There was great surprise when the administration announced on October 7 that mosque congregations would be allowed to call for Friday prayers in the future. “When we hear the call of the muezzin in addition to the church bells in our city, it shows that diversity is appreciated and lived in Cologne,” said Mayor Henriette Reker. With this, she started a debate that the Catholic Education Centre, the Melanchthon Academy and the Catholic Committee now used as an opportunity for an open discussion in the Cathedral Forum.
Actually, everything was quickly said after the professor of public law and religious law, Stefan Muckel, clarified: “The muezzin call is a confession of faith and is therefore protected by the Basic Law, which the state cannot restrict without further ado – whether one likes it or not.” Bettina Baum, who will soon head the Office for Integration and Diversity, added that the city can, however, create the framework conditions to balance interests, for example to protect residents from excessive noise and at times that disturb sleep.
However, the reference to the freedom of the mosque communities in Cologne does not appease the emotional debate. Lale Akgün, a former member of the Bundestag, claimed that most of the approximately 2000 congregations in Germany are “more or less aligned with the politicised Islam of Turkey”. And this persecutes dissidents like the ex-Muslim Mina Ahadi, who had to be placed under police protection after protesting against the muezzin call in front of the Ditib mosque in Ehrenfeld.
Several attendees who had fled their Muslim-majority country spoke up. They reported that they had to listen to prayers while being tortured. They felt that muezzin calls were a reminder of the trauma.
Abdassamad El Yazidi, spokesperson for the Coordination Council of Muslims in Germany, warned against blaming religion for human rights violations. Pastor Dorothee Schaper suggested creating forums for people to have their say who have been hurt by abuses committed by religion. The focus was also on Düren, where the muezzin call has long been part of the city.
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