of high-level political contacts. He speaks out for world peace, tolerance and dialogue among religions in Germany, and is supported, in particular, by the Zaman newspaper (circulation in Germany: 20,500) and Die Fontäne magazine, published by INID (Institut für Information über Islam und Dialog e.V., “Institute for Information and Dialogue Concerning Islam”). It is, however, hard to pin down the precise nature of his message. The educational aims of his group and its view of Islam remain open questions, as do the religious-political viewpoint of a series of Zaman articles (e.g. on the term “jihad”) and views on the relationship between “fundamental Islamic values” and modernity. The Islamische Gemeinschaft Deutschlands (Islamic Society of Germany, IGD) is the successor organization to the Moscheebaukommission e.V. (“Mosque Construction Commission”), founded in Munich in 1960, which changed its name to the Islamische Gemeinschaft in Süddeutschland e.V. (“Islamic Society in Southern Germany”) in 1962. The IGD claims 12 “Islamic centers” (including Munich, Frankfurt/Main, Marburg, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Cologne, Wuppertal, Trier, Münster, and Braunschweig) and coordinates its activities with 50 other, chiefly Arab, mosque associations. The IGD leadership elite is closely linked with other organizations and associations such as the Muslimische Studentenvereinigung (“Muslim Student Association”) and the Gesellschaft Muslimischer Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftler (“Association of Muslim Social Scientists”), and some board members serve as board members of these organizations as well. The IGD views itself as “a modern, young, and majority German-language association,” which presents Islam as the “religion of balance and moderation”. The IGD seeks to help Muslims to find their own identities in the midst of a non-Muslim environment, and thus speaks out for dialogue with other religious communities. The IGD is a member of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany and of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE). The IGD was founded with close ties to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement. Over the past few years, the IGD has received considerable public attention for its high-profile annual meeting. Lectures and discussions at these meetings made it very clear that “forming identities” and

“mission” are central to the work of the IGD. Its goal is to “heal” the “secular” society, i.e. to bring it in line with Islam (Ahmad von Denffer). The Islamische Zentrum Hamburg (IZH) evolved in 1966 from the Islamic-Iranian congregation and runs the Imam Ali Mosque. The IZH is considered to be the center for Shiite Muslims in Germany, and the representative for the Iranian mullahs in Germany. The IZH has published Al-Fadshr magazine over the past several years, with regular articles by Iranian scholars. The Shiite mosques in Hanover and Münster are closely tied to the IZH. A number of Shiite congregations have come together in the loosely connected Islamischen Rat der Ahl-ul-Bait Gemeinschaften in Deutschland (Islamic Council of the Ahl-ul-Bait Societies in Germany, IRAB). “Ahl-ul-Bait” refers to the “people of the house,” i.e. the family of Ali). IRAB now counts 44 member associations in 31 cities, including Berlin, Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen, Frankfurt/Main, Freiburg, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Hamburg, Hanover, Kassel, Kiel, Cologne, Leipzig, Mannheim, and Nuremberg. The organization also includes the Islamischer Weg (“Islamic Way”) association, founded on 25 January 1993 in Delmenhorst, which is dedicated to the spread of the thought of the supreme Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Islamischer Weg offers seminars and numerous publications with a fundamentalist content. Part of its mission is the “common participation in demonstrations for Islamic purposes”, and it has organized, together with the IZH, annual demonstrations on Al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day), which was called into being in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini as a demonstration “by all Muslims of the world and all Muslim governments” against the right of Israel to exist and “for the support of the legitimate rights of the Muslim Palestinian people”. Leading Islamischer Weg activists include the brothers Gürhan and Yavuz Özoguz, who run the Muslim-Markt internet portal (see section 4.2.4). The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (“Ahmadiyya Muslim Community”) is a distinct Muslim group that evolved in the 19th century. In addition to the prophet Muhammad, Ahmadis revere Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), from the Indian village of Qadian, whom they understand to be the Imam Mahdi, i.e. the reformer of Islam sent by God. The Ahmadi community, founded in 1889, considers itself to be a reformed Islamic community. Contention over the Ahmad’s nature – whether he was the savior or just a reformer – led to a split in the group in 1914 into a Lahore group and a Qadiani group. In 1974, the Ahmadis were condemned as heretics by the Pakistani parliament and by the Islamic League, and were declared to be a non-Muslim minority. Since then, they have been the target of repression and bloody attacks by both Sunnis and Shiites. Despite its professed dedication to reform, the group maintains a very conservative interpretation of Islam, which is reflected particularly strongly in its view of women. The group also follows the goal of spreading Islam throughout the world through missionary and practical educational and social work, the construction of mosques, schools, and hospitals, by translating the Qu’ran, and by teaching people to read. The Lahore Ahmadis were present in Berlin as early as 1924, where they constructed a Mosque in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. In 1949, the Qadianis opened a mission station in Hamburg. The Ahmadiyya German headquarters have been located in Frankfurt/Main since 1969. The group has an estimated 50,000 followers in Germany. The oldest German Muslim organization is the Deutsche Muslimliga (German Muslim League, DML), which was founded in Hamburg in 1952 and registered as an association on 30 January 1954. The small organization was a founding member of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, and views itself as the representative of all Muslims of German origin. The Bonn section of the DML registered as an independent association (Deutsche Muslim-Liga Bonn) in 1989, as it, in contrast with the main association, saw dialogue with the other monotheistic religions as its main task. This reflects the influence of Sufism within the Bonn

