“He was there with his heart and soul”: The mother of a German ‘foreign fighter’ speaks

In 2014 and 2015, European publics were kept in suspense by daily press reports on the rising numbers of European citizens travelling to Syria in order to join jihadi groups (and, to a lesser extent, Kurdish rebel forces). By early 2018, security agencies estimated that 960 men and women had made their way to Syria…

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Islamic studies scholar Armina Omerika: “Muslims need new ways to approach their religious heritage”

The German Evangelical Church′s relationship with Luther shows Muslims that it′s possible to find and develop a way of engaging critically with your own religious tradition, says Islamic studies scholar Armina Omerika in an interview with Canan Topcu. When did you first hear about Martin Luther? Armina Omerika: I think I heard his name for…

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Deputy mayor in France sends police to school to protest Arabic language classes

A city council official sent police to a primary school in France to protest the school’s decision to offer its students the option of learning the Arabic language. The deputy mayor of Six-Fours-les-Plages in southeastern France was acting on an inaccurate claim on Facebook that said students were being forced to learn the language. Jean-Sébastien…

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Closure of the controversial King-Fahd-Academy in Bonn: Shifting Saudi religious politics in Germany

Past controversies Saudi diplomats in Germany have confirmed that the King-Fahd-Academy, a Saudi-financed educational institution in Bonn, will be closed by the end of the school year 2016/2017. The construction of a second academy in Berlin will reportedly also be abandoned.1 The King-Fahd Academy, opened in 1994, had long been criticised as a hotbed of…

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Firm condemnation of the heinous massacre in Orlando: Statement by the Great Mosque of Paris

Source: http://www.mosqueedeparis.net/condamnation-du-massacre-dorlando-aux-etats-unis/ Statement by the Great Mosque of Paris June 13, 2016 During this sacred month of Ramadan tolerance, friendship, and fraternity among human beings are the fundamental values that the Qur’an requires of all faithful followers throughout the world to carry out with dignity as the fourth pillar of Islam. It’s the month of…

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