Abstract
Countering the widespread idea that Islam has no place in Europe, Mohammed Khallouk analyzes the activities of Islamic associations across Germany during the current refugee crisis in order to argue that Islam promotes the integration into society because it is the medium through which Muslims participate in multi-religious democracies. Although prejudices about refugees and religion exist also among the Muslim minority in Germany, Islam is an indispensable impulse for the engagement with migrants among Muslim citizens. Migration offers opportunities for shared activities which strengthen the democratic identity of Muslims and non-Muslims in Germany. Islam, then, is not a threat to European countries such as Germany, but a path to peaceful cohabitation in a multi-religious world.
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Notes
- 1.
See Yasemin Ergin, “Zuwanderung—Warum viele Migranten in Deutschland gegen Flüchtlinge sind,” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung February 10, 2016, available at http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/fluechtlingskrise/warum-deutsche-muslime-abneigung-gegen-fluechtlinge-haben-14059221.html (accessed 03/2016).
- 2.
Ibid. (trans. U.S.).
- 3.
Ibid. (trans. U.S.).
- 4.
See Freia Peters, “Migranten wollen weniger Flüchtlinge in Deutschland,” Die Welt November 29, 2015, available at https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article149391575/Migranten-wollen-weniger-Fluechtlinge-in-Deutschland.html (accessed 03/2016).
- 5.
Farid Hafez, Islamisch-politische Denker: Eine Einführung in die islamisch-politische Ideengeschichte, 2nd ed. (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2015), 84 (trans. U.S.).
- 6.
The hadiths are available in a bilingual version at https://sunnah.com/bukhari/ (accessed 03/2016).
- 7.
See Adelgunde Mertensacker, Muslime erobern Deutschland: Eine Dokumentation (Lippstadt: Verlag Christliche Mitte, 1988).
- 8.
Al-Kasani, cited in Shaik Muhammad Abu Zahra, Begriff des Krieges im Islam, vol. 6, ed. Oberster Rat für Islamische Angelegenheiten (Cairo: Ansiklopedisi, 1952), 374 (trans. U.S.).
- 9.
For short summaries of the activities of the ZMD, see http://www.zentralrat.de/ (accessed 03/2016).
- 10.
See the announcement under “Flüchtlinge—Wie kannst Du helfen?” available at http://islam.de/fluechtlinge (accessed 03/2016).
- 11.
See the ZMD’s press release, “ZMD startet mit Ramadan-Aktion ‘Deutschland sorgt für Flüchtlinge’” available at http://zentralrat.de/26525 (accessed 03/2016).
- 12.
See ibid.
- 13.
See, again, “Flüchtlinge—Wie kannst Du helfen?” available at http://ilsam.de/fluechtlinge (accessed 03/2016).
- 14.
See the ZMD’s press release, “Flüchtlingskonferenz des ZMD in Darmstadt war ein voller Erfolg,” available at http://islam.de/27164 (accessed 03/2016).
- 15.
See ibid. The whole speech, “Perspektive der Flüchtlingssituation aus islamischer Sicht,” available at http://islam.de/27178 (accessed 03/2016).
- 16.
See again the ZMD’s press release, “Flüchtlingskonferenz des ZMD in Darmstadt war ein voller Erfolg,” available at http://islam.de/27164.php (accessed 03/2016).
- 17.
For the concept of “constitutional patriotism” (Verfassungspatriotismus), see Jürgen Habermas, Inclusion of the Other: Studies in Political Theory, trans. Ciaran Cronin (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1998), 118: “The political culture of a country crystallizes around its constitution . Each national culture develops a distinctive interpretation of those constitutional principles that are equally embodied in other republican constitutions—such as popular sovereignty and human rights—in light of its own national history. A ‘constitutional patriotism’ based on these interpretations can take the place originally occupied by nationalism.”
- 18.
See the ZMD’s press release, “Gründung ‘Verband muslimischer Flüchtlingshilfe,” available at http://islam.de/27481 (accessed 03/2016). Information about the Federation is available at http://vmfev.org (accessed 03/2016).
- 19.
Nurhan Soykan, in “Gründung ‘Verband muslimischer Flüchtlingshilfe,” available at http://islam.de/27481 (accessed 03/2016) (trans. U.S.).
- 20.
See the ZMD’s press release, “Zwischen Hüpfburgen, Indoorspielplätzen und dem Fastenbrechen,” available at http://islam.de/27661 (accessed 03/2016).
- 21.
The program “Wir sind Paten” is run by Soziale Dienste und Jugendhilfe gGmbH, a company for social services, created by functionaries of the ZMD. The company coordinates programs and projects like this one all over Germany.
- 22.
See the entry “Betreuung/Beratung” in “Wir bringen zusammen, was zusammengehört—Menschen!” available at http://www.wirsindpaten.com/de/betreuung-beratung (accessed 03/2016).
- 23.
See the entry “Bildung” in “Wir bringen zusammen, was zusammengehört—Menschen!” available at http://www.wirsindpaten.com/de/bildung (accessed 03/2016).
- 24.
See the summary of the study at https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/de/themen/aktuelle-meldungen/2015/januar/religionsmonitor (accessed 03/2016).
- 25.
- 26.
See ibid.
- 27.
See again the summary at https://www.bertelsmann-stifutng.de/de/themen/aktuelle-meldungen/2015/januar/religionsmonitor (accessed 03/2016).
- 28.
Yasemin El Menouar, in ibid. (trans. U.S.).
- 29.
See http://www.saferspaces.de/programm (accessed 03/2016).
- 30.
See the announcement of the workshop, “Safer Spaces, Seminar Anasheed,” available at www.saferspaces.de/event (accessed 03/2016).
- 31.
Matthias Rohe, Der Islam in Deutschland: Eine Bestandsaufnahme (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2016), 100.
- 32.
Ibid. (trans. U.S.).
- 33.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, cited in Hafez, Islamisch-politsche Denker, 245 (trans. U.S.).
- 34.
Ibid. (trans. U.S.)
- 35.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, cited in ibid. (trans. U.S.).
- 36.
See again Habermas, Inclusion of the Other, 116–119.
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Khallouk, M. (2018). Confronting the Current Refugee Crisis: The Importance of Islamic Citizens’ Initiatives in Germany. In: Schmiedel, U., Smith, G. (eds) Religion in the European Refugee Crisis. Religion and Global Migrations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67961-7_5
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