AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): On Wednesday, July 24, 2024, German media outlets reported that the country’s police forces attacked the Islamic Center Hamburg, as well as other affiliated Islamic centers, and they were banned from their activities.
In this regard, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior announced that it had banned the activities of the Hamburg Islamic Center and its affiliated centers in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin for following “radical Islamist goals”. As a result, four Shiite mosques in Germany were closed and the properties of the Islamic Center Hamburg were confiscated.
The German Federal Ministry of the Interior has claimed that the evidence collected from 55 branches of the Islamic Center Hamburg in November was why it was banned from its activities.
In this regard, German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, stating that the ban does not mean confronting Shiism, claimed, “The Islamic Center Hamburg, in addition to supporting Lebanese Hezbollah, has been related with Iran and sought to establish a religious government!”
According to Faeser, the Islamic Center Hamburg and its affiliates supported Hezbollah and spread aggressive anti-Semitism.
The Islamic Center Hamburg was closed with baseless accusations, while the center, during its more than 6 decades of activity, emphasized religious activity according to the law and respect in the society, and did not have a single case of violation of the law in these years. During these six decades, there were no anti-Semitic words or actions from the imams of the center, and the center had the best interaction with all religions, including the followers of the Jewish religion in Germany.
Following Berlin’s decision to ban the Islamic Center Hamburg from its activities, the Iranian Foreign Ministry considered it a decision contrary to human rights and hostile, and summoned the German ambassador in Tehran, Hans-Odo Motsel, to explain the decision of his respective government.
Islamic Center Hamburg, history and activities
The idea of establishing the Islamic Center Hamburg was first offered in the 1950s in the Islamic seminaries during the authority of the late Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi, and it was established in Hamburg initially as a mosque in 1953 with the financial support of the Grand Ayatollah.
On February 13, 1958, the construction of the Islamic Center Hamburg began on a plot of land with an area of more than 4,000 square meters, with the presence of Sheikh Mohammad Mohagheghi Lahiji, the representative of Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi. But it did not end until the demise of Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi in 1961. The late Lahiji, as the first director and imam of Imam Ali Mosque (a.s.), had a comprehensive personality that could best represent the supreme Shiite authority.
After the late Lahiji, Martyr Ayatollah Dr. Beheshti was elected as the imam of Imam Ali (a.s.) Mosque. One of the most important actions of Martyr Beheshti during his tenure was the completion of the construction of the Grand Mosque of Hamburg. He also changed the name of the mosque from “Iranian Comprehensive Mosque” to “Islamic Center Hamburg.”
Since its inception, among the valuable activities of the center have been establishing a library with several thousand books, publishing magazines to introduce Islam, Shiism, and religious issues, efforts for the proximity of Islamic denominations in Germany and Europe, commemorating Islamic occasions, and confronting Islamophobia. Imam Ali (a.s.) Mosque of Hamburg, also known as Blue Mosque, is considered one of the historic and tourist sites of Hamburg.
Previous actions of the German government against the Islamic Center Hamburg
Last November, on the pretext of support for Lebanese Hezbollah’s activities, the German police attacked the Islamic Center Hamburg. The country’s intelligence organization back then claimed that the Islamic institution “had complete influence or control over some mosques and other groups.” According to the German intelligence agency, “they often support an openly anti-Semitic and anti-Israel attitude.”
In November 2022, Suleiman Mousavifar, the Imam of the Center, was expelled from the country on the pretext of having connections with members of the Lebanese Hezbollah – which is considered a terrorist group in Germany – and was banned from receiving any kind of residency in the country.
In July 2021, Hamburg’s internal intelligence department, known as the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, claimed in a multi-page report that “the aim of the activities of the Islamic Center Hamburg is to spread Islamic Revolution (of Iran) in the world,” and “this mosque is connected with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.” Previously, in 2019, the Hamburg intelligence agency announced in a report that about 30 mosques and cultural centers in Germany are affiliated with the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
The closure of Shiite centers by European governments
The closure of the Islamic Center Hamburg was not the first action by a European government against Shiite Islamic Centers, and it was not unprecedented. Previously, in 2018, the French government ordered the closure of Al-Zahra (a.s.) Islamic Center, one of the centers belonging to the country’s Shiites. The center was in the Grand Saint district of Dunkirk, the northernmost point of France. The French government accused the center of trying to “spread Shiite fundamentalism in Europe.” According to the claim of the French government, “Al-Zahra (a.s.) Islamic Center published messages in which it openly legitimized armed jihad,” and “always engaged in propaganda aimed at spreading hatred and calling for discrimination and violence.” Later, a French court, sentenced and fined Jamal Taheri, the head of Al-Zahra (a.s.) Islamic Center, to six months of suspended imprisonment, and encouraging anti-Semitism.
Closing the Al-Zahra (a.s.) Islamic Center in France was not the first action of European governments against Shiite centers. After that, the British government put pressure on the Islamic Center of England and caused the temporary closure of the center. In May 2023, the Charity Commission of England and Wales dismissed the trustees of the Islamic Center of England and appointed an interim director to oversee its operations. This commission announced the reason for this dismissal as “shortcoming of the members of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Center in preserving and maintaining the assets and performing their duties and responsibilities”, without providing any documents to prove this claim. In a statement issued in June of the same year, the Islamic Center announced that it would be closed until further notice.
The future of the Islamic Center Hamburg
According to media outlets, the future of the Islamic Center Hamburg is not clear. In this regard, the German News Agency NDR wrote, “the center can continue its religious activities, but it is not clear who will manage it.”
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