ISLAM RECOGNIZED OFFICIALLY IN LOWER SAXONY, GERMANY

Hannover, 26 Dul Qai’dah 1434/1 October 2013 (MINA) – As a preliminary contract has been signed for Islam to be recognized as an official religion in Lower Saxony after Bremen and Hamburg provinces in Germany, Lower Saxony Prime Minister Stephen Weil convened the representatives of Islamic institutions at the provincial guest-house to initiate the talks to accept Islam as an official religion.

Noting the Muslims in Lower Saxony were a key part of the society, the prime minister said, “A mutual scepticism occurred in the past and our government wishes to show its respect to the Muslims with this contract” during the meeting that hosted the Chairman of Provincial Union of Lower Saxony and Bremen of Turkish Islamic Union of Religious Affairs Yilmaz Kilic, Chairman of Hannover Council Avni Altiner and Chairman of Alawite Unions Federation in Germany Huseyin Mat along several German politicians and guests.

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“We have about 30 issues upon which we desire to discuss and agree on. We would like to sign a contract which can set an example for other major provinces” Kilic said for his part, Anadolu Agency reported as monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

Altiner noted that 6.7 percent of the those living in the Lower Saxony province were Muslims, adding they were pleased to have signed a preliminary contract which would allow them to benefit from the same rights that Christians and Jewish people had.

Islam is the largest minority religion in the country, with the Protestant and Roman Catholic confessions being the majority religions. The large majority of Muslims in Germany are of Turkish origin (63.2%),followed by smaller groups from Pakistan, countries of the former Yugoslavia, Arab countries, Iran andAfghanistan. Most Muslims live in Berlin and the larger cities of former West Germany.

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However, unlike in most other European countries, sizeable Muslim communities exist in some rural regions of Germany, especially Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and parts of Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. Owing to the lack of labour immigration before 1989, there are only very few Muslims in the former East Germany.

The majority of Muslims in Germany are Sunnis, at 75%. There are some members of the Shia (7%) and mostly from Iran. Some members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (1%), most of whom are of Pakistani origin,but it is to be noted that the Ahmadiyya are not considered as Muslims by the mainstream Islam.

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The Ahmadiyya comprise a minority of Germany’s Muslims, numbering some 60,000 members in more than 200 communities as of 2004. Most Turkish Muslims are Sunnis, but between a fifth and a quarter are believed to be Alevis. The Alevis are a heterodox religious and cultural community officially not recognized by the Turkish state, who account for between a fifth and a quarter of the population (more than 15 million people) in their native Turkey.

Most Alevites embrace tolerance and secularism, which helps them to integrate into mainstream German society much better than other belief systems. (T/P04/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)