Many of Germany’s 4 million Muslims feel forgotten and ill-inclined to vote in this month’s election, and even politicians acknowledge they have woken up too late to their ballot box potential. In Duisburg in the industrial Ruhr region that is home to Germany’s biggest mosque, conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel and Social Democrat (SPD) challenger Frank-Walter…
Until recently, the political rhetoric was the giveaway of real opinions of German political actors in Germany’s Muslim minority. While proclaiming openness, they found it sufficient to mention Islamic customs when referring to a case of honor killing in a Kurdish family or forced marriage among immigrants from Anatolia. German politicians too long equated Islam…
A new report published today by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation shows that German Muslims identify more with Germany than the general public do. The report, The Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A Global Study of Interfaith Relations, is the first annual report on the state of faith relations in countries around the world and reveals…
The Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has inflamed passions around the world. In Germany, home to Europe’s second-largest Muslim community, calls are growing to end the bloodshed and spare civilian lives. Pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups have long feuded over who holds the moral high-ground in this ongoing conflict, but consensus is widespread that non-combatants…
An Islamic group has slammed a new law which stops German Muslims from stating their religion in their birth and marriage certificates. Aiman Mazyek, general secretary of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland, ZMD) criticized the change in the law, stressing that it was “unacceptable”. “The change is opposed…
