On September 19th , Muslim associations and 2000 mosques followed the call of the Coordination Council of Muslims, demonstrating for peace and tolerance and against the misuse of the name of Islam. Protests took place German wide in the cities of Hamburg, Berlin, Oldenburg, Mölln, Bielefeld, Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart. Moreover, the participating mosques included the issues of violence and intolerance as the main themes for their Friday prayers. The Federal Minister of Interior Thomas de Maizière (CDU) and Commissioner for Integration Aydin Özoguz (SPD) joined the events in the cities of Hannover and Munich to show their solidarity with Muslims in Germany. “Muslims would demonstrate that hatred and violence could never be legitimate in the name of Islam” ,said de Maizière. He added that Germany would not be the place for violence against Christians, Muslims and Jews. The speaker of the Coordination Council of Muslims, Ali Kizikaya described the event as a symbol for the unity of society. Furthermore, he reminded the media about the recent fire assaults against mosques. According to Kizilkaya, the demonstrations would underline the position of Islam a religion for tolerance and against any form of extremism.
The Turkish-Islamic Union, the Islam Council, the association for Islamic Centers of Culture and the Central Council of Muslims participated at the demonstrations. The chair of the Central Council of Muslims, Ayman Mazyek condemned the propaganda and terror of the “Islamic State” (IS). Muslims should not remain silent, when Islam is “kidnapped by terrorists and criminals”. Mazyek expressed his solidarity with the victims of terror saying: “I am Jew, when synagogues are attacked. I am a Christian, when for instance Christians are persecuted in Iraq. I am a Muslim, when fire assaults are thrown at mosques.”
The speaker of the Turkish-Islamic Union (DITIB) Zekeriya Altuğ emphasized the relevance of the prayers. The Imams would pray for all religious groups including the persecuted Yezidi. Thousands of people gathered in Berlin to participate at a public Friday prayer in front of the Mevalana mosque, which had been the target of a fire assault weeks ago. In Frankfurt, the chairmen of the Central Council of Muslims and Jews in Germany, Aiman Mazyek and Dieter Graumann met to symbolize the unity of all religious groups against intolerance.
