Topics

Government policy

Policing and criminal justice system

Violence and harassment

Asylum seekers and refugees

Education

Media

Employment

Extreme-Right politics

Immigration law

Housing

Health

Sport

Features

Reports

Black history

Statistics and definitions

Quiz

Schools against deportations

Reclaiming the struggle

Far-Right in Europe

IRR > European Race Bulletin > Germany > Immigration law

Muslim rights, the law and the integration debate

By Liz Fekete

1 August 2002

In January, Germany's highest court ruled that Muslim butchers can slaughter animals according to Islamic ritual, challenging previous state regulations that granted exemption only for kosher handling under Jewish law.

But while the verdict has been seen in some quarters as a victory against discrimination, others have seen it as an ominous advance by Muslim fundamentalists. And the backdrop for such views is the ongoing debate about integration.

A duty to integrate

In February, the Central Council of Muslims in Germany issued an Islamic charter in which they acknowledged German society's pluralistic character and individual Muslims 'duty to integrate themselves into this society'. But the Council also said that the German government must do more to help Muslims integrate, and to protect minorities in general with language difficulties. Poor self-confidence among many immigrant Muslims was blamed for creating a situation where German and Muslim communities have 'lived together but not grown together' and insecurities on both sides had grown since September 11.

Discrimination checked

Dr Ayyud Alex Koehler, the general secretary of the Central Council of Muslims, which was one of two organisations which initiated the challenge, said, 'the decision ends years of discrimination against Muslims in a central area of their everyday lives' and enshrines in law the fact that 'Islam is a religion like the Christian and Jewish religions'. The case is one of an increasing number of recent legal conflicts.

In another key case courts banned Muslim teachers from wearing headscarves in class; but in yet another case, courts ruled that an Islamic group, some German officials classified as extremist, could provide religious instruction at two Berlin public elementary schools.

The fundamentalist argument

But some academics, such as Dr Spuler-Stegemann, a theology professor at the university of Marburg, who is considered an expert on the German Muslim community, argue that efforts to preserve Muslim identity in Germany have resulted in the creation of fundamentalist umbrella organisations.

privacy | using our content | advertising | support us

© Institute of Race Relations 2002