Islam And Muslims In Germany

In the European discourse of post 9/11 reality, concepts such as “Multiculturalism”, “Integration” and “European Islam” are becoming more and more topical. The empirically- based contributions in this volume aim to reflect the variety of current Muslim social practices and life-worlds in Germany. The volume goes beyond the fragmented methods of minority case studies and the monolithic view of Muslims as portrayed by mass media to present fresh theoretical approaches and in-depth analyses of a rich mosaic of communities, cultures and social practices. Issues of politics, religion, society, economics, media, art, literature, law and gender are addressed. The result is a vibrant state-of-the-art publication of studies of real-life communities and individuals. Contributors are Kilian Bälz, Kea Eilers, Friedmann Eissler, Konrad Hirschler, Jeanette S. Jouili, Melanie Kamp, Matthias Kulinna, Judith Pies, Claudia Preckel, Robert Pütz, Mathias Rohe, Sabine Schiffer, Verena Schreiber, Christoph Schumann†, Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, Clara Seitz, Faruk Şen, Viola Shafik, Yafa Shanneik, Martin Sökefeld, Margrete Søvik, Levent Tezcan, Jörn Thielmann, Nikola Tietze and Maria Wurm.

In the European discourse of post 9/11 reality, concepts such as a oeMulticulturalisma, a oeIntegrationa and a oeEuropean Islama are becoming more and more topical. The empirically- based contributions in this volume aim to reflect the variety of current Muslim social practices and life-worlds in Germany. The volume goes beyond the fragmented methods of minority case studies and the monolithic view of Muslims as portrayed by mass media to present fresh theoretical approaches and in-depth analyses of a rich mosaic of communities, cultures and social practices. Issues of politics, religion, society, economics, media, art, literature, law and gender are addressed. The result is a vibrant state-of-the-art publication of studies of real-life communities and individuals.

Every year more and more Europeans, including Germans, are embracing Islam. It is estimated that there are now up to one hundred thousand German converts—a number similar to that in France and the United Kingdom. What stands out about recent conversions is that they take place at a time when Islam is increasingly seen as contrary to European values. Being German, Becoming Muslim explores how Germans come to Islam within this antagonistic climate, how they manage to balance their love for Islam with their society's fear of it, how they relate to immigrant Muslims, and how they shape debates about race, religion, and belonging in today’s Europe. Esra Özyürek looks at how mainstream society marginalizes converts and questions their national loyalties. In turn, converts try to disassociate themselves from migrants of Muslim-majority countries and promote a denationalized Islam untainted by Turkish or Arab traditions. Some German Muslims believe that once cleansed of these accretions, the Islam that surfaces fits in well with German values and lifestyle. Others even argue that being a German Muslim is wholly compatible with the older values of the German Enlightenment. Being German, Becoming Muslim provides a fresh window into the connections and tensions stemming from a growing religious phenomenon in Germany and beyond.

In Organizing Muslims and Integrating Islam in Germany, Kerstin Rosenow-Williams analyzes the challenges faced by Islamic organizations in Germany since the beginning of the 21st century. Outlining the expectations German political actors have of Islamic organizations and the internal interests of these organizations, the author illustrates that organizational response strategies involve patterns not only of adaptation, but also of decoupling and protest. The study introduces an innovative research framework based on organizational sociology and provides empirical insights into three major Islamic umbrella organizations (DITIB, IGMG, ZMD) and their relationships with other actors. The comprehensive analysis of the German institutional environment and related developments in Islamic organizations makes this study highly relevant to scholars and politicians, as well as the general public.

Winner of the Ernst Fraenkel Prize, Wiener Holocaust Library An Open Letters Monthly Best History Book of the Year A New York Post “Must-Read” In the most crucial phase of the Second World War, German troops confronted the Allies across lands largely populated by Muslims. Nazi officials saw Islam as a powerful force with the same enemies as Germany: the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Jews. Islam and Nazi Germany’s War is the first comprehensive account of Berlin’s remarkably ambitious attempts to build an alliance with the Islamic world. “Motadel describes the Mufti’s Nazi dealings vividly...Impeccably researched and clearly written, [his] book will transform our understanding of the Nazi policies that were, Motadel writes, some ‘of the most vigorous attempts to politicize and instrumentalize Islam in modern history.’” —Dominic Green, Wall Street Journal “Motadel’s treatment of an unsavory segment of modern Muslim history is as revealing as it is nuanced. Its strength lies not just in its erudite account of the Nazi perception of Islam but also in illustrating how the Allies used exactly the same tactics to rally Muslims against Hitler. With the specter of Isis haunting the world, it contains lessons from history we all need to learn.” —Ziauddin Sardar, The Independent

In the southern German city of Stuttgart lives a pious Muslim population that has merged with the local population to create a meaningful shared existence. In this ethnographic account, the author introduces and examines the lives of ordinary residents, neighborhoods, and mosque communities to analyze moments and spaces where Muslims and non-Muslims engage with each other and accommodate their respective needs. These accounts show that even in the face of resentment and discrimination, this pious population has indeed become an integral part of the urban community.