group. The DML Bonn, with only 50 registered members, has been the Muslim initiator of the Standing Conference of Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe (JCM). The group also represents Germany in the worldwide interreligious United Religions Initiative (URI). The group’s chairman Sheikh Bashir Ahmad Dultz is sheikh of the as-Safina Order and served for several years as the chairman of the Christlich-Islamischen Gesellschaft (“Christian-Islamic Society”). 4.3.2 Muslim umbrella organizations Beginning in the 1980s, a number of organizations and associations have come together to create umbrella organizations to represent the interests of Muslims at the national level. The Islamrat für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (“Islamic Council for the Federal Republic of Germany”) was called into being on 21 November 1986 at the initiative of the VIKZ, the Jama’at un-Nur, the Les amis de L’Islam Sufi society, and the Islamic World Congress/German Section. The VIKZ left the organization in 1988. The Islamrat was the first Islamic umbrella organization in Germany, and currently claims to represent 30 member organizations with a total 130,000 individual members. The organization introduced the office of the “Sheikh ul-Islam,” taken from the Ottoman Empire, in order to create a religious authority before the German state, and to strengthen demands for recognition as a corporation of public law and for the introduction of Islamic religious instruction in school. The Islamrat has been dominated by the IGMG and its constituent organizations since 1990. The Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland („Central Council of Muslims in Germany”, ZMD) evolved in 1994 from the Islamischen Arbeitskreis in Deutschland (“Islamic Working Group in Germany”, IAK), which had been active since 1988. According to its own accounts, the ZMD represents 19 organizations. Ever since the departure of the VIKZ in summer 2000, however, the ZMD has only represented around 200 mosques with 20,000 members. The ZMD’s public profile is that of an ethnically mixed group representing the interests of Shiites and Sunnis alike. The organization is dedicated to maintaining dialogue with churches, political and social bodies, and, on 20 February 2002, was the first association to publish a basic declaration (“Islamic Charta”) that spells out the positions Muslims hold on basic matters such as “the Federal Constitution, the rule of law, democracy, pluralism, and human rights”. While the charta contains a principally positive view of democracy as provided by the Basic Law, it also includes a number of qualifications and ambiguities. The basic question of the relationship between Islamic and secular views of the social order cannot thus be seen to have been answered in full – neither theologically nor politically. Since early 2005, the leading representatives of the most important organizations (including Islamrat, ZMD, VIKZ, Shura Hamburg, Shura Lower Saxony, and the Islamische Religionsgemeinschaft Hessen) have made efforts to create uniform, representative, and federal structures for the representation of Muslims at the regional and national levels. With the exceptions of DITIB, Turkish nationalists, and Kaplan’s banned Caliphate State organization, all important organizations have been involved in the project. Other umbrella organizations include the Vereinigung Islamischer Gemeinden der Bosniaken in Deutschland (“Union of Bosnian Muslim Congregations in Germany,” VIGB), which was founded in 1994, and now has 30-40 member associations and an unknown number of individual members along with the Union der Islamisch-Albanischen Zentren (“Union of Albanian Islamic Centers”, UIAZD), successor to the Islamisch-Albanisches Kulturzentrum (“Albanian Islamic Cultural Center”), which had been founded in 1982. There are no known figures for this organization. Other regional groupings are of additional importance, such as

