AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Following the Islamophobic project of Western countries against Muslims, and closing Islamic centers and mosques, Hojat al Islam Dr. Mohammad Hadi Mufateh, the former director of the Hamburg Islamic Center, left Germany on Tuesday evening, September 10, 2024, 24 hours before the legal deadline for the execution of the order to leave the country.
To welcome Dr. Muftah, on Monday, September 16, 2024, a ceremony was held at Qom University with the presence of faculty members and professors of the University, and the media.
In this ceremony, Hojat al-Islam Dr. Ahmad Hussain Sharifi, the president of Qom University, after welcoming the guest and expressing appreciation for the scientific and preaching jihad of Hojat al-Islam Dr. Mufateh, stated, “The treatment of the German government revealed the true face of the liberal-democracy government. Although they claim to advocate freedom of speech, they are very narrow-minded, and they are not willing to respect the rights of religions.”
Further in the ceremony, Dr. Muftah, the former head of the Hamburg Islamic Center, pointed out the Islamophobia in Europe. “The West is afraid of the spread of Islam, especially because it is not far behind Christianity and will soon become the religion with the most followers. Therefore, they seek to tarnish the attractive face of Islam, i.e. the Islam of AhlulBayt (a.s.), and spread the extremist face of Islam, i.e. Salafism,” he expressed.
Referring to the activities of Salafists in Germany and Hamburg, he said, “The German government does not deal with Salafists. Because it seeks to show a violent and terrorist face of Muslims.”
“The reason for confronting the Islamic Center Hamburg was its profound influence,” Dr. Mufatehh considered, “Since its establishment in 2000, the Islamic Academy of Germany has not had academic activities. However, despite the difficulties in the cooperation of the German academic community with the Islamic Center, we tried to establish an effective relationship with them, and we were largely successful in achieving this.”
“Part of the activities of the Islamic Academy of Germany included the establishment of an international conference on the Quran in Germany, the establishment of winter and summer Quranic schools, philosophy, women’s issues, etc. for Persian-speaking audiences, designing Quranic studies schools for German-speaking audiences, holding book review sessions, holding a Quran and Tafsir seminars, and an Ashura research seminar for European clerics,” he added.
Referring to the 2022 riots in Iran, Hojat al-Islam Dr. Mufateh said, “It was at that time that the case of closing the Blue Mosque (Hamburg Islamic Center) was raised in the German Federal Parliament, and subsequently, it was approved that the German government imposes all-out pressure on Iran. In one of the clauses passed by the Federal Parliament, the closure of the Hamburg Islamic Center was mentioned.”
He described the closing of the Islamic Center Hamburg and his deportation from Germany as illegal. “If this case is handled on the basis of legal procedures, we are sure that court’s verdict will be given to the reopening of the Islamic Center Hamburg and the cancellation of the deportation order.”
At the end of the ceremony, the former director of the Islamic Center Hamburg mentioned that this case will probably last 3-4 years and is being pursued by the German legal team. “Since the closure of the Blue Mosque, the program of reciting the Dua Kumayl and holding the Friday prayer in front of the center has been hold every week, which indicates the social protest of Muslims on the issue.”
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