In 2006 against the background of the increasing problematization of Muslims and Islam in German public debate, the German government established the German Islam Conference. In a post 9/11 world, this was a time period shaped by the global war on terror, changes in the German naturalization law, the proliferation of racism targeting Muslims, and the expansion of security apparatuses. In Governing Muslims and Islam in Contemporary Germany Luis Manuel Hernández Aguilar critically analyzes the institutionalization of the Conference and the different projects this institution has set in motion to govern Islam and Muslims against the looming presence of racial representations of Muslims. The analysis begins with the foundation of the Conference until the end of its second phase in 2014.

Essay from the year 2005 in the subject Sociology - Religion, grade: 1,7, University of Erfurt, course: Internationale Summer school: Muslime im Westen, language: English, abstract: In the following I will try to illustrate some of the specific problems of integration of Muslims and will raise up some questions for discussion. But before that, I will spend some words in general. The main problem why we haven’t face the integration as it came up was a wrong understanding in the Muslim people who came here. Currently there live 3.2 million Muslims in Germany mainly from turkey. They came here in the 60 ́s as guest workers. We have treated them as guests, we were not familiar with their religion, we have not try to integrate them in our society, we have let them do in the believe that they are just guests and that they will go back in their home countries sooner or later. And we had also prejudices against Muslims that were even written down in for example a schoolbook from the late 70 ́s. Here is a quotation about the Islam from the book: “Allah is a violent and tyrannic god. Mohammed is uniquely tied to the evil: as a messenger of a violent god, he is violent himself, and so is Islamic man – violent, malicious, and driven by his instincts.” This quotation is hostile, ignorant, full of prejudices and wrong, but it was taught so in school and together with the public opinion it created frontiers and mistrust. Nowadays we see that most of the people stay here and the first and second generation may feel that Germany is more there home as the country their parents or grandparents came from. Now we have the notion that these people are here and we must integrate them in our society without creating new frontiers and removing old prejudices. The main task – the first step - of the integration is that we must encourage the Muslims here to learn our language. At 9th of August this year there was a great fire in a residential house in Berlin. Inhabitants mainly from Arabic countries couldn’t understand what the fire fighters told them. They said they should stay in their flats and don’t run in the hall, because of the fire and the smoke. They didn’t understand these instructions so 8 people run out in their deaths. Surely a very drastically example of misunderstanding.

Over ten million Muslims live in Western Europe. Since the early 1990s, and especially after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, vexing policy questions have emerged about the religious rights of native-born and immigrant Muslims. Britain has struggled over whether to give state funding to private Islamic schools. France has been convulsed over Muslim teenagers wearing the hijab in public schools. Germany has debated whether to grant 'public-corporation' status to Muslims. And each state is searching for policies to ensure the successful incorporation of practicing Muslims into liberal democratic society. This 2004 book analyzes state accommodation of Muslims' religious practices in Britain, France, and Germany, first examining three major theories: resource mobilization, political-opportunity structure, and ideology. It then proposes an additional explanation, arguing that each nation's approach to Muslims follows from its historically based church-state institutions.

In the twentieth century, Muslim minorities emerged in Europe seeking work, a refuge from conflict, and higher life standards. As a result, there are now more than 12 million Muslims in Western Europe. As these immigrants became permanent residents, the Islamic communities they developed had to respond to their European context, reinterpreting Islam in accordance with local conditions. In Localizing Islam in Europe, Yükleyen brings this adaptation to light, demonstrating how Islam and Europe have shaped one another and challenging the idea that Islamic beliefs are inherently antithetical to European secular, democratic, and pluralist values. Yükleyen compares five different religious communities among Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands and Germany that represent a spectrum from moderate to revolutionary Islamic opinions. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, he finds that, despite differences in goals and beliefs, these communities play an intermediary role, negotiating between the social and religious needs of Muslims and the socioeconomic, legal, and political context of Europe. Yükleyen’s rich ethnography shows that there is no single form of assimilated and privatized “European Islam” but rather Islamic communities and their interpretations and practices that localize Islam in Europe.