the Hamburg Shura, which was founded in 1999, and now claims 40 associations with an unknown number of individual members (mostly Turkish, Arab, and German), the Shura Lower Saxony, which was founded in 2002, and claims 50 associations (Turks, Arabs, Bosnians, Pakistanis, Iranians, and Germany), and the Shura Schleswig-Holstein, founded in 2006 with Turkish, Arab, and Shiite associations. There are no reliable membership figures for these organizations. 4.3.3 Alevis The Alevis are themselves uncertain as to whether they are actually Muslims. They must thus be mentioned here as a unique group. The name “Alevi” refers to the adherents’ reverence of the Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661), Mohammad’s son-in-law, whose name, Ali, appears in their credo in third place, following Allah and Mohammad. Historically, the Alevis were part of the “Party of Ali” (Shiat Ali, which led to the term Shiite), but have gone their own course in terms of doctrine and religious practice under influences that include a Sufism, a tradition of Islamic mysticism. The Alevis revere the scholar Haci Bektaş Veli as saint and the founder of the Anatolian Alevism; they reject the observance of the five pillars of Islam, and view Sharia as non-binding. The Alevis may drink alcohol and eat pork, and do not fast during Ramadan, but during their own short fasting period instead. Alevi women normally do not wear headscarves. Alevis do not worship in mosques but in “cem” houses of worship (“cem evleri”) under the spiritual guidance not of imams, but of the “dede” (“grandfather,” the head of local Alevi congregations in Turkey). They recognize Turkey’s secular system and defend the separation of religion and state. Frequent marginalization and repression in Turkey led the Alevis to hide their religion for a long period of time. Only since the late 1980s have they returned to the public sphere and gradually developed their doctrine. There have been several brutal attacks by fanatic Sunnis, such as the Sivas Massacre in 1993, and in Istanbul in 1995. Although Alevis account for 15 to 30 percent of the population, they still are not fully free to practice their religion, but are under steady pressure to assimilate to Sunni Islam. Even Alevis in Germany fear a creeping Sunnitization, which has led, since the late 1980s, to the founding of associations. Since 1990, 96 Alevi associations, with an estimated 12,000 individual members, have been represented by the Alevitische Gemeinde Deutschland (Almanya Alevi Birlikleri Federasyonu or “Alevi Congregation Germany” (AABF)). The AABF expressly recognizes human rights and the German Basic Law and supports the integration of its members through religious and social services. The AABF seeks to attain the status of a Körperschaft and supports the creation of a proper religious curriculum in schools, in accordance with the understandings of the Alevi-Bektashi faith. The AABF already provides Alevi religious instruction in a few German states (federal countries). In 1995, Alevis founded the state-friendly Cem Foundation (Cem Vakfi) in Ankara, which has been active in Germany since 1997, representing 10 associations with approx. 1,000 members. The Cem Foundation has also created a “Presidency for Alevi Islam” in Turkey, and demands recognition as a religious minority. In contrast to the AABF, however, this organization does not distinguish itself sharply from Sunni Islam. 5. Goals and content of interreligious cooperation 5.1 Experience and aims of Christian-Muslim dialogue

5.1.1 Dialogue experience and criticism In Germany, Christians and Muslims have been in contact for decades. Although, at first, generally only church Islam experts were sent to serve as dialogue partners for Muslims, today Christians and Muslims meet in all realms of church and public life. This has led to a broad network of contacts and cooperation, particularly at the congregational level. In addition to a number of problems and conflicts, this has also led to the discovery of commonalities and to mutual trust. Over the past years, the number of contacts between Christians and Muslims has increased continually at all levels of society. Most contacts between representatives of the Protestant Church and Muslims in Germany have taken place at the working level, and have included a broad spectrum of different questions, an exchange of information, and explanations on problem matters. These meetings have ranged from informal talks to test the waters to individual invitations to more official meetings and conferences. In 2005, for the first time, the EKD council chairperson invited representatives of Muslim associations to meet in an official discussion, something that has now developed into an annual meeting. Intensive cooperation has developed in the form of mutual projects at the national level. Since 1975, an annual intercultural week to celebrate foreign nationals has been held at over a hundred locations throughout Germany. This was introduced by the EKD, together with the Roman Catholic German Bishops’ Conference and the Greek Orthodox Metropolis. The theme of coexistence with Muslims has played an increasing role in this initiative, leading, beginning in 1997, to an “Open Mosque Day” during this week as suggested by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany. Inspired by the antiracism programme of the World Council of Churches, in 1994, the National Council of Churches in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen in Deutschland, ACK), in cooperation with the Central Council of Muslims in Germany and the Central Council of Jews in Germany, began a project to overcome xenophobia, racism, and violence. This project was continued from 1997 through 2001 in the “Invite your neighbour!” initiative, and, in 2003, with the “Do you know who I am?” campaign. DITIB, Germany’s Federal States largest Muslim association, has also joined the campaign as a cooperative partner. The EKD has led or participated in official Christian-Muslim dialogues in the international arena, as well. The EKD cooperated on conferences from 1995 to 1999 together with the Royal Academy for Islamic Civilization Research (Aal al-Bait Foundation) of Jordan. As a result of changes within the foundation and increasing political tension in the Middle East, this dialogue could not be continued further. The EKD has also been involved in similar dialogue processes with partners in Egypt, including Cairo’s Azhar University, and with the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue of Teheran, Iran. The Islamic-Christian Working Group (Islamisch-christliche Arbeitsgruppe) has provided a forum for discussion and exchange since 1975. This group brings together the EKD, the Roman Catholic German Bishops’ Conference, Orthodox churches, and a frequently changing spectrum of Islamic associations and individuals. While, in early years, social issues involving integration were at the forefront of these talks, they now focus more on theological and interreligious topics, such as the importance of religious freedom, which has been discussed in great detail.

