To get a rise in were on a journey to see how europes muslims live do muslims in belgium france and spain have the same problem as and worries the same desires are europes muslims the same everywhere are they able to reflect critically on islam where does this work especially well where doesnt it what are their fears do they have to fear exclusion and. The may thats where the conflict is distinguishing between the ideology or religion and the people in the name and thats what motivated me to go on this journey and. Tom had had a Bad Reputation for hating islam that shows that critics of islam arent really welcome so you can end up in a dangerous place its high time to eliminate this issue from the perspective of the people becoming not bashing islam but not this law mc p. R. Either. Because we cant allow right wing populists to be the only voices criticizing islam i dont think its bad to doubt and criticize on the contrary and. How muslims react to hunted in these tense times hes considered germanys toughest critic of islam. I only know him had from the media in two thousand and thirteen his murder was called for on Egyptian Television hes been under Police Protection ever since. Its hard for me to imagine what it means to live such a restricted life. How do. How much this gives you nice to meet you again i see youre not alone. Thank you but. Do you always have a security detail and. Yes. Would you say your need for bodyguards is directly due to the fatwa that was issued against you. The cult because. Its due to several things that was the starting point people know the term because of selman rushdie. Uses a fatwa is a religious opinion that justifies killing an apple states thats when it started with me people were calling for my murder and what happened after that was even worse still. Does it hurt you to be labeled an apostate i believe that if you dish it out youve got to be able to take it to. Yourself im sticking around and as long as were just hurling words at each other not stones then alls well. You dont. Like me theres a turkish market right next door. Were going to go shopping the muslim way i like getting to know people maybe someone will recognize you does that frighten you why should it this hasnt made me scared of meeting people. Its ramadan right now isnt it yes it is. Hello i have a question is do you fast yes yes i fast. Is it really hard for you and preparing food no its not too hot its hot but im used to it. Its ok to sell food thats not a problem. No its not. But if i want to buy a piece of board from you and eat it as a muslim then youve incited me to commit a sin i just. Know why because you tempted me with treats like these. Myself things thats my job people decide for themselves if they want to buy them i fast for myself not for you we dont force anyone i can tell my sonny has to fast but he makes that choice to do it not me. I might tell him once or twice but he has to decide to do it. Why do many people misunderstand islam. I dont know wed like to understand that theres always a reason its all about money about politics yes and thats not just true for islam thanks have a good day. Like i. Just saw you then. Look at the star itself he jabs and. Chavez sr dont you want to return to god. Youd look much prettier if you wore a job. Thinking if i wanted to wear he jab or had to wear one id tell you quite differently and. Lets see. It was. You know the singer erykah badu yes shes got that gypsy style it would be frowned upon if you were the he job like that why because you have to cover the neck if you want to follow islam correctly then yes it doesnt say that in the quran yes yes how long have you been wearing the job since seventh grade its your choice yes my choice no pressure. No my daughter did it without pressure to she really wanted to cover up i didnt make her i told her the seventh grade was actually too early and she wasnt ready for it i told her she. Didnt know why she wanted to do it i called the teacher and said something was wrong that you wouldnt expect that you always think theres pressure from the home but in this case theres no pressure from home there was pressure from school and the students teased each other i know that from egypt. And its kinda fun for them to get women who dont wear it he just on the street sometimes have the have pulled so hard it comes out its just its a way of would you say youre a better muslim with a huge job i think it comes from here not here for me its here you dont have to prostrate yourself on a mat five times a day to pray if youve got bad thoughts running through your head nobody can tell me theyre one hundred percent muslim and the way its written in the koran. Is not as i know not why do you think god wants you to behave this way this is the source of. Why not ask me the other way around why isnt it the case i dont you know if i knew that i had to be much farther along god probably judge doesnt correctly i only know what he wants but whether he gets it thats a different matter nobody gets that do you get everything you want. No you see did you get everything now. I stand here all day for something i have a certain purpose i want something but then in the end i dont get it so what should i do jump in the can now america thank you. Thank you. Thank you good luck with your business. Can i take a picture of you like. Ive seen you on t. V. And not me. Just a locksmith. What would it cost to copy a key like this depends which