The Alternative Mosque
Yesterday, the opening celebrations for one of Germany’s first liberal mosques began and have continued today. The Ibn-Rushd-Goethe-Mosque in Berlin-Moabit has come a long way of hurdles and debate. It has been named after Ibn Rushd, a Muslim scholar and philosopher, who lived in Andalusia and Morocco during the 12th century as an interpreter and commentator on Aristotle’s writings, as well as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of Germany’s most famous writers and poets, whose praise of the Islamic culture was acknowledged by making him one of the two namesakes.
The mosque was initiated by women rights activist and lawyer Seyran Ates, who also gave the opening service on Friday. The 54 year-old has been a long established voice in the Islam discourse in Germany. She has been a part of the German Islam Conference, which triggered dialogue between the German state and German Muslims. As a six-year-old she came from Turkey to Germany, where, during her career, she grew to become an outspoken and strong voice, critcising both domestic violence and suppression of women as well as conservative interpretations of the Islamic faith, which in her opinion prevented successful integration into Western societies. She felt discriminated in other mosque communities for being a woman and decided to found her own mosque for liberal minded and cosmopolitan Muslims.
The project has started as a small pilot project – based completely on private organisers, and has been registered as a LLC. The funding is coming from private supporters and donations. A protestant parish in the district has offered some of its premises, and Ates and the other partners then rented the rooms.
The project is met with scepticism not only among the conservative Muslim associations but also some members of the host parish – leaflets were distributed that read “unworldly dreamdancers are founding a mosque here in our protestant parish St Johannis, they bring the terror straight to us and dishonour also Goethe!” Since voicing her idea for the first time last year, Ates has received both critical and hateful emails and threats. However, positive feedback would prevail, and furthermore Ates says she appreciates critique and is looking forward to fruitful exchange and discussions.
Mainly, they want to offer a meeting space for all Islamic persuasions; Sunnis, Shiites, Alevites, and Sufis can be praying side by side, or simply sit together and discuss. It is also open to other faiths and explicitly also welcomes atheists. It is the first mosque in Germany, where women and men can pray alongside each other, with women being able to pray unveiled and serve as imam, which is a novelty. The imams will preach in German, or the words will be translated into German. Setan Ates herself is currently being trained to become an imam, and has also published a book describing the journey from the idea for the mosque to its opening, called “Selam, Ma’am Imam”.
The Quran should be interpreted “historic-critically” in the mosque, with the aim to clearly dissociate from the – from Ates’ perspective – too conservative positioned Islamic associations, which would not allow modern interpretations of the faith. With the project she wants to support an Islam, which is explicitly supportive of democracy and equality of its worshippers.
Which is another reason that the mosque’s doors are open to everyone, regardless of religious or sexual orientation – with one exception, as Ates stated: Women wearing Niqab or Burqa would not be welcomed as it was not a religious but a political statement.
Aside from offering a meeting place for interested worshippers, Ates stated, the mosque aims to take a strong stand against religious extremism and show a true face against Islamistic terrorism. One of the seven associates of the LLC-like mosque underlines that they want to provide a voice to the silent majority.
The long-term goal is to establish an independent mosque, which offers different praying rooms for different religious persuasions and a central shared meeting place. Additionally, the initiators want to create an umbrella organisation.
A similar project has been started in Cologne but generally the concept is in its infacy in Germany and the rest of the world. Other projects are known from the US and the United Kingdom.
Photo Credit: Jacky Westermann
