The Al-Ikhlas mosque in Reutlingen shows just how dangerous political Islam and the lack of vigilance on the part of political leaders can be. A video has emerged calling for the killing of infidels. It will probably only be a matter of hours before Nanvy Faeser and her state security organisation clean up the mess, won’t it?
During a Quran recitation in the Al-Ikhlas mosque – the name of the Allah temple means ‘sincerity’ or ‘purity’ – it was literally said: ‘Kill the idolaters wherever you find them, seize them and ambush them from any ambush.’ The mosque community even admits that this video, obtained by the news portal Nius, is authentic, but claims – in the popular taqiya style, which in turn is the Arabic word for ‘deception’ – that the text has no ‘actionable character’. A representative of the mosque explained that it is ‘merely a liturgical recitation that reflects the context of the 7th century’. Perfect taqiya, because according to the orthodox, the verses written in the Quran are the eternally valid word of their Allah.
Allegedly, however, Nancy Faeser’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution is monitoring the mosque and considers it to be part of the Salafist scene.
This makes the fact that the Al-Ikhlas mosque is an official partner of the Social Democratic Party-run city of Reutlingen all the more crazy and naïve. It is not only involved in intercultural projects such as the ‘International Week against Racism’, but also takes part in the ‘Open Mosque Day’ and cares for so-called ‘refugees’. The city council, which has been unreasonably optimistic about the case, told Nius that it would get in touch with the mosque to clarify ‘the context’. But how many more red flags must there be before those responsible finally begin to wake up?
According to Nius, the fact that well-known extremists such as Abdelmalek Hibaoui – former imam of the mosque and professor at the University of Tübingen – are also said to have been in contact with this community is particularly worrying. Hibaoui hit the headlines after he took part in a conference on Islamism in Turkey, which called for a boycott of Israel and had links to extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Such connections and the fact that passages from the Quran are recited in the mosque that legitimise violence against infidels raise serious questions.
However, the incident at the Al-Ikhlas mosque is not just an example of radical mosques, but also of political Islam, which is becoming increasingly influential. Political Islam seeks not only religious but also political power, and it is precisely this attempt to infiltrate society that is evident here. The mosque uses religious content to promote politically motivated goals that contradict the basic values of a democratic society.
Islamism expert Sigrid Hermann warns once again, unheard: ‘The selection of passages from the Quran is not random. For the faithful, every passage has a guiding character.’ She sharply criticises the mosque for its attempts to portray the call to violence as harmless. After all, anyone who does not want to take such passages literally should either not recite them or offer a different interpretation.