one would you like this one cost for euros. For euros. Do you think the islamic way of life has come paddle with the western way of life on the run. I think the things that exist in the west have already been around in islam for fourteen hundred years. Pose a feeling that you know just peace towards women peace among people we had fourteen hundred years ago this gives us hope for those who feel that you know i was there but there are differences in the west women are allowed to wear what they want they can love who they want and i. Know thats different a believer has a law a book that says muslim women have to cover up. Their own is supposed to show themselves to the husband. Does ones its a good not only the husband why this is because its just that way if you have a pretty woman Walking Around here. There was a pretty woman here just now and nothing happened. Not because something might happen anyone could look at this woman and then have bad thoughts in their head. Is what. Youre saying that if the woman covers up shes protecting herself thats right yes that means im a danger to you. Yes what are you doing now youre drawing lilies men and. Ive been Walking Around with her all day and i havent had a stupid idea yet how does that work. An example if you have a wife is a bit ugly if you see a pretty a woman somewhere what happens back home most of them. You lose interest in you know. Youre thinking about this other pretty woman instead who says no i dont think like that im a man who say that a lying this is a woman old man like pretty women sure she covers a self up to protect herself from bad things she says. Should she do. Thanks. Hes admitted that men are weak sex that they cant withstand the temptation and thats why its a womans job to cover up because otherwise i could lead you into temptation and i just found this goes on. Im a danger to men. I take what he says seriously. I have to take it seriously women as a danger. He says his daughter should start wearing a hijab when shes seven and then properly at eleven he says its voluntary but that requires freedom article two of germanys basic law its constitution gives her the right to the Free Development of her personality. And fall. On the thats at the heart of democracy but he job prevents a girl of seven from freely developing herself just. This flies how can a girl in a corset like this develop healthily and become a normal member of the society. After the fact that we could have asked the locksmith whether hes aware of the right to Free Personal Development and whether he granted to his children. He would say islam invented Free Personal Development program to say that fourteen hundred years ago islam already came up with all the good things we have in europe now. And slaving over nothing. So what counts is the quran not germanys basic law against exactly and youre aware of the studies showing that the majority of turks living here in germany put the quran above the basic law. Still on the scene they are the honest ones of all of the more honest that figure would be eighty percent. Versus by after sports or. In. Reading the coffee grounds can you do that. And whats in store for the future when. It says islam called the reformed. With if i have to see that. Lets go. Islam cant be reformed is that really true every religion develops in its own way. Before Luther Christians didnt believe reform was possible. I see the majority of the four and a half million muslims in germany practicing their religion quietly they seem to reconcile the divine order with the secular one. This film is supposed to be a dialogue between muslims one where only muslims are given a say. Next time ed and i want to meet young committed muslims were meeting members of jumah young muslim active what do they care about what goals do they pursue. The only catch is i cant tell them about how mad for security reasons. The young people dont know im coming with a critic of islam. I hope theyll be open to us anyway. Do you think theyll recognize you as you can see ive got a surprise visitor do you know him yes. Youve read something by having. You know i cant remember the exact title but mr abdul samad published a book last year where he tried to equate islam and fascism was the title again islamic fascism islamic fascism i read it i found it tough going. And i was interested in how he was polarizing people with the book. Did the book anger you or her. My identity is based to a very large extent on my religious character. I felt hurt in my identity and in my mind im in what makes me me. I didnt feel like i wanted to punch a lawyer and i think. I read these things to toughen up and to avoid overreacting so i dont get provoked. Thats what critics of islam want but they wont get that from me. Youre accusing me of deliberately setting out to hurt you know all provoke you yes you want to provoke economists on this what certainly true is that hamad has criticised islam and angered people there are muslims who want to kill him because of that criticism. Issuing a front walk calling to have someone murdered regardless of who the tell you it is is complete nonsense especially because of criticism anyone should be able to criticize whatever they want. You know what i think i thought today would be about muslims in germany muslims in berlin and about muslim life and now were debating issues like this again. Im from berlin im threatened in berlin by one person not one person and. Ive never