Contacts with Muslim groups and partners have always received criticism; a criticism, however, which has been inspired by a variety of aims and motives. These opinions have become more predominant since the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the ensuing global political tension and conflict. Representatives of churches are, at times, criticized for underestimating elements of Islam that contradict the Christian-western view of humankind, human rights as provided by international law, and fundamental constitutional values, and for not taking radical and anti-constitutional endeavours of some Muslims seriously enough. Some also posit that Islam is fundamentally not open to dialogue, and that, upon further analysis, it is neither willing nor able to seek dialogue. They claim that the Islamic sense of superiority in relation to Judaism, Christianity, and the non-religious, its lack of acceptance of confessional and religious plurality, its tense relation withto and lack of acceptance of democratic structures, its view of women, and a number of other points – as mentioned previously – render Islam fundamentally averse or even inimical to dialogue. Christians are also sometimes criticized for not presenting their own faith with enough self-confidence in such discussions. This would suggest that they do not act as equal partners and that they allow Christians and Muslims cooperation to become a “one-way street”, in which a much larger number of Christians seek out contact with mosques than Muslims who visit Christian congregations and churches. Experience has often shown this criticism to be misplaced. The goals being pursued are, in the end, what is most important. A willingness to be tolerant and to live together in peace will, at times, be disappointed. One must therefore never cease to clarify and revise strategies and limitations. 5.1.2 Guidelines for cooperation with Muslim partners Congregations interested in dialogue at the local level are not usually able to choose their partners, as they normally need to work with the local mosque. This opens up a wide range of dialogue opportunity. Pastors, for example, can meet with mosque chairmen or imams in a dialogue on the religious and social situations in their congregations, and discuss how they can get to know each other better and in what areas they can cooperate best. Women's groups can visit women's groups, and social workers – both paid and volunteer – can look into the potential social problems affecting the Muslims of the mosque, and how they can be helped. Theological discussion groups are prime venues for further religious dialogue. Those involved in youth work can seek out opportunities to get together and to organize events. Invitations should be extended to the other group on major religious holidays, and “open mosque days” are opportunities for the mosque to organize a variety of events such as “faith talks”, either as panel discussions or in small groups. Each individual situation entails a variety of different opportunities. Repeated meetings will slowly build trust, and perhaps lead to the view that both groups can work together for the common good. Common interests boost a willingness to cooperate, and cooperation reinforces trust, which in turn provides impetus for greater cooperation. 5.1.3 Information concerning dialogue partners

Mosque congregations are run by organizations that are usually registered societies (German: “e.V.”) The first step should be to get to know the society involved in order to be able to place it in the framework of Islamic organizational structures and religious viewpoints. There are a number of ways to obtain this sort of information, beginning with personal contacts with representatives of the association. The association may have a website, of which possible chat forums and links may be of particular interest. The literature that the association provides to its members for inspiration and education is also of particular importance, as are the books made available and audio-visual presentations offered on “open mosque days”. Academic literature is available on Muslims in Germany, including a number of journalistic inquiries into individual associations and organizations. The regional churches also have their own “guidelines” on offer, and their Islam experts are available for talks. Some regional churches even have regular dialogue groups, at times organized as official associations, which can provide important information. Christian-Islamic societies, which created the Koordinierungsrat des christlich-islamischen Dialogs in Deutschland (“Coordination Council of the Christian-Islamic Dialogue in Germany,” KCID) in August 2003, also provide their services. Protestant academies offer dialogue seminars and seminars on “dialogue on dialogue”. Regular discussions with other Protestant and Catholic congregations that are in dialogue with Muslim partners can also be particularly useful. All this, along with one's own personal experience, will gradually combine to paint a picture of the situation. The constitutional protection reports of federal and state offices provide further information on extremist Islamist groups and their networks. The following areas of information are helpful in understanding one's Muslim partners (such as mosque congregations): - Ethnic and linguistic backgrounds (e.g. Turkish, Arab, Bosnian, Albanian, German-speaking) - Religious orientation (e.g. Sunni, Shiite, Alevi, Ahmadi) - Memberships in regional and national associations, and other Islamic organizations in Germany and abroad - Contact partners and their areas of responsibility - Services and facilities of the mosque or association - Composition of members and/or of those attending; their areas of residence - Cooperation in interreligious activity, “open mosque days,” etc. Mosque associations are often run by laypeople. Theological debates, which are often sought by church congregation groups, are usually not possible at the local level. Muslims at mosque associations are usually more interested in more practical issues, and hope for cooperation in matters such as language classes, building construction, women's counseling, childcare, religious instruction, and youth work. Church congregants usually come upon more popular forms of Islamic piety that do not strongly reflect scholarly theological traditions. This can, of course, also apply to church congregations. Interreligious learning is thus the acceptance of one another, together with a strengthening of one's own identity. Over the past several years, Muslim communities have increased their efforts in regard to education. Muslims organizations have also formed expert groups and employed specialists to initiate and intensify dialogue and cooperation with other groups in society. It is important to understand and respect the individual profiles of Muslim partners. They should also not be criticized or held responsible for the numerous social and political deficits of countries with an Islamic background. In the same way, critical inquiries, such as those

