On Wednesday, the German government imposed a ban on the Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) and its related organisations, citing their alleged support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group and the promotion of Iranian leadership ideology. The action came after police conducted raids on 53 properties nationwide.
Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stated that evidence from investigations, including searches in November, confirmed serious concerns about the IZH’s activities. The IZH is accused of promoting an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany and supporting Hezbollah.
The German Interior Ministry characterized the IZH as a “direct representative of Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution’,” alleging it forcefully spreads the ideology of the Islamic Revolution and aims to spark a similar revolution in Germany. The Islamic Centre Hamburg has been under surveillance by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency due to its connections to Hezbollah, which Germany deems a “Shiite terrorist organization” and banned from operating in the country since 2020.
Germany now joins nations like France and the United Kingdom among countries that are facing the wrath of changing demography and growing support for the radical strand of Islam among Muslim immigrants, especially in the wake of the Israel-Gaza war, with the Western media doubling as a witting or an unwitting accessory in pushing the Palestine propaganda and further inflaming resentment among Muslims around the world.
The horrific murder of French teacher Samuel Paty in October 2020, beheaded by an Islamist for allegedly blaspheming against Prophet Muhammad, triggered a reckoning among the French on their complex relationship with radical Islamists living in their midst. Since then, France has been systematically chipping away at the Islamist institutes that have been fuelling radicalism in French society. Last year, it imposed a nationwide ban on Islamic attire in schools, widely regarded as a symbol of fundamentalism and leads to segregation among students.
Similarly, in the United Kingdom across the English Channel, Islamism has been steadily nibbling away at the law and order framework that was once a source of pride for the country. The alarming deterioration of law and order manifested during the ghastly anti-Hindu violence that erupted in Leicester in October 2022, when Islamists ran riot, instigating their fellow co-religionists to ‘wipe out Hindus as they did in Kashmir’.
As Islamism rears its ominous head in Germany, the nation’s government decided to impose a ban on one of the most influential Islamic centres in the country. The centre has also faced accusations of spreading aggressive anti-semitism. Germany has been working to combat anti-semitism, which has increased following Israel’s devastating war on Gaza.
Founded by Iranian immigrants in 1953, the centre has long been a concern for German authorities.
The Islamic Centre Hamburg runs the Imam Ali Mosque, also referred to as the Blue Mosque. There have been increasing calls for its closure due to its alleged connections to Iran.
Following the ban, four Shiite mosques in Germany will be shut down, and the IZH’s assets will be seized.