threatened you im certain none of the people here would threaten you who german will have an individual lifestyle i think its a shame. That were not talking about that today and that were instead talking about terrorism and how you perceive the death threat. I think thats a shame it makes me laugh really. It doesnt make me laugh and think its a matter of life and death to me just like your complaints about the germans and how they dont accept you there are problems associated with islam too not least in germany because we have extremists here too we have islamic associations that patronize muslims and try to speak in their name and you act as a group. I mean. It was less defined for us it was more general we thought this would be about how we live here with each other maybe a few difficult questions for security reasons you couldnt tell us you were coming but islam in berlin isnt about extremists or people who threaten the lives of people like you. Know to keep the id like to visit what other topic and tell us about them how we live together why cant we talk about the fact that there are five hundred thousand muslims in berlin and that we dont have a problem with each other there was a room with a he job and a mobile phone he was there with a palestinian flag. Can be taken for granted do we have to address it yes but i think its problematic if we as muslims have these negative discussions the whole time its constant pessimism at every discussion never mind where at work at university the question is always what you think about the job why do you have to do this or that you hear it once youre polite you hear it twice youre polite. Then the third time in the thirty fifth time and then you think do we really not have any other problems in this country like the whole of the kind of an influx east of us how do you see it when do you feel injured as a muslim. And foolish for lets lets win this mess i feel injured if i feel impaired or disadvantaged because of my religion if i can pursue a certain job for example because i look like a muslim because i have a beard uk income vice. President and bob hogg because i want to trade work and im placed as a disadvantage as a result you know if im out and you have but were told the whole time that we dont quite belong to German Society yet even though we call ourselves german are you primarily german or primarily muslim im primarily you cant put it that way because the one is religion and the other is nationality im a german Muslim Country often and i just have to i would like to be accepted by German Society i want to be accepted with all my facets even though its just a piece of fabric on my head i want to be accepted with it and a pair in public and it id like to be able to wear it and still be able to work as a lawyer for example and. At the end of the conversation i became aware again how hard it still must be to be a devout muslim in germany you constantly have to justify yourself and emphasize that islam is a peaceful religion i send some of the you must feel pushed into a corner theyre sick and tired of having to defend themselves and they were angry about hundreds unannounced visit. With but i remember the selfconfident women religion played no role in my discovery of myself as a woman but how can deeply devout muslims reconcile the demands of their religion with a modern view of women. To answer that we meet. Who calls herself a conservative muslim feminist. I was just being told about. That. I found out about you a bit earlier. Youve come with your entourage a surprise guest. You could have told me in advance. We couldnt for security reasons i thought it was because people would be a bit upset you know there are Real Security reasons youre not annoyed with me are you you know i was just a bit surprised you two know each other yes thats why i thought that what you just said made sense where are we going around the corner to al and martha lets try it. Whats that. Whats the of what you wanted to wear kneecap and cover your face. This is the hima you put it on so you can see a send us anymore is a skirt as well because if you were to walk people would see on legs and that is to be avoided too. When you wear these things its not just about covering your hair you want to hide your feminine allure if. Im going to put this on strictly speaking im committing a sin because i know shes just getting on dressed i could have bad thoughts yes simply being in this room with this subject matter i dont know if ive done it correctly im coming out. Its not right at the back i dont want to trample on any religious feelings but i feel a little like batman doesnt fit it looks nice with the purple and the black it has something respectable about it the hand shouldnt be visible right now whats interesting is the reinterpretation of the kneecap or the burka which we mainly know from afghanistan this blue gown with this lattice in front of the eyes back in three thousand b. C. The sioux mariannes were in mesopotamia and it was traditional for prostitutes to cover up as a free woman you until out. Of position just. How things changed so id have been a prostitute back then thats right definitely in the samarian part of mesopotamia youd be put in that box in arabia before islam youd have been a free noble woman only slave women werent allowed to wear he job and today today youre a muslim woman whos chosen the salafi interpretation. Of the motivations behind why a muslim woman