Cologne Mosque Faces Opposition from Ex-Muslims

"It’s absurd: the radical minority dominates the liberal majority."

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littlegreenfootballs.com

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Fri, Aug 17, 2007 at 12:28:44 pm PDT

Turkish born author Arzu Toker, co-Chair of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany, talks about an Islamic group’s plan to build an imposing mosque within sight of the historic Cologne Cathedral; translated by World Politics Review: Islam in Europe: An Interview With Arzu Toker on the Cologne Mosque.

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Konkret: Why do some people say that Cologne has to have a mosque?

Toker: There is not a single verse in the Quran that sets out the requirement of a mosque. Muslims could just as well pray in a park, for example. The building is not necessary. Mosques first came into being when Muslims conquered Christian and Jewish territories where there were already churches or synagogues and they converted them into mosques. What is going on in Cologne is a demonstration of power. The Islamic associations are on the rise. They already have a seat at the negotiating table with the government and now they think they are powerful enough to have a mosque in the middle of town.

Konkret: And why are you against the mosque?

Toker: It is not about the building. It’s about politics. I am not against it because I don’t like the architecture, but because of what is taught in mosques. Five times a day, one is called to prayer with the words “There is only one Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.” The call to prayer is thus necessarily tied to the negation of Christianity. How can that be acceptable? The Muslims could say “No, we don’t deny Christianity”, but they are completely incapable of critical self-reflection. Besides, nothing positive has ever come out of the mosques: calls for social integration, for instance. On the contrary, what comes out of the mosques is always alienated from the surrounding society. Apart from that, mosques are the domain of men: the men sit up front and the women in the back, banned behind a curtain.

Konkret: What is being said about the mosque project among so-called “German Muslims”?Toker: The worst part is that this discussion is only taking place among at most some 30,000 people. The rest of the 3.2 million Muslims who live in this country have nothing to do with it. There are thousands of modern Turkish women in Germany who pretend to be Spaniards or Italians and are ashamed to say they are Turkish, because they find the whole discussion embarrassing and do not want to have anything to do with Islam. Many Turkish women try to stay inconspicuous, because the image of the “German Muslim” - thanks in part to [German Interior Minister Wolfgang] Schäuble - is completely and utterly determined by the 30,000 organized Muslims in the Islamic associations. It’s absurd: the radical minority dominates the liberal majority.

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