Post: #1 Title: Germans Look for Answers -- And Find Them in the Koran Author: Frankly Date: 05-04-2007, 12:44 PM Parent: #0
January 18, 2007
MUSLIM CONVERTS IN GERMANY Angst-Ridden Germans Look for Answers -- And Find Them in the Koran By Lutz Ackermann
The number of Germans who have converted to Islam has increased fourfold within one year -- despite the negative perception of Islam among the general public.
DPA A man praying in a Berlin mosque. The number of Muslim converts in Germany increased fourfold last year. In terms of his appearance, Kai Lühr seems out of place. Lühr, who is kneeling between bearded men in white robes and bowing in the direction of Mecca, is clean-shaven and wearing jeans and a gray jacket. He might pass as a member of the Christian congregation next door, sent here to cultivate inter-faith dialogue. But he clearly knows the Islamic prayer ritual too well for that to be the case. He bends over and prays in Arabic: "Allah listens to him who praises Him. Our Lord, to You is due all praise." Lühr bends over, stands up again, takes another bow -- up and down, 33 times.
Kai Lühr, a practising doctor, converted to Islam with his wife two and a half years ago. Since then their names have been Kai Ali Rashid and Katrin Aisha Lühr. The 43-year-old regularly attends Friday prayers in the courtyard mosque in Frechen, near Cologne, where he prays together with Moroccans, Palestinians and two other German converts -- a former boxer and an engineer. "You'll meet a few German-born Muslims in any mosque these days," says Lühr.
A soon-to-be-published study on Islamic life in Germany confirms the Cologne doctor's impression. The study sheds light on a phenomenon that may seem surprising given the image of Islam in Germany, where the religion is often associated with terrorism, forced marriages and honor killings: In Germany, some 4,000 people converted to Islam between July 2004 and June 2005. The study, which was financed by the Interior Ministry and carried out by the Soest-based Muslim institute Islam Archive Germany, reveals that the number of converts increased four-fold in comparison to the previous year.
The figure of 4,000 conversions means the usual explanations for why Germans convert are no longer sufficient. The annual number of converts remained constant -- at about 300 -- until three years ago. The converts were mainly women "who married a Muslim partner," Muhammad Salim Abdullah from the Islam Archive points out. Today, people are increasingly converting "of their own free will," he says, adding that the converts still include many women, but also plenty of university graduates -- middle-class citizens like Kai Lühr.
Baptized and raised as a Christian, Lühr studied at university and then opened a general medical practice with an additional specialization in naturopathic medicine. His income was good, he married Katrin, a professional dancer, and they moved into a loft apartment together. However, at some stage the couple realized something was missing. "When critically-ill people come into my practice after already having been sent from pillar to post, it makes you despair sometimes," Lühr says. He developed an interest in Christianity, Buddhism and the Dalai Lama. But he found no answers.
"People want to be different."
Lühr's conversion process seems typical. Many converts were originally practising Christians who began having doubts about their religion at some point, says Mohammed Herzog, a Berlin imam who used to be a Protestant minister until he converted to Islam in 1979. The number of German-speaking converts in his mosque has also risen noticeably, Herzog says. Some 10 years ago, the annual number of converts was about 50 -- now it is double that. "Only rarely do the converts include people who were complete atheists before," Herzog says.
Monika Wohlrab-Sahr, a sociologist of religion, has investigated converts in Germany and in the United States. She says the "overcoming of a personal crisis" is often a prime motive, frequently in combination with a search for the Other: "People want to be different," she says.
While fundamentalist Christianty also offers these possibilities, Islam allows a person to stand out from the crowd to a greater degree, in Wohlrab-Sahr's opinion. Moreover, Islam has become a perennial theme in the media thanks to today's frequent debates on Muslims. "Islam is more visible as a genuine alternative," Wohlrab-Sahr says.
It's hard to find a common denominator for what exactly makes Islam so attractive to people from a Christian background. Salim Abdullah speaks of "defiant reactions" in the face of the constant criticism brought against Islam, although he's also familiar with converts who appreciate the "clear rules for behavior" provided by the Koran. Lühr, who always carries a prayer mat in the trunk of his Alfa Romeo GT, laments the "decline in values" that Western society, in his view, has suffered: "In Islam, values still count for something," he says.
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Sometimes the newly-acquired Muslim values can clash with Western principles, in the opinion of some. The key question is how literally Islam's holy book is interpreted. "Converts tend to practise their religion in a more puritanical fashion," says Wohlrab-Sahr. "Born Muslims are often more liberal."
A Hamburg lawyer's office provides an intriguing example of what she means. Thirty-six-year-old Nils Bergner prays to Allah five times a day. The German convert works together with a Turkish friend Ali Özkan, also a Muslim. The two visit the mosque together, but it's only in the German's office that the prayer rug is regularly rolled out. "I just can't manage it," says Özkan. "The first prayer is at 6:00 a.m. -- much too early."
Recently, they were invited to dinner. The desert was tiramisu. Bergner hesitated because of the alcohol in the recipe. "I said, you can't be serious," Özkan recalls. "Go ahead and eat it, I said. It's just a flavoring." But Bergner left the tiramisu untouched.
