IZH-Prohibition - Muslims pray before closed Blue Mosque
The Blue Mosque at the Alster has been closed since the middle of the week due to the Iran connections of the manager, but this did not prevent approximately 150 Muslims from gathering for the traditional Friday prayer on the street in front of the Mosque, according to police reports. An Imam was also present, a police spokeswoman said. The police secured the Mosque.
Already on Thursday evening, more than 200 people had gathered here. They prayed and lit candles, a police spokesman said. Previously, Hamburg media had reported on the evening prayer.
Ban of the Islamic Centre Hamburg
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) had banned the manager of the Mosque, the extremist-labeled Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH), on Wednesday as a "significant propaganda center for Iran in Europe." The IZH propagated the ideology of the so-called Islamic Revolution in Germany in an aggressively militant way, according to a statement from the Ministry. Nationwide, the police seized assets and facilities of the Centre and five of its affiliated organizations. The Blue Mosque is therefore initially under federal administration.
The final decision on the future use of the Blue Mosque is still pending. SPD fraction leader in the Hamburg Senate, Dirk Kienscherf, said that it would still take some time before a decision is made. Legal issues, such as the assets of the IZH trustee association, must first be clarified.
Hamburg with a long history of Persian immigrants
He emphasized that Hamburg is the European city with the longest history of Persian immigrants and merchants. The Blue Mosque is closely connected to this history and is older than the Iranian regime itself. "The IZH has made this place a source of division in recent decades, from which much injustice has come," Kienscherf explained. A future use should therefore reconcile rather than divide. "The Blue Mosque should be a place of free religious practice and a cultural center of human rights, freedom, and democracy in the future. The involved communities want to be part of this development and included."
The Schura - the Council of the Islamic Communities in Hamburg - had lamented the closure of the Blue Mosque beforehand. The Imam-Ali Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, had been a religious center for Shia Muslim women and men in Hamburg and Germany, said Schura chairman Fatih Yildiz. "We would like to emphasize with great emphasis that it is of great importance for Hamburg Muslims that the Blue Mosque at the Alster is preserved for believers and made accessible."
- Despite the ongoing ban of the Islamic Centre Hamburg, Muslims in Hamburg continue to gather for prayer, demonstrating their strong religious identity.
- The police in Hamburg were active in securing the Blue Mosque following the ban of the Islamic Centre Hamburg, due to its connections to Iran and extremism.
- Germany's Federal Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, labeled the manager of the Blue Mosque as a "significant propaganda center for Iran in Europe," and subsequently banned it under the auspices of fighting extremism.
- The Schura, the Council of the Islamic Communities in Hamburg, expressed concern over the closure of the Blue Mosque, emphasizing its importance as a religious center for Shia Muslims in the city and Germany.
- Teheran, the capital of Iran, may have played a role in the controversies surrounding the Blue Mosque, as the Islamic Centre Hamburg has been accused of propagating the ideology of the Islamic Revolution aggressively.
- Nancy Faeser's decision to ban the Islamic Centre Hamburg and secure the Blue Mosque has sparked discussions about the role of religion and extremism in European societies, particularly in cosmopolitan cities like Hamburg.
