- Demonstration against the mosque's shutdown during Friday religious services
Around eighty individuals gathered once more for a public demonstration on a Friday, this time outside the locked Blue Mosque situated on Hamburg's outer Alster. They were protesting against the church confiscation led by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD). One banner read, "Faeser is infringing on the Basic Law," while another declared, "We want our mosque back."
Faeser had prohibited the mosque's operating organization, the Islamic Center Hamburg, which was labeled as extreme and under Iranian control, five weeks prior. Consequently, the Blue Mosque has remained shut. "Our customary site for worship was taken away from us, even the sight of it was taken from us," claimed a speaker before the actual prayer.
On Thursday, the Hamburg city council enforced a regulation that the Friday prayer was no longer permitted on Schönes Panorama Street directly in front of the mosque. Instead, participants were required to gather at a distance on a roped-off sidewalk with a parking strip to prevent disrupting traffic. Police officers ensured compliance with sound ordinances using decibel meters, as there had been complaints from the mosque's surrounding community in recent weeks.
"We will persistently assert our right to pray," the speaker stated. "Even if we must pray in a barn. Then we'll pray there."
The Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, belonging to the SPD, initiated the church confiscation of the Blue Mosque's operating organization, the SPD's stance on the matter remains unclear in this context. Despite being prohibited from operating for five weeks, the SPD's supporters gathered in protest outside the mosque, demanding, "Give us back our mosque."