Post: #2 Title: Re: Germans Look for Answers -- And Find Them in the Koran Author: Frankly Date: 05-04-2007, 01:51 PM
صحيفة: ألمانيا ستصبح في نهاية القرن جزءًا من الغرب الإسلامي الثلاثاء27 من ذو الحجة 1427هـ 16-1-2007م الساعة 10:14 ص مكة المكرمة 07:14 ص جرينتش الصفحة الرئيسة > الأخبار > أفريقيا وأوربا
مسلمو أوروبا
مفكرة الإسلام: تحت عنوان "هل تصبح ألمانيا إسلامية", قالت صحيفة ألمانية إن الثقافة المسيحية الغربية التي تتسم بها ألمانيا باتت مهدّدة، وأن ألمانيا ربما تصبح في نهاية هذا القرن جزءًا من الغرب الإسلامي، على حد وصفها. وحسبما نشرته صحيفة "برلين تسايتونج" اليوم, نقلاً عن دراسة للأرشيف الإسلامي لم تنشر كاملة حتى الآن أن عدد المسلمين في ألمانيا عام 2045 سوف يفوق عدد غير المسلمين, بعد أن يصل إجمالي عدد السكان في ألمانيا إلى 100 مليون نسمة. وصرح المستشرق "برنارد لويس" بأنه من المتوقع في نهاية القرن الحالي أن تصبح أوروبا جزءًا من الغرب العربي؛ بفضل الهجرة المتزايدة من العالم العربي في الشرق الأوسط إلى أوروبا. وأنه في الوقت الذي يبلغ معدل الإنجاب لدى المرأة الغربية حوالي 1.1 طفلاً, فإن هذا المعدل يزيد ليصل إلى 2.1 عند المرأة العربية المسلمة. وأضاف المستشرق الألماني تعليقًا على تزايد أعداد الألمان المعتنقين للإسلام أن من أهم الأسباب وراء ذلك هو وجود انفصال بين المسيحيين ودينهم، وأنهم لا يعرفون عنه شيئًا. وكان مركز الأرشيف الإسلامي بمدينة "سويست" قد ذكر قبل أيام, أن نحو 4000 شخص تحوّلوا إلي الإسلام في الفترة بين يوليو ٢٠٠٤ ويونيو ٢٠٠٥، وهو ما يزيد أربع مرات عن نفس الفترة من العام السابق
Post: #3 Title: Re: Germans Look for Answers -- And Find Them in the Koran Author: Frankly Date: 05-04-2007, 02:57 PM Parent: #2
8 Germans embrace ISLAM after distributing anti-isalm Flyers في هذه القرية(رودنباخ) وزعت مشورات معادية للإسلام الشهر المنصرم والنتيجة كانت إسلام ثمان
Post: #4 Title: Re: Germans Look for Answers -- And Find Them in the Koran Author: Frankly Date: 05-05-2007, 07:45 AM Parent: #2
Quote: وكان مركز الأرشيف الإسلامي بمدينة "سويست" قد ذكر قبل أيام, أن نحو 4000 شخص تحوّلوا إلي الإسلام في الفترة بين يوليو ٢٠٠٤ ويونيو ٢٠٠٥، وهو ما يزيد أربع مرات عن نفس الفترة من العام السابق
Post: #5 Title: Re: Germans Look for Answers -- And Find Them in the Koran Author: Frankly Date: 05-05-2007, 09:39 AM Parent: #4
April 8, 2000 Adventist Press Service (APD) Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief Fax +41-61-261 61 18 [email protected] http://www.stanet.ch/APD CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland 07/2000
Islam in Germany on the rise: More than three million Muslims, one in ten holds a German passport
Soest, Germany. The number of Muslims in Germany has risen above the three-million-mark, it numbers now 3,040,000. Most of them are Turkish, but one in ten holds a German passport. Only 11,000 are German by descent; the others have acquired the citizenship.
According to a survey by the "Central Institute Islam Archives" in Soest, more than 800,000 Muslims in Germany are minors. The desire to have Islamic Religious Education (RE) in public schools is getting stronger. Nearly 98 per cent of all Muslims are in favour of such a subject; the figure has risen by 14 per cent in the last three years.
In addition, they want to keep up Islamic instruction in Koran schools connected with mosques and prayer houses. Several of the 16 German federal states responsible for education - are considering the introduction of Islamic education in schools alongside the Christian subject. The protestant and catholic churches would not oppose such a move, as long as Islam is taught in German and in keeping with the official guidelines for religious education.
According to the survey, the religious life of Muslims in Germany is intensifying. The number of places of worship has nearly trebled in the last three years. In 1997, there were 26 mosques; today there are 66. 30 more are being built.
In addition there are 2,200 prayer houses each equipped with a Koran school. About 56,000 Muslim children attend Islamic instruction at these schools, about seven per cent of all minors. Two thirds of all Muslims in Germany regard religious dialogue with Christians as very important. [A contribution of the Evangelical News Agency "idea"; Reporter: Wolfgang Polzer]
Post: #6 Title: Re: Germans Look for Answers -- And Find Them in the Koran Author: Frankly Date: 05-05-2007, 04:27 PM
Post: #7 Title: Re: Germans Look for Answers -- And Find Them in the Koran Author: Frankly Date: 05-07-2007, 01:16 PM
Quote: "People want to be different."
Lühr's conversion process seems typical. Many converts were originally practising Christians who began having doubts about their religion at some point, says Mohammed Herzog, a Berlin imam who used to be a Protestant minister until he converted to Islam in 1979. The number of German-speaking converts in his mosque has also risen noticeably, Herzog says. Some 10 years ago, the annual number of converts was about 50 -- now it is double that. "Only rarely do the converts include people who were complete atheists before," Herzog says.
