From Deutsche Welle
Some of Germany’s Muslim leaders are criticizing a book which says that belief in God is not mandatory in Islam. The author is on the defense – particularly since he heads the organization that trains Islam teachers.
For an outsider, the situation sounds odd: a Turkish newspaper, “Türkiye,” prints an article in which three high-ranking functionaries of Muslim organizations in Hamburg accuse an Austrian with Palestinian roots of betraying the roots of Islam. The reason: the Austrian wrote a book in which he claimed that paradise was open to anyone who lived a good life – regardless of whether he or she believed in God.
The plot thickened when it became clear that the Austrian was also a professor of Islam. Adding another layer of internationalism to the story, it turned out he works at the University of Munster in Germany, where he heads the organization responsible for training future Muslim religion teachers.
Bad form
That the criticism of his book, which was published in September 2012, reached him through a Turkish newspaper both surprised and annoyed Mouhanad Khorchide. “That is not in line with Muslim values, where it is very clear that when you criticize someone, or want to make a suggestion, it should happen privately – not in the media,” he told Deutsche Welle.
Khorchide’s view is that Islam is the acceptance of God’s love and mercy, as well as the application of those principles into practical, daily life. According to this definition, anyone who applies these principles to his or her life is therefore “muslim.” God, after all, is not interested in whether someone is a “believer” or “non-believer.”
For Zekeriya Altug, head of the northern German branch of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), reducing Islam to “mercy” is too narrow a definition for the religion.
“Faith is elementary, but so are deeds supported by faith,” said Altug, one of Khorchide’s three Hamburg-based critics. “Alone, neither is enough. It is the combination that creates a whole.”
Altug added that he was not in opposition to all of Khorchide’s views. He agreed that Islam is a pluralistic religion, one which has room for a wide range of opinions. But, Altug said, Khorchide’s views needed to be examined closely because of the responsibility inherent in teaching future religion instructors.