covers up very a lot of their own reasons like the positioning herself better on the marriage market because youre saying im a good chaste muslim women if you marry me you wont have to worry about my being an immodest its also about distinguishing ourself sometimes from your own parents by showing your religion a kind of our show you how to live religion properly another factor is suffering for god you cover up to suffer the god that way you collect hasnt it points for the afterlife its a very commercial thought that plays a role in raising children too but also in this interpretation of. The man. In a couple how her posture is different than usual to her in makes her look small and limited like. You could intimidator them i dont know or like that sounds at least yes well if i have to this isnt how she usually chooses to dress its just an experiment. Yeah yeah. Its a strange feeling my field of vision is very limited because of the slit for the eyes i cant see my body anymore i can only feel it im covered up but feel exposed to the gaze of the passers by and i cant hold a mans gaze i feel intimidated. I wonder how emancipation could even be possible as a devout muslim woman. Might. You can see yourself as a muslim and a feminist for centuries men have been thinking about and reflecting on texts and developing you know. Texts or not. So why shouldnt a woman have the same kind. Of almost just as tom does of tools or the quran say you can strike women it says a wife is the vessel to receive her husband seed meaning the husband can excuse me mount her at any time without her putting up any resistance can you take the same book and find a legacy of emancipation in it. Given if you look at history then there was emancipation at a very early point women were secured in a manner of speaking and the construct of marriage was introduced to provide them safety also with regards to clearing up questions of fatherhood waiting three months when i get divorced that the man wasnt allowed to marry again straight away you know all the details so there is emancipation that. Two western women muslim women never fought for their rights i think its a problem never to have to fight for rights over time thats become lost if women cant read or write they dont have access to theological texts but what does this blow for emancipation really look like you say the quran says the first blow is to have no two boos when it comes to asking questions oscar whatever comes to mind dont be scared that if you lost something youll be excluded from your community that your parents will curse you and your brother will look at you strangely. Its course not all and you have to ask yourself why you react like that. We have to look inward and ask ourselves what drives us to these reactions its that you stop thinking about where these things come from. Zenit gives me hope that religious muslims will follow her example and bravely stand up for equality without having to give up their faith. As minister because if there really is a name that stands for islam and for europe in this function of building bridges then the first person i think of is by some t. V. Its a girl ive heard of bus and. I can well imagine you know who he is then you also know that he coined significant terms such as euro islam and dominant culture. Hes one of the people who used to warn about all the things were experiencing now muslim fundamentalism problems with migration in those days people said he was a rabble rouser now you read his theories and you think this guy was right. The element of surprise for me is always exciting. You know. Mr t. V. Hello. I fried another guest weve never met i only know you from t. V. Ive never met you before either never no weve never met i mean. Im pleased to meet you personally how are you good things have you read a book by abdullah and i mean. I know what he does and i dont agree with him on everything because unlike him im a devout muslim but im a reformist im not writing off islam just yet having the money what do you criticize about him because hes written off islam and i still have hope. You still have hope when you say how mad is someone who hates islam no thats incorrect if you ban criticism theres no enlightenment the difference between us is that youre a devout muslim and im not you think islam can be reformed i dont so what do we have in common. The fight for freedom and human rights in french and ive had. A cluster t. V. Tell us briefly what euro islam is how do you define it. Happens your. Numbers here the euro islam is based on five pillars the first is separation of religion and state the second is individual not collective human rights thirdly tolerance and tolerance not in the islamic sense of tolerating christians and jews but tolerance in the sense of the european in light and meant then a Civil Society and pluralism. That pluralism means islam is one religion among many the majority of muslims reject that they say theres just one religion and that islam thats against the constitution if you want to the constitution gives us religious freedom not for muslims but for everybody a christian is a person of faith and as a jew or a hindu and an atheist who doesnt have a faith can invoke the basic law to muslims need to accept that it was the members of the stuff that you know i dont think its in there but then were confronted with the devout muslims who take the quran as the word of god the final word of god this is one that