By Nina May LVZ.ONLINE

Berlin / Leipzig. The shoe shelves in the lobby of the Khadija Mosque in Berlin’s Heiner village are well filled this Saturday for a delegation of 40 residents of Leipzig is hosted by the city of Leipzig to visit and to learn in the context of the planned mosque the Mosque building in Gohlis of the Ahmadiyya community . In the question and answer session with Imam Abdul Basit Tariq all the fears and concerns about the language that have grown up around the new house of God come up. In Berlin, there had been up to the opening in 2008 massive protests and even an arson attack , but now the community is widely accepted in the field .

A Leipzig person wants to know how the Ahmadiyya religious community would react to provocations like the Mohammed cartoons or the pig’s head attack in Leipzig. If the minarets symbolize the power of Islam ? Can you for a mosque not use an unused Christian Church, instead of building new? Does the security of the mosque need to be monitored

Imam Tariq : “We have arrived in everyday life”

The Imam repeatedly emphasized the openness of his religious community. “I would put myself even before a synagogue or a church , where it is threatened in order to protect them. ” In the simple prayer room , the only content being a fluffy carpet with oriental patterns and the Arabic writing ” No one is worthy of worship except Allah” adorned is , he speaks directly to widespread prejudice : ” We want to build any parallel society and not introduce Sharia law . Stoning as punishment for adultery , we see as an injustice too . “He was in close exchange with Christian and Jewish colleagues , together they had organized as a hard around the breaking of the fast . Although the police go several times a day at the lying in an industrial area mosque by to guarantee the safety of the community, but apart from some details if nothing had happened since the opening . “We have arrived in everyday life. ”

The Leipzig people are impressed by the hospitality of the Berlin community , at a lunch of chicken , rice , chickpeas and salad to get closer . Martin left is the man behind the Facebook page “Pro Mosque “, which is against the initiative ” Gohlis says no ” is directed . “I want an intercultural dialogue and hope for a kind of Muslim ecumenism , ie, an exchange of the Ahmadiyya with other Muslim communities,” he says. Diana Ayeh who is a candidate for the Green Party for the City Council . “I consider the discussion in the civil forum the other day too polemical, which rather served to stoke fears than to disperse them . So I wanted to inform myself elsewhere on the subject , “says the 25 – year-old who generally dealing a lot with the issue of Islam .

Martin Klein talks for the SPD (political party). “I am a Christian , and I’m interested in what others believe . My impression of this church is that it is very hard for peace between religions.” Walter Kuhn (58 ) has read in the newspaper Leipziger people from the planned trip to Berlin and decided spontaneously to ride along . ” Fundamentalism is a question of education ,” he says in reference to both right-wing and on Islamist movements . Who is ignorant, more inclined towards radicalism.

Advice to the Leipziger : “Make it better”

Next stop is the nearby elementary school at the water tower . The Director Marina bird was then instrumental in the protests against the mosque in the village of Heiner . She had worried about same-sex love and the role of women in the world view of the Ahmadiyya Community and its setting , she explains. Your reservations about a house of worship in an environment in which to live no representatives of this faith , remember the criticism of some Gohliser . After a home visit with Imam Tariq and intensive discussions bird has reconsidered its position that the Heinersdorfer have even welcomed the congregation with a human chain for the mosque . My fears that the mosque would affect our daily lives have not been confirmed. On the contrary , the community brings with blood drives and an open day mosque in the village life. There is normalcy The Leipzig group they are a piece of advice along the way. We are then not handled skillfully, it was too fast to very polarized, and we were forced into a right corner. It would have been the harmonic can tackle . Make it better.

Frank Basten from the highway management Georg- Schumann -Straße that wants to take to heart : ” This very emotional portrayal of arguments for and against the mosque was very touching. Scars are left on both sides . All the more important that we are in Leipzig in permanent dialogue and make the process as transparent as possible. ” This appeal now has to carry on the delegation. Because of the Leipzig mosque opponents no one has put in the bus. It can be easier to just criticize what you do not know.

Editor’s Note: Please bear with us: Google Translate being used.

SOURCE: ORIGINAL ARTICLE IN GERMAN LANGUAGE