concerning Christian minorities in countries with an Islamic majority, should be introduced in a neutral manner, as there is often only limited information available on the situation of such minorities. 5.1.4 Planning and evaluating dialogue activities Whenever possible, church congregations should form a small committee for interreligious dialogue or should entrust another committee with the task of maintaining interreligious contacts. This committee should plan dialogue activities, and present these plans to the congregation. The planning process should include information on the basic aims and values of the dialogue, and should mention target groups, recommended areas and topics of discussion, as well as forms and methods of dialogue. These plans should be discussed with the leadership of the local mosque. It is advisable to discuss links between congregational activities and dialogue initiatives begun at the municipal level and elsewhere. The dialogue activities should be evaluated at least once a year, preferably in cooperation with representatives of the mosque. The following criteria can be helpful in the planning and evaluation of interreligious cooperation, and of Christian-Muslim dialogue in particular:

1. Obtaining knowledge of each dialogue partner Solid research and a detailed preparation of content can sharpen one's perspective and make it easier to ask the right questions. This must not, however, get in the way of openness and curiosity during the actual meeting. 2. Working on respect and sensitivity One must be willing to meet one's partners on an equal footing, and to understand them in the context of their intentions. 3. Engaging in and evaluating dialogue with a sense of purpose The exact aims, content, and topics should be decided beforehand. One properly-skilled person should compile, evaluate, and analyze the dialogue experience, and should apply this to the preparation of future dialogue concepts. 4. Engaging in dialogue from one's own standpoint Dialogue is also an opportunity to reevaluate and strengthen one's own standpoint, and to improve one's knowledge of central matters of the Christian faith, and one's ability to impart that knowledge to others. 5. Striking a balance between the search for commonalities and the maintenance of

differences The belief in Jesus Christ and his role in salvation is a central point that entails both points of contact and profound differences. 6. Combining dialogue and mission Dialogue and mission are not mutually exclusive. The Christian mission is to be seen in the triple context of coexistence, dialogue, and mission. Christians are indeed duty-bound to bear witness to Muslims as well. 7. Working together for good and for justice (cf. sura 5:48; 16:125)

Christians and Muslims will be able to find their initial common ground in the area of ethics, values, and concrete goals (“dialogue of action”). This will open up a wide spectrum of common activity. 8. Not leaving aside questions of truth One central question is how to represent the claim to truth of one's own faith while allowing one's partner the right to assert similar claims. 9. Engaging in sincere dialogue Dialogue partners should be aware of their own aims and motives. One should not seek to compare one's own “superior” theories with the “poor” practice of others. 10. Criticizing oneself and others It requires trust to be open to criticism and to be able to criticize oneself. This trust must grow in the cooperative process. Speaking about and working together with Muslims on the history of enmity and conflict between Christianity and Islam is an important step towards greater cooperation.

5.2 Common prayer and worship? Situations can arise that lead to the question of whether members of the Protestant Church can or should pray or otherwise worship together with Muslims. This goes beyond all aforementioned areas of contact and dialogue with Muslims, as worship and prayer are very intensive and very personal forms of expression. This type of situation can arise when: (a) the intensive cooperation between Christian and Muslim partners is to be expressed on a special occasion (e.g. as part of a Christian-Islamic dialogue week, or a “Day of Religions in Germany”) in the form of spiritual community; (b) in times of emergency or catastrophe (e.g. Tsunamis, train and airplane accidents), in which Christians and Muslims might be equally affected and would wish to express this in common prayer or worship; and (c) on occasions such as the first day of school, births, weddings, life crises, illness, or death, when a common religious act is expected or desired – especially in Muslim-Christian families and partnerships. Some of these cases involve not only the possibilities and limitations of community among Christians and Muslims, but also in connection with other religions. There must, in any event, be particularly important and plausible reasons for common prayer and worship. Both theological and practical considerations must be taken into account in order to responsibly evaluate and decide the question of whether common prayer or worship for Christians and Muslims is possible. The question of God is of particular importance among theological considerations, as prayer and worship directly address God, bringing into focus the relationship between God and ourselves. The first part of this paper (cf. section 1.2) addresses the question of commonalities and differences in the belief in the one God of the Bible. The fact that Christians and Muslims – as well as Jews – believe in the God who spoke to Abraham, seems to offer a foundation for common prayer. This commonality is, however, offset by one serious difference: the belief of Christians that the God of Abraham revealed himself in his son Jesus Christ. The relevance of Jesus’ death to salvation and the belief in the Triune God are Christian convictions that Muslims, despite all reverence for Jesus as a prophet, do not share, but indeed expressly reject. Common prayer in the sense of Christians and Muslims

