AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A Qom-based senior Shia cleric has strongly condemned the German government’s ban on Islamic Center Hamburg, urging international human rights groups to confront the “inhuman” behavior.
“The closure of the Islamic center in Germany and its affiliated institutions by the German government under false pretenses has caused great concern,” Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Nouri Hamedani wrote in a statement on Saturday.
He opened the statement by quoting verse 114 of Surah al-Baqarah which reads: “And who is more unjust than he who prevents (men) from the masjids of Allah, that His name should be remembered in them, and strives to ruin them?”
The statement came three days after Germany announced the ban on the Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) and its subsidiary organization over alleged “extremism”, after months of pressure on the most prominent Shia center in Europe.
The senior cleric pointed to the center’s 70-year history of promoting religion, spirituality, and peace, adding, “This significant cultural oppression is a violation of the sanctities of all Muslims and an attack on the rights of those who support justice, freedom, spirituality, and human rights.”
“I strongly condemn this anti-religious and human rights-violating action by the German government,” he said, urging the German government to “reverse this wrong decision, which benefits extremists and enemies of religion and freedom, and goes against legal procedures and the country's own laws.”
He also called on religious centers, international organizations, and global human rights groups to stand in solidarity with the “oppressed Muslims” in Germany and support them in confronting this “anti-human behavior.”
The German police raided 53 of the organization’s premises early on Wednesday. German police say that acted based on a court order. The raided premises include centers in cities other than Hamburg, such as Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich.
The German ministry claimed that the center has been supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement which is banned in Germany.
The German ban will result in the closure of four Shia mosques in the country, including the iconic Imam Ali Mosque which is one of the oldest in Germany completed in 1965.
The Islamic Centre of Hamburg is one of Germany's important and historic Islamic centers, established the support of Ayatollah Boroujerdi.
It has published magazines in German and Persian and provided consulting services for the Shias of Hamburg. The center also boasts a library with over 6,000 titles on various Islamic and Shia subjects.
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