The Integrative Mosque: On the Debate of the Mosques’ Traditional Islamic Architecture in Germany
During the last few decades, a new Muslim community has started to emerge and grow in the German society. The estimated number of Muslims living in Germany in 1961 was about 15,000. Yet, since 2009 it has exceeded 4 million. This escalation has created some conflicts such as the mosque. On the one h...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Common Ground Publishing
2012
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| In: |
The international journal of religion and spirituality in society
Year: 2012, Volume: 2, Issue: 1, Pages: 47-58 |
| Further subjects: | B
Mosques and Muslims in Germany Integration
B Communitarian Theory B Socio-Semiotics B Islam B Cognitive Sociology B Staccato Narratives |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | During the last few decades, a new Muslim community has started to emerge and grow in the German society. The estimated number of Muslims living in Germany in 1961 was about 15,000. Yet, since 2009 it has exceeded 4 million. This escalation has created some conflicts such as the mosque. On the one hand, it represents a fundamental requirement for Muslim immigrants. However, on the other hand, it is a strange Islamic symbol in the German society. Therefore, this contradiction necessitates an exploration that maintains the identity of the German society, but also smoothly accommodates Muslims’ needed mosque. The form and function of mosques in Germany went through different development phases, which demonstrate the manner by which the host society, in cooperation with the Muslim immigrants, defined and remodeled the mosque conception and social message. Moreover, these approaches confirmed a sort of development in the European-Islamic architecture which also emphasizes the various emerging changes in the Muslim immigrants’ integrating ambitions. However, these endeavors are still not adequately equipped to achieve a reliable prototype supporting the Muslim immigrants’ integration process. Additionally, mosques’ traditional architecture is heavily subjected to a considerable criticism. Consequently, the paper’s main objective is to eradicate the claims directed to the traditional Islamic architecture as a main barrier for accommodating the mosque in Germany. Secondly, it proposes the notion of the integrative mosque, which is based on enlarging the mosques’ contribution and interaction within the hosting non-Muslim society. For that purpose, the historical unproblematic validity of customarily appearing mosques in Germany will be proved. Then, assessing the unsuccessfulness of Germany’s non-traditional looking mosques will be elaborated. Finally, a non-German example proving the feasibility of an integrative traditional mosque will be addressed, which should underscore the key barrier of blocking mosques’ initiation in Germany. Last but not least, the "communitarian theory" and "staccato narrative" are addressed as suggestions for further research, due to their relevance. At the end, the integrative mosque should promote the participation and integration of Muslim immigrants in the host society positively. Moreover, it should affect the harmony and unification of the European society, in order to optimistically replace isolation and conflict with integration and peace. |
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| ISSN: | 2154-8641 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The international journal of religion and spirituality in society
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.18848/2154-8633/CGP/v02i01/51145 |