Ibn Ruschd-Goethe mosque

Ibn Ruschd-Goethe mosque
Ibn-Rushd-Goethe-Moschee
The mosque is located in a part of the building of the Johanniskirche in Berlin-Moabit
Basic information
Geographic coordinates	52°31′30″N 13°20′58″E / 52.52500°N 13.34944°E / 52.52500; 13.34944Coordinates: 52°31′30″N 13°20′58″E / 52.52500°N 13.34944°E / 52.52500; 13.34944
Affiliation	Islam
Branch/tradition	Liberal Islam
Municipality	Berlin
Country	Germany
Date established	June 16, 2017 (2017-06-16)

The Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque is the first self-described liberal mosque in Berlin, Germany. It opened in June 2017 and is named after medieval Andalusian-Arabic polymath Ibn Rushd and German writer and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The mosque was founded by Seyran Ateş a German lawyer and feminist of Turkish and Kurdish descent. The mosque was characterised as liberal and it banned face-covering veils while it allowed women and men to pray together and accepted homosexual worshippers.^[1]

Background

The mosque is open for Sunni, Shia and other Muslims. Full-face veils as Burqas or Niquabs are not allowed. Men and women both pray together in the mosque and women are not obligated to wear a headscarf. Furthermore, Homosexuals are allowed to enter the mosque and can pray as well. It is the first mosque of its kind in Germany and one of the first in Europe as well as the entire world.^[2][3][4][5]

Founder Seyran Ateş said "We need a historical-critical exegesis of the Quran" and "A scripture from the 7th century one may not and cannot take literally. We stand for a reading of the Quran which is oriented to mercifulness, love of God and most of all to peace".^[6] The mosque shall be a "place for all those people who do not meet the rules and regulations of conservative Muslims".^[7]

History

Founding

The mosque was founded by Seyran Ateş a German lawyer and feminist of turkish and kurdish descent on 16 June 2017.^[8] Ates told newsmagazine Der Spiegel that “no one will be let in with a niqab or burqa veil. This is for security reasons and also it is our belief that full-face veils have nothing to do with religion, but rather are a political statement.” She told the journalists that she was inspired by Wolfgang Schäuble, the German Minister of Finance, who told her that liberal Muslims should band together^[9][10]

After Ateş opened the mosque in Berlin, she was being protected by police officers incessantly, as she received numerous death threats.^[11]

Reactions

Turkish mass media displayed the Rushd-Goethe mosque as part of the Gülen movement. This claim has been denied by Ercan Karakoyun who is the chairman of the Gülen movement affiliated foundation in Germany Stiftung Dialog und Bildung.^[12] The claim has also been denied by the mosque itself.^[13] There is in general a harsh tone against the mosque in Turkey.^[14] The fatwa institution in Egypt, a powerhouse in the islamic world, labeled the mosque an attack on Islam.^[15] A fatwa against the mosque has been declared.^[16]

Following massive threats after the opening, the founders of the mosque deeply regretted the immense intimidation that liberal Muslims faced. They asked for tolerance and respect with regard to their reading of the Quran.^[17] However the personal security for founder Seyran Ateş had to be increased significantly after evaluation of the State Criminal Police Office of Berlin, hence increasing the number of her body guards. According to Seyran Ateş, she received about hundred death threats since the mosque's opening.^[11]

The Turkish religious authority and the Egyptian Fatwa Council at the Al-Azhar University have condemned her project and she has received death threats.^[18][19] The fatwa encompassed all present and future liberal mosques.^[19]

The Al-Azhar university is opposed to liberal reform of Islam and issued a fatwa against the liberal Ibn-Rushd-Goethe mosque in Berlin because it banned face-covering veils such as burqa and niqab on its premises while allowing women and men to pray together and accepting homosexuals.^[1]

Sources