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> In Germany, Mosque-Building Boom Regarded With Fear > By JEFFREY FLEISHMAN Los Angeles Times > Published: Mar 21, 2004 > > > BERLIN - The chink and scrape of stonecutters echo through the > gray-domed mosque that rises like a glimmer of misplaced > architecture in a city where the Muslim call to prayer is a > widening whisper. > Dusted in marble, workmen scurry in the muted glow of stained > glass. Some paint Quranic verses on the walls; others make > last-minute alterations to golden-tipped minarets pricking a > drizzly skyline. Anxious Berliners sometimes peek into the > courtyard, where Ali Gulcek, a husky, nimble man, assures them > his religion is not a threat. > > ``I need to enlighten the Germans so their prejudice of Islam will > go away,'' said Gulcek, a German citizen born to Turkish parents > whose Muslim organization is building the mosque. ``Our mosque will > be completed in May. We've wanted a legitimate mosque for so long. > For years, we've been meeting in back yards and basements. We > don't want to hide anymore.'' > > Gulcek's mosque reflects the surge in Islamic construction sweeping > Germany. The number of traditional mosques with their distinctive > minarets nearly doubled in Germany from 77 in 2002 to 141 in 2003, > according to Islam Archive, a Muslim research group in the city of > Soest. An additional 154 mosques and cultural centers are planned, > many of them in the countryside where vistas are dotted with symbols > of crescent moons and crosses. > > Like the cultural battles over allowing Muslim women to wear head > scarves in European schools, mosques are another indication that > immigration is transforming social, religious and aesthetic landscapes. > Staccato Turkish and throaty Arabic syllables whirl amid European > vernaculars, and where once there was a German bakery, there is now a > Moroccan kebab stand. In some bookshops, the Quran is as prominent as > the Bible, and Muslim worry beads sometimes rattle alongside rosaries. > > > Signs Of Change > > Mosques are landmarks of faith. But in Europe they also are symbols > of change that can instigate fear, especially as congregations at > Christian churches steadily decline on a continent with the > fastest-aging population in the world. A mosque often means a > neighborhood is no longer what it was. Skin hues are darker, customs > different, and society's failure at integration is laid bare. > > For many Europeans since Sept. 11, mosques are perceived - unlike > churches or synagogues - as caldrons of radicalism instead of places > of worship. That sentiment is likely to endure if Islamic militants > were involved in the train bombings in Madrid that killed more than > 200 people and wounded 1,400 others. > > ``Building a mosque won't create integration,'' said Werner Mueller, > a pharmacist in a Berlin neighborhood where proposals for two mosques > are encountering opposition from government agencies. ``These new mosques > will make Islam more visible, and jobless and angry Muslim men will go > to them. They can become places infiltrated by political Islam.'' > > Such sensitivity is rooted in Al Quds mosque in Hamburg - a warren of > rooms above a gym with smudged windows where Mohamed Atta and other > Sept. 11 hijackers prayed before moving to the United States. Thousands > of nondescript mosques, some tucked in alleys, others half-hidden in > old factories, are scattered across the continent. There are nearly > 2,400 in Germany, according to the Islam Archive. > > The Berlin government is seeking more control over blueprints for larger > mosques. The city's planning office wants veto power on all building projects > that may impinge upon a borough's character. The veto proposal is expected > to take effect this year and could complicate plans for four mosques in > the city boroughs of Kreuzberg and Neukoelln. The government says it is > not singling out mosques, but trying to bring uniformity to the skyline. > > > Building Relations > > ``Berlin has a large Turkish population,'' said Petra Reetz, a spokeswoman > for the planning office. ``That always has to be a consideration. But we > are still a central European town and we'd like to keep the face of a central > European town, not a Turkish town.'' > > Such sentiments have made Mehmet Bayram a patient architect. The projects he > treasures most, including mosques and Islamic cultural centers, are yet to be > built, tangled in negotiations with government agencies. Bayram splices > architecture, folding Islamic nuances into European designs to make Muslim > edifices more palatable to the German eye. What could be considered > minarets on the facade of one of his proposed cultural centers, for > example, are instead spiraling stairwells. > > Gulcek's mosque is being built south of the city center by the Turkish > Islamic Union, one of several Muslim organizations in Germany overseeing > construction plans for such projects. At 3 million, Turks are the the > nation's largest minority. > > Gulcek moved to Berlin with his parents 24 years ago from the Turkish > city of Kayseri. > > ``It's taken 13 years to build,'' said Gulcek, a smiling, yet exasperated, > diplomat of sorts between cultures. ``The biggest problem was raising money > from Berlin Muslims. Then we found out our minarets were too high and we had > to raise more money for a $100,000 fine from the borough. Why? It came down > to a misunderstanding. We didn't know about German law, and the borough > didn't tell us. > > ``It was difficult to explain our idea of the mosque to the Germans. We > should have explained it better. If you communicate, there are fewer > problems, but there always seems to be a lace curtain between Germans > and Muslims. Europeans have a prejudice and a fear of change.'' >
