C L O S E R

Mosques: Battle over Muslim Space

Posted on October 19th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Multiculti Issues.

Confrontational Architecture: Europe’s Mosques Move from Back Alleys to Boulevards – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International

In fact, if you wanted to give a name to the topic of discussion, it wouldn’t be wrong to call it “confrontational architecture,” as the passions it excites clearly show just how large the rift is between the immigrant community and the German majority.

Erecting large numbers of symbols of Islam could change society in ways that no one can yet imagine. In the face of this development, some are calling for calm, while others are warning fellow citizens about the growing influence by fundamentalist groups. Both standpoints are understandable — which makes every dispute particularly touchy.

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Developments like that create a paradox for many Germans. You can’t first accuse Muslims of barricading themselves in back rooms and of refusing to integrate themselves into society and then criticize them — in areas where they’re been living for two or three generations — for wanting to build proper houses of worship. The fact of the matter is that they are putting themselves out in the public realm. Moreover, having an “invisible” minority culture that the majority considers practically inscrutable has the much more dangerous potential of causing problems than does having a minority culture whose visibility actually lends it a rather ordinary, everyday feel.

So where exactly does the provocation lie?

During the debate over the mosque in Cologne’s Ehrenfeld district, Ralph Giordano, the atheist novelist of Jewish heritage and Holocaust survivor, has called the project a “land grab on foreign territory”and even a “declaration of war.” Giordano has found support in many people who, at other times, would be much more likely to be found preaching tolerance. The controversy has made news around the world — and it’s still far from blowing over.

Meanwhile, the building permit for the mosque in Ehrenfeld has been issued, and a book has even been written about this particular mosque dispute, which happens to be the fiercest of its kind in Germany. Still, nothing is settled. Although Germany’s Catholic bishops spoke out in favor of building mosques, they still said they wouldn’t stand for any show of “claims to power, rivalry or aggressive interaction” in statements made in September. That sounds like a threat. At the very least, it hints at a fear of competing landmarks.

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Even the old ideological groupings within German society no longer hold true when some of the country’s main opinion-makers start teaming up with a few neo-Nazis from Heinersdorf to oppose the mosques. This is an explosive issue in and of itself.

In the final analysis, it always comes down to images — to worldviews, bogeymen and symbols. Correcting their distortions and interpreting them accurately is a difficult task. But it would be wrong not to try.

In many German cities, including small and medium-sized ones, the population is already ethnically diverse. As more and more mosques are built, the extent of this diversity will only become clearer. Some of them look almost European in style, while others are dubbed examples of “homesickness architecture” owing to their oriental appearance.

Either way, the mere presence of the mosques expresses the immigrants’ fundamental desire to have truly “arrived” in Germany, to really feel at home here. “It’s important that we show ourselves, that we don’t stay hidden,” Ilyas remarks, adding that she believes she can express a stance and effect change by means of architecture.

But frankness shouldn’t be limited to discussing the aesthetics of mosques, either. Everyone is responsible for making integration a success. Mosques should be a reminder of that, too.

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