speaking prayer in unison is not possible from a Christian point of view, as Christian prayer addresses the one God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ and who is active through the Holy Spirit. In the Lord's Prayer, the most important prayer of Christianity, God is addressed as a father, a quality of God unknown to – and even clearly rejected by – Islam. One must also consider the fact that the first sura of the Qu’ran (al-Fatiha) plays a central role in ritual Muslim prayer. This text is simultaneously a Muslim creed. Speaking these words is thus more than just a prayer but also the expression of a turning to or a conversion to Islam. The prayers of both Christians and Muslims alike, place worship, praise, thanks, lamentation, joy, concerns, and intercession before God. Christians and Muslims also, at a fundamental level, share an awareness of the human connectedness with God, of the dignity of life, and of responsibility for other people and for all creation. Islam and Christianity also both have prayers that can be spoken freely by each individual. This means that Muslims and Christians can affirm in their hearts the content of a prayer, such as an intercession or a lamentation, and can agree with it from the standpoint of their own personal convictions. This occurs with particular frequency in situations of crisis and as a reaction to life and family events. Prayers for one another and for adherents of other religions as well, are often seen as a natural part of prayer practice. When Christians and Muslims pray or worship together, this must follow joint in-depth preparations, including an understanding of their commonalities. Neither group should have the feeling of being taken in by the other group, or of having to go along with actions or statements that include content and intentions that are not shared. This understanding of commonalities should not be allowed to develop into a fixation on convergences between the religions that glosses over the differences. This would be dishonest and would show a lack of respect for the particular nature of the other faith. This would no longer constitute the meeting of two different religions but would instead express a general religious commonality that borrows bits and pieces from different religions. The symbolic meaning and the public effect that common worship and prayer would have must also be considered. Common prayers for peace and common worship in times of catastrophe can indeed prove to be a very effective sign of common responsibility, solidarity, and concern. On the other hand, such events can lead to misunderstandings and give rise to the impression that the differences between the religions are being glossed over or denied. This is why the external arrangements of common prayer or worship can be so important. This includes the venue, the people involved, the use or non-use of official vestments, religious symbols, and other similar elements. One must, in any case, avoid generating the impression that Christian-Muslim worship or prayer might represent “ecumenical prayer or worship.” These considerations lead to the following practical conclusions: (1) One legitimate form of expressing fellowship between Muslims and Christians is respectful attendance at the other group's prayer, including an inner affirmation of thoughts that one can support with one's own conviction. This can mean that Christians, for example, attend Friday prayers in a mosque in prayerful silence, or that Muslims are present as guests for Christian church services. A number of both religions’ festivals are also well suited to mutual participation. A word of greeting or a text read aloud can lend expression to the fellowship between host and guest.

