News:
German TV has broadcast live Muslim Eid prayers from a mosque in a town near Munich, a move that is the first of its kind in the country’s history. The prayers, at 4:45am local time on Friday, were aired from the Penzberg Mosque on public TV and radio broadcaster Bayerischen Rundfunk. The broadcast was part of a wider two-hour coverage on the Muslim holiday that will include the sermon, narration of the Islam’s holy book Quran, Islamic chanting, and speeches by Christian Catholic and Protestant priests. Ahead of the sermon, Benjamin Idriz, the preacher who led the prayers, told Al Jazeera the move was historic for Muslims in Germany.
“In the sermon, I will deliver messages to both Muslims and non-Muslims in Germany. I will talk about the common values, and will urge the German society to open up to Muslims and visit their mosques, and also urge Muslims to open up to the German society,” the Macedonian-born German preacher said.
He said that broadcasting the Eid programme will help the Muslim community feel more welcome and as an integral part of Germany.
The move comes just two weeks after German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended an iftar, the meal to break the Ramadan fast, for the first time as the head of government. At the event, she said that Islam “is a part of Germany”. It was the first time Merkel has attended an iftar as German chancellor. Government spokesperson Steffen Seibert has also announced that Merkel is planning to host an iftar for the first time next year. Seibert said the iftar is expected to be held in the building of the Chancellery and will host representatives of Muslim civil society organizations in Germany. According to Seibert, the iftar will become an annual event.
Comment:
At the forefront of challenges facing the Muslims in Germany is the continuous call for complete integration thereby abandoning any form of an Islamic identity or character for the Muslim youth. Debates by the Government and media on how to integrate Muslims are frequent and the cited case of having the Eid prayer on public TV and radio broadcaster Bayerischen Rundfunk is one example of many. This campaign is further reflective of Muslims organisations, personalities and Imam’s willingly being incorporated into this campaign of integration. The conformism of Muslims to adopt secular liberal and democratic values that are furthermore under surveillance by the Verfassungsschutz for the purpose of naturalisation that includes a demonstrated commitment to democracy, gender equality, basic rights and state symbols is conditional for Muslims being granted citizenship. A right that has been denied to second and third generations of mostly Turkish origin Muslims. Therefore, a German state sanctioned Islam that “is a part of Germany” would require undergoing a reformist approach. The reformist approach to Islam is captured in the Fiqh Al-Aqalliyyat (Fiqh of Minorities) which is designed to apply its methodology of using the particular environment or reality the source for legislation.
Those of us who live in Western societies know only to well the many obstacles and temptations that are laid in our path in order to divert our focus away from the path of Allah سبحانه وتعالى. We are constantly bombarded with non-Islamic beliefs, concepts, values, customs, habits and Akhlaq. Our Deen or an aspect of it is constantly attacked in the Western societies on a daily basis, consequently leading to disastrous effects on the Muslim mindset. This naturally produces an atmosphere of a sever inferiority complex amongst the Muslims at large to the extent that many Muslims end up twisting Islam in order to make it more palatable for Western tastes.
Therefore, Muslims in Germany are required to steadfastly hold onto their Islam while facing the ongoing campaign of integrating and corrupting their Islam and Islamic identity with secular liberal values and the deceptively softer approach that includes token gestures of German Chancellor Angela Merkel attending an iftar or the live broadcast of Muslim Eid prayers from Penzberg Mosque. This is occurring furthermore in an environment which has seen the rising far-right movement of Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, also known as PEGIDA.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ * أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
“Those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah,’ and then go straight will feel no fear and will know no sorrow. Such people are the Companions of the Garden, remaining in it timelessly, forever, as repayment for what they did.”
(Al-Ahqaf: 13-14)
Tsurroya Amal Yasna