Author: Muqtedar Khan
Publication: www.ijtihad.org
Date: June 9, 2006
URL: http://www.ijtihad.org/Mosques-Flags.htm
We entered the mosque through a large iron
gate closely watched by a score of Turkish men. Unlike most architecturally
interesting buildings in Berlin which are open and easily accessible, this
mosque which is both majestic and grand, is surrounded by a high wall and
is accessible only through iron gates. I was in Berlin for a conference organized
by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies and one of their
scholars and a Berlin Parliamentarian kindly volunteered to show me around
Berlin.
As we approached the grand mosque, the Berlin
Parliamentarian remarked, "notice the Turkish flag on the mosque, do
you see a German flag anywhere?"
The daylong conference in Berlin was about
comparing the experiences of Germany and the US in integrating their Muslim
minorities. Throughout the day, scholars from both sides of the Atlantic struggled
with political and philosophical issues involved in the absorption of large
number of minorities whose political and cultural values may be at odds with
those of the host nations.
While Muslim scholars argued for more openness,
more religious and racial tolerance and equal treatment of all religious communities,
others called for more assimilation and insisted that immigrants must make
the effort to learn local languages and adapt to the mainstream political
and cultural norms. As I looked at the mosque with its Turkish flag flying
proudly, the high walls, the iron gates and the stoic faces, I suddenly realized
that this was not a mosque, this was a sort of embassy, a foreign enclave,
an extention of Turkish sovereignty in the heart of Germany. In the U.S. one
may occasionally find a US flag in a mosque, but never a flag of a foreign
country. The only mosque that has foreign flags is the Islamic Center in Washington
DC which was established by diplomats from Muslim countries.
I sympathized with the Berlin Parliamentarian's
obvious displeasure with the Turkish flag. Turkish nationalism is particularly
irritating. Several years ago I ran into a large contingent of Turks in the
Holiest of Muslim Mosques in Mecca while circumambulating the Kaaba. They
were wearing tiny Turkish flags on their shirt collars. I found this display
of nationalism even in the House of God deeply offensive. Islam is a strictly
monotheistic religion and nationalism in its extreme form begins to subvert
the very idea of One God. Perhaps these Turks did not know that God is blind
to nationality, ethnicity and race.
With Islamophobia on the rise in most western
countries, grand displays of Islamic religiosity - the mosque is indeed fabulous
- combined with overt, in your face displays of allegiance to foreign nations
can only be described as spectacularly stupid.
Both Muslims and non-Muslims are actively
demanding the elimination of barriers between western mainstream and Muslim
Diasporas. While Muslims are insisting that host societies accommodate, recognize
and respect all the differences that they bring, Non-Muslims - usually the
dominant white Judeo-Christians - are demanding that Muslims moderate these
differences. In Germany the focus is on learning the German language and the
incorporation of Islam as a German institution. In the U.S. the challenges
are more related to real or perceived sympathy of American Muslims for anti-Americanism
in the Middle East.
Muslim immigrants bring three significant
challenges to Western societies - cultural differences, religious differences
and political differences. In the U.S. the first two challenges are easily
manageable. Most Americans believe in the United States as a multicultural
society and deeply value religious pluralism. Unlike Europe where the elite
talk a lot about secularism but the State actually incorporates religion,
America does practice separation of church and State.
In the U.S. the government is neither involved
nor interested in how Islam is institutionalized or managed by Muslims, where
as in Germany the state not only teaches religion in school but also has religious
clergy on government payroll. This becomes particularly problematic since
Germany finances both Christianity and Judaism but does not even recognize
Islam.
In the U.S. most people respect and even value
cultural differences, jealously guard religious freedom and consequently practice
religious pluralism at all levels of society. Primarily because most American's
are from somewhere else, the fact that Muslims are also from elsewhere is
not a big issue.
American identity is open, flexible and continuously
evolving. American citizenship is also easily acquired and hence becoming
American in law and spirit faces less cultural and political barriers. Additionally
the "American dream" is a powerful positive that all immigrants
aspire towards and often achieve. When traveling overseas, I frequently testify
that coming to America for me was like joining the marines - in America one
can "be all you can be".
At present the key barrier to the mainstreaming
of Islam in America is the relations between the US-and the Islamic World.
Germany has a long way to go. Even though
it does not have foreign policy problems like the U.S., it has several domestic
policy issues. First Germany must recognize Islam. Germany has been for decades
a multi-ethnic society but very few Germans imagine Germany as a multicultural
society. German intellectuals brag a lot about being secular, well how about
secularizing the German State and dumping Christianity and Judaism from the
national budget.
German identity is rooted in the past and
is culturally tied to race, and ethnicity. Becoming German is very difficult
even for those who are born in Germany; speak German better than most natives
but happen to look like me rather than Boris Becker.
German intellectuals must begin to imagine
a Germany as a political community that is a composite of values, rather than
a nation-state based on a specific ethnicity. In the age of globalization,
narrowly defined identities are untenable. Germany as an integral part of
the emerging global society must define itself in terms of global values that
are sensitive to cultural, racial and religious differences and become a role
model for other European nations like Ireland and Portugal that will soon
face similar problems.
Muslims who live as minorities in the west
or anywhere else, must understand that their demand for tolerance for religious
and cultural differences is a just cause. But they must align their political
and economic interests with those of their neighbors [whose acceptance they
seek] and not with those who live in foreign lands.
There is room for Islam in America and Germany.
We can and we will build bigger and more spectacular mosques in the West,
but there is no place for Saudi flags, or Turkish or Pakistani flags in Western
mosques. They have their embassies and that is enough. They should not be
allowed to use our mosques.
