Building a mosque in East Germany

DW (English)

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Erfurt, Thuringia has around 100 members, so their planned mosque is not particularly large. Nevertheless, the construction project has been met with fierce opposition from some residents.

Transcript

00:00Suleyman Malik wants to build a mosque with a minaret, among the first of its kind in

00:09East Germany, but opposition has been fierce.

00:12I honestly didn't think it would be this difficult.

00:17There was trouble right from the start.

00:19Crosses as protest signs at the site, impaled pig parts, and years of Monday demonstrations

00:25in front of the mosque.

00:27The far-right AFD, a well-established party in Thuringia, has stoked tensions against

00:32the Ahmadiyya community.

00:34I consider this group, which some also call a sect, to be quite dangerous.

00:39Can Suleyman Malik overcome the anti-Muslim sentiment?

00:55And so we pray, help us, Lord Jesus Christ.

00:59February 2024.

01:01For about seven years now, this group has been staging regular Monday protests.

01:07They call it a citizen's church service against the new mosque in the Marbach district of

01:11Erfurt.

01:12At first, Suleyman Malik tried to talk to them, but he's since given up.

01:19They're always on transmit, never on receive.

01:22You can't talk with these people.

01:26They don't want to talk to us on camera, either.

01:29They distrust established media.

01:31But we are allowed to show them.

01:33They're proud of their long-standing protest.

01:37Our prayer for the day, Lord, my God, give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death.

01:46These demonstrations are not organized by any Christian church.

01:50The protesters' views are aligned with those of Thuringia's branch of the AFD, which is

01:54considered to be right extremist.

01:57Party officials have been praising the group's many years of protest against the Ahmadiyya

02:01community.

02:02It's good people are vocal, because I consider this group, which some also call a sect, to

02:09be quite dangerous.

02:11I firmly believe it is not one to be integrated into society.

02:18But what is Malik's community all about in reality?

02:22The Ahmadis are a Muslim community, officially recognized by German authorities.

02:28The mosque is financed solely through donations.

02:32Nevertheless, this community in Erfurt of about 100 people is consistently faced with

02:38hostility.

02:39There have been incidents where people spat at my wife or threatened my children.

02:49Because I'm also the spokesperson for the mosque, I experience a lot of hate and try

02:54to protect my family from that, so that they don't encounter that same hatred.

03:03In order to protect others in his community, Malik is the only one who speaks out and shows

03:08himself in public, like in this report.

03:11So what keeps him motivated?

03:13Malik was born in Pakistan and learned the hard way what it means to be an Ahmadi there.

03:19I had a great childhood.

03:21But when I realized that the Ahmadis were a persecuted minority in Pakistan, and that

03:25my father had to flee, everything changed.

03:30Mirza Ghulam Ahmed was at the root of the persecution.

03:34For the Ahmadis, he is the messiah promised in the Quran.

03:37Other Muslim communities consider this to be heresy.

03:41In the entrance hall of the mosque, there's an exhibition where Malik documents the persecution

03:46of Ahmadis in Pakistan.

03:50In 1974, Pakistan changed its constitution.

03:56Ahmadis were no longer allowed to call themselves Muslims.

03:59They couldn't pray or make calls to prayer.

04:04There is also information about the attacks on two Ahmadiyya mosques in May 2010, which

04:09killed over 80 people.

04:12Malik was still a teenager when he was forced to flee his home country.

04:16From one day to the next, we fled from Pakistan to Germany.

04:20That was a difficult phase for me, because I had to leave everything behind and come

04:25to a foreign country where I didn't know anyone.

04:32Suleyman Malik has been living in Germany for nearly 20 years now, and Erfurt has become

04:37his home.

04:38In his district of Riet, he also serves as the deputy district mayor.

04:45I grew up here, too.

04:47I've lived here since I arrived in Germany.

04:51For security reasons, he can't show us his home.

04:54But he wants to show us his district.

04:58Germany has given me a lot, so I wanted to give something back.

05:02That's why I ran for district council and am now deputy district mayor here in Riet.

05:13The Ahmadiyya mosque is not the first Muslim house of worship in Erfurt.

05:17But others are tucked away in courtyards — inconspicuous and barely recognizable.

05:24The Ahmadiyya community of about 40,000 people in Germany has a goal of building 100 mosques.

05:31And Malik's is one of them.

05:34To him, it's important the mosque has a minaret.

05:39A mosque needs a minaret so that people recognize that this is a Muslim place of worship.

05:45So that the mosque is also visible as a mosque.

05:51The inclusion of the minaret makes this mosque one of the first of its kind in eastern Germany.

05:56Although it's located on the city's outskirts, it's been controversial from day one.

06:02David Maischer is an Erfurt city councillor from the Green Party who lives near the mosque.