(2) There can be just cause for Christians and Muslims (or adherents of other religions as well) to pray at the same time or after one another at events. On the occasion of the prayers for peace in Assisi, which was attended by representatives of numerous religions, Pope John Paul II said that they had come together to pray, but not come in order to pray together. The EKD guidelines Zusammenleben mit Muslimen (2000), along with other church statements, differentiates between multireligious and interreligious prayer. Multireligious prayer refers to simultaneous prayer or even simply prayer in the presence of others. Interreligious prayer refers to common prayer among people of different faiths, who recite the same prayer together. Under this definition, interreligious prayer is impossible for theological reasons. Any misperception of common prayer should indeed be strictly avoided. Situations in which Christians and Muslims pray simultaneously or one after the other can be easily misconstrued as a form of interreligious prayer that does not respect the fundamental differences involved. The fact that Christians and Muslims come together to pray at all can be understood as an expression of the awareness of a common historical tradition and a common responsibility before God, even in the face of limited theological commonality. , Each specific case, therefore, must carefully and responsibly deal with matters regarding a suitable venue, the programme, the distribution of responsibility, symbolism, and avoiding misunderstandings. (3) Common Christian-Muslim official acts are not possible. For pastoral reasons, the wishes of Christian-Muslim couples should be taken seriously for religious ceremonies at weddings, births, and funerals. The need for ritual-spiritual accompaniment in certain life situations is a part of every religion and is felt by all for whom religion is an important part of life. In line with the aforementioned principles, forms of guest participation can be considered that would truly meet the requirements of a shared life along the boundaries between the religions. Christian and Muslim participants should be aware of their particular responsibility, and should avoid – by using their spiritual and theological judgment – any appearance of a mixture of the religions. It should be added that worship services for the wedding of a Christian and a non-Christian follow the relevant regulations of the regional Protestant churches. 6. Outlook The Protestant Church pursues and wishes to maintain its dialogue with Muslims at numerous levels (see above), both with regard to theology and to questions concerning the lives of Muslims in Germany. This dialogue should indeed not represent a short-term goal but an ongoing process, through which the Protestant Church can continually express how important it is, for the sake of the lives of Muslims in Germany, to share information, discuss matters of religious importance, work together to resolve conflicts, and to take common action in religious and social questions. Muslims need not feel alone when they and the society as a whole are confronted with problems concerning the practice of their faith, the maintenance of their cultures, and the diverse problems of social integration. They can rely on the Protestant Church as a partner that seeks to live up to their needs to the best of its ability and to advocate for their respect and recognition. They should know and understand that this involvement cannot be shaken by

critical questions that may come from within the Protestant Church. The principle that there is no alternative to a process of dialogue that allows mutual understanding and respect, and enables good neighbourneighbourly relations to thrive and prosper, remains intact. Any forms of thought that lead to violence, enmity, and hatred between Christianity and Islam must be consigned to history once and for all. In this respect, the Protestant Church and Muslims in Germany can send out important signals to the outside world, in which this history unfortunately continues to rear its face. Together, they can make an important contribution to healing the wounds of the past. Germany’s democratic and pluralistic society provides the best setting for these goals. From this position, Christianity and Islam can realize their common potential to bring about peace and reconciliation in a globalized world. This will not, however, be possible without self-critical analysis to diffuse old enmities, intolerance, and discrimination. But, even in Germany, this is still not self-evident for all Christians and Muslims. Many avoid these processes and remain unmoved by the changes that the Christian-Muslim dialogue process seeks to bring about and have already begun to put into motion. The result of this is that, when conflicts and problems arise, there is still potential for a return to old clichés. Both groups must, therefore, refuse to give up on the process of dialogue when current conflicts or refusals to talk threaten to bring the process to a standstill. It is of great importance to the Protestant Church that this sense of resignation does not gain the upper hand. The church hopes for the support of Muslims in Germany to make this possible.

Appendix:

Literature 1. Statements and position papers of the Evangelical Church in Germany - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Richtlinie des Rates der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland nach Art. 9 Buchst. b Grundordnung über die Anforderungen der privatrechtlichen beruflichen Mitarbeit in der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland und des Diakonischen Werkes (Loyalitätsrichtlinie), Hannover Juli 2005 (übernommen von Diakonischen Konferenz des Diakonischen Werkes EKD im Herbst 2005) - Islambeauftragte und Weltanschauungsbeauftragte innerhalb der EKD, Islam in Deutschland - Einschätzung und Bewertung. Ergebnisse eines Beratungsprozesses; in: EKD-Jahrbuch Ökumene und Auslandsarbeit 2004, Hannover 2004, S. 107 - 115 - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Wo Glaube wächst und Leben sich entfaltet. Der Auftrag evangelischer Kindertagesstätten. Eine Erklärung des Rates der EKD, Gütersloh, 2004² - Kirchenamt der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, Stellungnahme zur Islamischen Charta des Zentralrates der Muslime in Deutschland, Hannover 2003 (www.kirche-islam.de) - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Christlicher Glaube und nichtchristliche Religionen, EKD-Texte 77, Hannover 2003 - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Bedrohung der Religionsfreiheit. Erfahrungen von Christen in verschiedenen Ländern. Eine Arbeitshilfe. EKD-Texte 78, Hannover 2003 (also available in English; Freedom of Religion under Threat Experiences of Christians in Different Countries - A practical resource, EKD-Texte 78, 2003) - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Christlicher Glaube und nichtchristliche Religionen Theologische Leitlinien. Ein Beitrag der Kammer der EKD für Theologie, EKD-Text 77, Hannover 2003 - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Zusammenleben gestalten. Ein Beitrag des Rates der EKD zu Fragen der Integration und des Zusammenlebens mit Menschen anderer Herkunft, Sprache oder Religion, EKD-Texte 76, Hannover 2002 - Lutherisches Kirchenamt der Vereinigten Evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche Deutschlands und Kirchenamt der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (Hrsg.), Was jeder vom Islam wissen muss, Gütersloh 2001 (Neuauflage) - Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, Zusammenleben mit Muslimen in Deutschland. Gestaltung der christlichen Begegnung mit Muslimen. Eine Handreichung des Rates der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, Gütersloh 2000

- Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Gewalt gegen Frauen als Thema der Kirche (Teil 1). Im Auftrag des Rates der EKD, Denkschrift der EKD 145, Hannover 2000 - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Gewalt gegen Frauen als Thema der Kirche (Teil 2). Im Auftrag des Rates der EKD, Denkschrift der EKD 145, Hannover 2000 - Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, Religionsunterricht für muslimische Schülerinnen und Schüler. Eine Stellungnahme des Kirchenamtes der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, Hannover 1999 - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Genitalverstümmelung von Mädchen und Frauen Eine kirchliche Stellungnahme, EKD-Texte 65, Hannover 1999 (also available in English: Female Genital Mutilation. A Churches’ Position. Working Group of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) in cooperation with external experts, Hanover, 2000) - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland/Deutsche Bischofkonferenz in Zusammenarbeit der mit Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirche in Deutschland (ACK), "... und der Fremdling, der in deinen Toren ist." Gemeinsames Wort der Kirchen zu den Herausforderungen durch Migration und Flucht, Gemeinsame Texte 12, Bonn/Frankfurt am Main/Hannover 1997 - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Zur Verantwortung des Menschen für das Tier als Mitgeschöpf. Ein Diskussionsbeitrag des Wissenschaftlichen Beirats des Beauftragen für Umweltfragen des Rates der EKD, EKD-Texte 41, Hannover 1991 - Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Evangelische Kirche und freiheitliche Demokratie, Gütersloh 1985 2. Other statements and booklets - Multireligiöses Feiern und Beten. Was sagen die Kirchen dazu. Ein Überblick über ökumenische und kirchliche Texte und Arbeitshilfen. Texte aus der Ökumenischen Centrale Nr. 9, Frankfurt am Main 2005 - Bericht der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Migration, Flüchtlinge und Integration über die Lage der Ausländerinnen und Ausländer in Deutschland, Berlin 2005 - Kairoer Erklärung der Menschenrechte, in: Menschenrechte. Dokumente und Deklarationen, Hrsg. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Bonn 20044, S. 562ff. - Sekretariat der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, Christen und Muslime in Deutschland, Arbeitshilfen 172, Bonn 2003 - Leitlinien für multireligiöse Feiern von Christen, Juden und Muslimen, Eine Handreichung der deutschen Bischöfe, Hrsg. Sekretariat der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, Arbeitshilfen 170, Bonn 2003 - Wie können wir Muslimen begegnen? Arbeitspapier des KEK/CCEE-Ausschusses "Islam in Europa", Genf / St. Gallen, 2003 (also available in English; Meeting Muslims? Study paper; see: www.cec-kek.org)

- Christen und Muslime: Gemeinsam beten? Überlegungen und Texte. Arbeitspapier des KEK/CCEE-Ausschusses "Islam in Europa", Hrsg. Konferenz Europäischer Kirchen/Rat der Europäischen Bischofskonferenz, Genf / St. Gallen, 2003 (also available in English; Christians and Muslims: Praying together? Reflections and Texts; see www.cec-kek.org) - Leitlinien für den Dialog und für die Beziehungen mit Menschen anderer Religionen, Hrsg. Zentralausschuss des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen, Genf 2002 (also available in English; Ecumenical Considerations for Dialogue and Relations with People of Other Faiths; see www.wcc-coe.org) - Lausanner Bewegung Deutschland, Christlicher Glaube und Islam. Erklärung der Lausanner Bewegung Deutschland. Revidierte Fassung, Stuttgart 2002 - Die Begegnung von Christen und Muslimen. Eine Orientierungshilfe mit pädagogischen Hinweisen für die Arbeit in Gruppen, Hrsg. Evangelisches Missionswerk in Deutschland, Hamburg 2001 Member of the working group which drafted this statement: - OKR Dr. Martin Affolderbach, Hannover (editorial assistance) - Heidrun von Boetticher, Gehrden - LKR Pfr. Gerhard Duncker, Bielefeld - Pfr. Dr. Reinhard Hempelmann, Berlin - Prof. Dr. Klaus Hock, Rostock - Pastor Dr. Heinrich Kahlert, Bremen - Dr. Johannes Kandel, Berlin - Prof. Dr. Wolf Krötke, Berlin - Dr. Christine Schirrmacher, Bonn - Dr. Jürgen Schmude, Moers (chairperson)