instead of going by a laugh it sais that allies religion is islam and islam came to defeat all other religions if you want and were seeing in the all the while and then a few heading in the world many things in the quran have to be relativize done viewed from a Historical Perspective of course theres a lot of resistance to that like ive said before that its quite clear that if a muslim wants a live according to the letter of the quran in europe and be a european that. Possible and if an in mom tells young muslims five six seven eight year olds that they cant take a womans hand that they cant have german friends then thats segregationist islam thats just. Kind of a vote without realizing it the german state and the german churches support segregationist is the washing here on the truth and when its a preventative integration in the name of integration i cant logically understand that. I cant understand it either i think thats the basic problem that islam ists islamic associations and salafist all agree with the German Government that islam is a homogenous group. That treated as a collective instead of as individuals thats where the problem begins the german state needs someone it can talk to as well how else will you establish communications the german state cant personally talk to four million muslims in her life about this question doesnt come up in france or other European Countries the german state and the german churches want to force a Christian Church model on to islam but muslims are individuals i dont want an Islamic State church to represent me. Thats a violation of my religious faith which is based on my individuality with this argument that the state in the church is need a communication partner the Central Council of muslims i reject that. As the three missions given it scares me in a non reformed islam there is no religious freedom. Kind of like you want i hope you have a kind of i dont have the freedom to leave the religion. If i leave islam then its rid of apostasy any muslim who kill me thats sharia law and theres the fact were i in mom because allah. In egypt the minute one or more is compounded. If a muslim kills an apostate theres no punishment for that act in islam if there was a state church in germany thats represented by the Central Muslim Council then id leave islam i dont want to be represented by the Central Council and thats not my liberal islam then id be a non muslim any muslim could kill me here thats why i appeal to the commonsense of german politicians and Church People stop seeing us as a collective that it owns. The with individuals view and talk to us as individuals i dont want to be part of the collective youre building here that. Youre violating my basic right to freedom of religion is a right of common five. That was a passionate plea mr gibb if. The people of europe see themselves as individuals most of the time in muslim societies however the group the family unit takes precedence islam is the common denominator those who dont want back in easily feel lost sometimes its probably easier to just give yourself over to religion we want to meet people at peace with themselves and their faith were tending a muslim celebration im meeting the speaker in the mosque. Her name is pina judge and like me she has turkish roots since i dont know if critics of islam are welcome here ive come without hamad at least for now. Its a special occasion today its the twenty seventh night of ramadan we call it lie lie that the night of power in this night the koran became a complete finished book its also the night thats mentioned in the koran as a special night on this night a particularly large number of guests come to the mosque were expecting between four and five thousand people today or theyll break their fast here meaning theyre only together everyone will share from that table with the next table and after that everyone will pray in the mosque. But what does this mosque mean to you as huge amount on the one hand its a bit of comfort and when you come here its a bit like being in turkey its got that holiday feeling on the other hand its the place where mr encounters have taken place where the muslim will muslim or turkish german its the place where he made the most trying chips with the majority population so its not just home in the sense of turkey its also home in german. Whos welcome here everyone is welcome anytime the doors to the mosque in a way as open. As mars. Is based on ottoman architecture this is typical turkish architecture the special thing is that the press is always the same of china america germany or turkey and you can join in the prez youll have a mosque that looks like this or like that and youll see children everywhere to my head is in a world penalise friendly and welcoming but i struggle to keep up with what shes saying im thinking about when would be a good moment to ask her whether would be welcome here. And. I got one last question just theoretically. You said before that everyone was welcome at the mosque yes but what about critics of islam are they welcome to own we regularly have critics at the mosque we have many people who come in groups from institution for example and there are some critics among them ill tell you i mean ok i met up just a man does that mean anything to you yes is he welcome. Do what you like. You wouldnt throw him out though. You have to hand i mean. We wouldnt throw anyone out. I just dont know if some young people