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“Religious freedom also applies to Muslims”

The former council chairman of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Nikolaus Schneider, promoted tolerance in the debate about the muezzin call in Cologne.

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“Religious freedom also applies to Muslims”

The former council chairman of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Nikolaus Schneider, promoted tolerance in the debate about the muezzin call in Cologne. The freedom of religion that applies in Germany must in principle apply to all religions, said the former President of the Rhineland on Friday in the “Morgenecho” on WDR5. "In my understanding, freedom of religion means that you can not only practice your faith in private, but that this can also be done in public," said Schneider.

The fact that other religions made public statements based on their self-image had to be endured, said Schneider. "As a Christian and as a theologian, I have a different assessment than that expressed in the call to prayer," he said. But it is part of a tolerant interaction with each other "that the others also have the opportunity to express their ideas". The prerequisites for this are that the expression of faith takes place under the conditions of the Basic Law and it must not lead to discord in the country. "Let's try it first," appealed Schneider.

For its part, the Cologne mosque, which is supported by the controversial Ditib association, must also make it clear that it is a matter of living the faith publicly as part of German society. This is a serious question at Ditib because it is close to the Turkish state.

This Turkish state restricts religious freedom, for example when the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was rededicated as a mosque. Ditib should not misuse the contract to publicly appear aggressively here, too. The Turkish Islamic Union of Institute for Religion (Ditib) is affiliated with Turkey's Religious Authority and has been criticized in the past for its close ties to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is becoming increasingly authoritarian.

Society in this country must clarify to what extent it can "endure" this public appearance, "how far we are willing to be tolerant with one another," said Schneider. “There is no theoretical answer to that. You have to clarify that by taking action.”

In Cologne, the muezzin calls Muslim believers to Friday prayers for the first time this Friday. According to the information, the first call to prayer from the Ditib central mosque in the Ehrenfeld district should take place around 1:24 p.m. The mosque community in Ehrenfeld is the only one so far to have submitted an application as part of a model project limited to two years by the city of Cologne. Around ten other mosque communities have expressed interest. The muezzin call is approved by a public law contract with conditions.

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