Is the time of the Islamists over?? The chairman of the Central Council of Muslims, Aiman Mazyek, sees radical Muslims in retreat. But that does not make extreme Islam any less dangerous.
"Muslim extremism is in decline," the chairman of the Central Council of Muslims, Aiman Mazyek told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. He called on Muslims to join demonstrations against terror. Now of all times it is important to show one's face in public.
The Central Council chairman expressed disappointment at the relatively low turnout at a peace march organized by Muslims last week in Berlin. He had hoped for more participants, he said. He rejected claims by the Turkish mosque association Ditib that the faithful could not be expected to hold demonstrations during the fasting period: "In Ramadan, decisive milestones were set in Muslim history. This often also involved great physical exertion."
Islam should not be divided into groups
On the connection between terror and Islam, Mazyek said terror "sometimes has something to do with Muslims". But a faith that preaches the exact opposite of terror cannot be "held responsible for terror as if it were a single subject."Terrorist acts are crimes against humanity and have nothing to do with the Islam of the majority worldwide.
Mazyek also spoke out against a division of Islam into liberal and conservative. Terms like 'liberal' or 'conservative' lead to the politicization of his religion, which is why he rejects them, Mazyek said. Perhaps there is such a thing as "practicing believers" and "less practicing" believers.
2.100 mosques in Germany
Commenting on the founding of a liberal mosque in Berlin by lawyer Seyran Ates, he said, "There are 2.100 mosques in Germany. I don't have to comment on every single mosque. She should do her thing."In the new Ibn Rush Goethe Mosque, men and women, Sunnis and Shiites, homosexuals and heterosexuals will be allowed to pray together. This met with rejection from many Muslims.
Death threats against mosque founder Mazyek condemned "in all clarity". He can imagine how she feels now, he said. Recently the terrorist group "Islamic State" had put him on a death list itself.
Central Council of Muslims
The Central Council of Muslims in Germany is an association to which, according to its own information, about 300 mosque congregations belong.
Among them are Arab, German, Iranian, African and Bosnian Muslims, both Sunni and Shiite.