06:07He recalls the mood seven years ago.

06:11The massive opposition was palpable in Mabach.

06:14The district mayor and the district council also spoke out against it, saying things like

06:18we wanted a daycare center and got a mosque.

06:24On its website, the anti-Muslim network 1% still shows images from a 2017 campaign when

06:31demonstrators erected wooden crosses up to 10 meters high.

06:35However, the link to the YouTube video of the campaign is broken.

06:40YouTube deactivated the account.

06:43A separate time, protesters impaled pig heads and other carcass parts on nine stakes.

06:49Bodo Ramelow, state premier of Thuringia since 2014, has repeatedly shown support for the

06:55Muslim community.

06:59This is very unpleasant to experience.

07:01I live in the neighborhood where the mosque has been built.

07:05I see the hostile flyers, the stickers, the hatred associated with them, the pigs' heads

07:10and pig's blood that have been dumped onto the site.

07:14I find all of that completely unacceptable because freedom of religion means that everyone

07:19must be able to practice their religion here in their own way, as long as their religious

07:25practice does not stand in the way of others.

07:31At Thuringia's largest consumer fair, visitors find local beer, dumplings and grilled sausages

07:39— a whole array of traditional Thuringian food.

07:43And right in the middle of it all is Suleyman Malik with his information stand.

07:48He's taken part in the fair for many years.

07:55The fair showcases Thuringia.

07:59It presents the culture of the state.

08:02We too have become part of this culture.

08:07Members of Christian churches have stands just across from him.

08:10They've known each other for years.

08:13What's the situation with the mosque in Malbach?

08:15Have there been more problems from the opposition?

08:19Yes, there have been attacks.

08:22That's the general situation.

08:25But on the whole, things are going well.

08:27Of course there's prejudice.

08:29That's why we're here.

08:33Christian churches in Thuringia have long supported Malik and his community.

08:38The bishop released a statement about the construction of the mosque, which clearly

08:42states that people are entitled to religious freedom, and Muslims must be able to practice

08:47their religion.

08:48We, as Protestant Christians, shouldn't have anything against that.

08:53Malik's most powerful ally is also making the rounds.

08:57State Premier Bodo Ramelow stops by to say hello.

09:00Are you doing well?

09:02These are exciting times, politically speaking.

09:05But that's just how it is.

09:06As a community, we're on your side.

09:10Mr Malik, anyone can do easy.

09:12That, I know.

09:15The visit means a lot to Malik.

09:18It's recognition.

09:20It's friendship.

09:22It shows we are part of this society.

09:25That we're recognized.

09:27That we receive the support from the state premier.

09:33On this day, there's a sense of belonging.

09:36Let me give you a pen.

09:42Back at the construction site.

09:44Malik's office is still not finished.

09:47He uses his cell phone as his computer.

09:50He's not only the spokesperson for his community and deputy district mayor, he also has a job

09:55as a personnel organizer.

09:57Needless to say, he keeps busy.

10:03Construction delays are almost routine at the site.

10:06Building companies face intimidation online.

10:10Construction companies have refused work orders in some cases.

10:14Or cancelled construction contracts that were already awarded because they were afraid of

10:19being attacked.

10:22A few months later.

10:24The minaret is still covered in scaffolding.

10:27But the name is already above the entrance.

10:29Mahmoud Mosque.

10:32And real progress has been made in the prayer room.

10:38Everything is painted.

10:39And the carpet's been laid.

10:46It's an indescribable feeling to accompany the construction of this house of worship

10:51from the groundbreaking to now.

10:54I'm very grateful for that.

10:58But politically a lot has changed in Thuringia.

11:01There were state elections not too long ago.

11:04And Bodo Ramelow's left party saw huge losses.

11:07The Greens, David Meicher's party, were thrown out of parliament altogether.

11:13The AfD, using slogans decrying multiculturalism, was the big winner.

11:17It is now the strongest force in the new state parliament.

11:21His developments concern Suleyman Malik.

11:24But he's not surprised.

11:27It has long been clear that fascism has arrived in the heart of society.

11:32I've experienced it firsthand.

11:35That's why it didn't surprise me at all.

11:37I've been sounding the alarm.

11:39We all have.

11:43The 35-year-old simply carries on.

11:46He is currently waiting for a delivery of plants.

11:49A gift from the Ahmadiyya community in Frankfurt.

11:54Giving up is not an option for anyone here.

12:00We fled from extremists in our countries.

12:02And now we're looking these extremists in the eye again.

12:05That doesn't scare me.

12:07It encourages me to keep going.

12:11The pulpit is in its proper place.

12:14And despite the opposition, the grand opening of the mosque is coming.

12:17Suleyman Malik is making sure of it.

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