Muezzin call in Cologne: Parties should position themselves clearly
Controversy over muezzin call in North Rhine-Westphalia
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Clear attitude, clear rules
The Cologne Ditib Mosque will call for Friday prayers.
Photo: dpa/Oliver Berg
opinion In Cologne, mosque congregations can call for Friday prayers on request – but the two-year test run is not a solution. Why the muezzin call should be an election campaign topic and why the CDU is irritated by the topic.
A model project always comes with a win-win guarantee: If things go well, the initiators can claim success, extend the project or let it continue without any limitations. If things don’t go well or even catastrophically, everyone involved can still save their heads and say it was just a project – and definitely worth the try. This approach was also chosen in North Rhine-Westphalia when it came to the question of whether the muezzin call should be allowed in this country. A tactic with pitfalls, as the trial started in Cologne in autumn 2021 shows.
Only a good six months after the start of the pilot project, which enables mosque communities to register a call to prayer with the city and carry it out under certain conditions, they are irritated. And not from the population or the neighborhood – after all, the first call of the muezzin is not yet foreseeable. One is still waiting for complete applications, it said recently from the city of Cologne. Politics causes irritation. On the one hand, because most parties omit the sensitive issue in the current state election campaign. On the other hand, because NRW Prime Minister and CDU top candidate Hendrik Wüst recently drew attention with criticism that to a certain extent contradicts the party’s position.
Anyone who agrees with the statement in the current Wahl-O-Mat for the state election “In NRW, mosque communities should be allowed to call for Friday prayers”, ends up with a CDU yes, among other things. The party that was questioned by the developers of the online tool on all topics agreed with this statement. When asked, the NRW-CDU added: “A muezzin call can be a contribution to integration, you have to be careful when introducing it, by discussing the matter broadly and closely coordinating it in a community. In this context, the answer can be seen in the Wahl-O-Mat,” said a spokeswoman.
It ties in with a statement by the CDU’s top candidate, Wüst, who in an interview with the Catholic news agency agreed that so far only a few people have been called to prayer, which has led to a high degree of social pacification on this subject. “Without necessity and cause, it seems to me, this peace is now being intervened in Cologne,” said Wüst literally. “Because the city’s announcement is equivalent to a call to all mosque communities to submit applications for the introduction of the muezzin call. I’m worried that this might cause more disputes in society than help integration.”
The criticism of Cologne is not only premature, but also somewhat unrealistic. Because so far only a few (initially three) out of more than 40 mosque communities had signaled any interest at all. There are also strict requirements depending on the location, a volume limit and a five-minute call to prayer on Fridays between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Under these conditions – assuming a minimum of mutual respect – the Cologne model project should also contribute to religious freedom. You shouldn’t be warned and talked in a bad way before the first call has sounded. Without a doubt, the muezzin call falls under religious freedom, says Wüst. And combines the statement with a critique that has little to do with the coexistence of religions.
The topic deserves more attention, needs to be discussed more widely and must not be taken into account in model projects. Islam is part of our society – also in North Rhine-Westphalia. Cities like Gelsenkirchen and Düren have long shown how it works with a muezzin call and without limited projects. This requires clear rules, but also a clear political stance that the country’s citizens can use as a guide.