recognize him and then ask what hes doing here. Yeah. Yeah. The old. How made up just some odd. Thats come over here yeah youve not met before. Ive seen you on t. V. Youve seen me on t. V. Youre welcome here we are in front of the mask because its packed inside theres no room its the break of the fast thats exactly. Im just surprised by the security you dont need to be scared of course im not scared of you for some reason comes on the phone or of our community and i know were out on the street you know anything is possible. Whats it like to have hammered here now you know hes a vehement critic of islam what would you like to say to him. I have to assume that i say so much when hes talking on television i like to hear it firsthand it is because often when im often angry with you when i see you on t. V. Im an open person i think its a shame that the experiences that have occurred in your life with muslims which i regret opera jetted onto islam as if islam were to blame for the bad things people do to islam i mean they must mention i think we have a very beautiful wonderful religion but people are flawed we all have our flaws and sometimes were bad people but that doesnt have anything to do with the religion of im. Going to stop youre saying my criticism of islam is only based on my personal bad experiences as a minister of foreign. Office i often feel the two are you know ive written a book about the prophet. Where i just reproduced historical facts that are stated in islamic books. What does that have to do with my personal experience and if i read a book or take someone apart with the intention of criticizing it or them i always find something that i can say i dont like but if i approach something positively and say i want to get to know this person and love this person with an open mind then ill find things to love about that person i was just but you dont have to approach it positively from the start for you as a devout muslim i can understand why youd approach the brother free of the prophet positively because you love this person i want to be neutral i want to look at the sources i have to forget that the quran is revealed by god i see it is a human book written in the seventh century if you read the text you forget the reality and the love and then you realize there are problems biggest monday with this title and the events on the stand but first the problems with wars problems with the prophets both in the quran and in other sources and then very and they are found that he kept women a spoils of war for example and had sex with them thats not in the quran the way you quote that ok so youre a thirty three its pointless to discuss the theology its for program but you said it wasnt in the quran that he used them for sex and that he saw them as spoils of wool thats not in the quran lets look at zero thirty three get a koran so we can look no problem i have it in my head you dont no problem. For me the prophet is someone who brought about a revolution at a time when women meant nothing when women were sold and given away as commodities when girls were buried alive the prophet came and said men and women are equal in the eyes of allah can i respond to that as evidence that women were equal before islam came along the prophets first wife what was she she was a traitor his employer. There was no islam and then she offered him a job and she even asked for his hand in marriage. Yes but she was an exception in that society didnt now want to deny that girls who are buried alive that was an arab traditions thats a legend and exactly were talking about other sources so we wont be on the same page one more question you said girls were buried alive before mohammed came along what did mohammed and always friends get for wives from all the girls had already been buried its a legend and thats what im saying is that the prophet is sacred to you and that it crosses a red line for you if the prophet is criticized. If i just think that the source is mr abdel some of these quoting authors ive read lets go into your mosque you know show them to you maybe today is a bad day another time happily but its in the official biography and that was my source another time is that an offer. We can do that. We have your word this is chechen said we can do that maybe next time without the camera i think thats fair. Its an offer it least i think dialogue is positive. Im satisfied ok ok wonderful sounds good. I think. Every two decades in the service of the brave. Its an export special. Leave the band getting ready to. Check the h. P. Books to. Figure out the secret to success. Through the. Double. On freedom and home. Where i come from the region is rich in history style and talent but so poor and if you question opportunity and freedom this makes it especially difficult for independent john. I see many of the younger promising generals are now making names for themselves all over the. Song might get along the way some might follow some with continue. Their experience of freedom in a sense is like the unions that you can visit but your call come back on. My name is your forte and i work at the end of it. Its about that. Its all about the stuff inside. Its all about George Chance to discover the world from different perspectives. Join us on instagram. Hurricane nate has made landfall in the state of mississippi on the u. S. Gulf coast the category two storm has already forced widespread shutdown of oil and Gas Production in the gulf