Sharp criticism of project funding for radical imams

When sermons are being held in the Furkan Mosque in Berlin-Neukölln, the security authorities occasionally listen. In the latest report from the German capital for the protection of the constitution, it says about the mosque association founded in 2014 that the knowledge of a Salafist orientation had “increasingly consolidated”. The concept of “loyalty and renunciation” is regularly propagated there: loyalty for loyalty to Allah and Islam. And secession as a request "to distance oneself from non-Muslims as far as possible, to despise them and even show them hostility".

Keeping Muslims away from the "infidels" and promoting a division between Muslims and non-Muslims is hardly in the interest of the Berlin Senate. But although a preacher from the Furkan Mosque is represented on the Council of Berlin Imams, the Senate Department for Culture and Europe is supporting this project at the Neukölln Meeting Center Mosque with substantial financial resources. More than 106,000 euros flowed from the house of Senator Klaus Lederer (left) last year and this year, as reported by WELT AM SONNTAG. According to the cultural administration, the aim of the project is to bring people together "who want to get involved in understanding between Muslim movements".

Several other representatives of mosques and Muslim associations sit on the Berlin Imams Council.

For example, a council member teaches Islam at the Islamic Culture and Education Center. According to the Berlin constitutional protection report for 2017, this is the “Berlin meeting place for Hamas supporters”. The committee also includes an undertaker who sold dead people’s passports to smugglers and was therefore sentenced to a suspended prison sentence of one and a half years in 2021.

The Berlin House of Representatives is now clearly criticizing the financial support.

The opposition leader Kai Wegner, chairman of the CDU parliamentary group, told WELT: "One might think that the Senate does not take the dangers of Islamism seriously enough." Intercultural dialogue must be supported, Wegner continued. “Instead of supporting anti-constitutional organizations with tax money, the money should rather be made available to associations and communities that stand for peaceful coexistence. And clearly commit to the free democratic basic order.”

The Berlin FDP parliamentary group wants to clarify at the next meeting of the culture committee how the payments came about. Its parliamentary manager Paul Fresdorf said that networking between the Islamic communities is important and that the vast majority of the mosque associations stand on the "foundations of our society". "The challenge is to identify those who don't do it and to ensure that they are not subsidized with tax money." However, the dialogue remains important "to get these communities on the right track," says Fresdorf further.

The leader of the AfD capital group, Kristin Brinker, said: "It is unbelievable how carelessly the Senate deals with the money of the Berliners." The state government was apparently blinded by a nice-sounding idea without checking in which hands it was Money arrived, Brinker continued. "The grants must be stopped immediately and may only flow again when the allegations have been cleared up or personnel consequences have been drawn."

The Berlin Senator for Transport, Bettina Jarasch (Greens), the Commissioner for Integration, Katarina Niewiedzial, and the Secretary of State for Europe, Gerry Woop, took part in an interreligious break of the fast organized by the Council of Berlin Imams in April this year. Despite the information provided, all three did not distance themselves from their participation. Woop also plans to attend and speak at the council's annual conference on November 13.

This is now causing criticism in the ruling SPD parliamentary group. "In prominent positions, you should check very carefully with whom you can be photographed and also question whether you can be made into a cheap assistant in the respective public relations work," said the vice-chairman of the parliamentary group, Tom Schreiber. The financial support should now be checked by the senate administration, Schreiber continued. "The fact is: All projects in Berlin that are worthy of funding must stand by the free democratic basic order."

The culture senate administration announced an examination "whether there are individual members in the Council of Imams who are not based on the Basic Law". The Council's concern to contribute to "understanding in the city and majority society" is "still a positive concern," said a spokesman. “In this respect, we have nothing to regret when it comes to funding. But we will have to take a closer look and check in the future.”

Niklas Schrader, board member of the Berlin Left Group, considers the announced examination to be correct and suggests that this should be done regularly. "In view of the diversity and heterogeneity within the Islamic religious communities in Berlin, this is not an easy undertaking." Mentioning in reports by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution "cannot be the sole criterion" since the classifications of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution are disputed in many cases, according to the left-wing politician.

No critical word comes from the spokeswoman on religion for the Greens in the House of Representatives, Susanna Kahlefeld. "I think the organization of a Berlin council of imams makes sense in terms of religion and society and is worthy of support," she told WELT. "Beyond the theological and linguistic differences of the communities, the imams have many similar tasks in administration and pastoral care." The Corona crisis has shown that it is important to be able to reach religious institutions quickly, for example for vaccination information.

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