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Islamic Centre Hamburg

Coordinates: 53°34′28.45″N 10°00′30.30″E / 53.5745694°N 10.0084167°E / 53.5745694; 10.0084167
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Islamic Center Hamburg
Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg
المركز الإسلامي في هامبورغ
Religion
AffiliationShi'ism
Location
LocationUhlenhorst, Hamburg, Germany
Geographic coordinates53°34′28.45″N 10°00′30.30″E / 53.5745694°N 10.0084167°E / 53.5745694; 10.0084167
Architecture
Architect(s)Architekturbüro Schramm und Elingius
TypeMosque
Completed1965
Construction costDM2,000,000[citation needed]
Specifications
Capacity1500
Dome(s)2
Minaret(s)2
Minaret height16 m
Website
www.izhamburg.com/

The Islamic Centre Hamburg (German: Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, IZH; Persian: مرکز اسلامی هامبورگ, romanized: Mrkez Aslama Hambwrgu), also known as the Blue Mosque (German: Blaue Moschee),[1] was the oldest mosque in Hamburg, Germany, being established in the late 1950s by a group of Iranian emigrants and business people and built in the early 1960s.[citation needed]

Amid investigations regarding its ties with Iran and Hezbollah, the IZH was judged unconstitutional and closed by the German government in July 2024.[2]

History

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During a meeting at the Atlantic Hotel in 1953, a group of Iranian residents of Germany discussed the need to establish their own religious center. A letter was sent to the late Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Husayn Borujerdi asking him for help; Grand Ayatollah agreed with the plan and donated RI100,000 to the center. The construction began in 1960 and by 1965 it was completed. In the same year Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti was appointed to lead the center.[citation needed]

During the 1970s, the centre played a significant role in bringing about the political rising of Iranian students in the West against the Shah and ultimately contributed to the Iranian Revolution.[citation needed]

Controversy and calls for closure

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From 1993 until its closing, the Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg [de] monitored the IZH due to its ideological, organisational, and personal ties to the Iranian government. The IZH repeatedly protested against its monitoring, stating that it was a "purely religious institution that, independent of Tehran, only deals with the religious affairs of Shiite Muslims living in Europe."[1]

On 24 July 2021, the mosque was vandalized with slogans in reference to the 2021–2022 Iranian protests, such as "Movement for Water and Blood" and "Death to the Islamic Republic of Iran".[3][4]

On 17 June 2022, IZH deputy director Seyed Soliman Mousavifar received an expulsion order from the Federal Ministry of the Interior after an investigation revealed that he shared extremist propaganda videos on Facebook, as well as maintained ties with Hezbollah representatives in Lebanon.[5] Mousavifar appealed the decision twice, but was rejected by the Hamburg Administrative Court [de] and left the country in November the same year.[6][7]

During the Mahsa Amini protests, a joint motion made by the traffic light coalition (the SPD, FDP, and Alliance 90/The Greens) was passed by the Bundestag, which among other things, called on the German government to "examine whether and how the [IZH] can be closed as a hub for the Iranian regime's operations in Germany."[8] More calls for the IZH's closure were made after the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, with Greens member Jennifer Jasberg [de] stating "We do not want to accept that individual actors in our city create a breeding ground for hatred against Israel".[9]

Closure

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The centre was raided on 24 July 2024 and closed by order of Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, after months of investigating its connections to Hezbollah.[10] According to Faeser, the centre was used by the Iranian government to "propagate an Islamist, totalitarian ideology".[2] Several other affiliated Islamic centres, such as the Centre for Islamic Culture Frankfurt [de] and the Islamic Centre Berlin, were closed down as well.[11]

Soon after the announcement, Germany's ambassador to Iran was summoned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[12] In the following days, Iranian officials strongly condemned the ban, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Bagheri stating that the mosque's closing was "unwarranted and constitutes a grave violation of fundamental rights of freedom of religion and thought".[13]

Directors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Neue Erkenntnisse über das Islamische Zentrum Hamburg" [New findings about the Islamic Center Hamburg]. hamburg.de (in German). Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Jaeger, Mona; Staib, Julian (24 July 2024). "Blaue Moschee: Faeser verbietet Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg" [Blue Mosque: Faeser bans Islamic Center Hamburg]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  3. ^ Knödler, Gernot (26 July 2021). "Farbanschlag auf Blaue Moschee" [Paint attack on Blue Mosque]. Die Tageszeitung (in German). p. 24. ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  4. ^ Gaertner, Rüdiger (25 July 2021). "Farbanschlag: Bedrohliche Zeichen auf Hamburger Moschee" [Paint attack: threatening signs on Hamburg mosque]. Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Germany Expels Iranian Cleric Over Support For Shiite Extremists". Iran International. 19 June 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  6. ^ "„Hat in Deutschland nichts zu suchen": Vize-Mullah hat Hamburg verlassen" [“Has no business in Germany”: Vice Mullah has left Hamburg]. Focus (in German). 7 November 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  7. ^ Ekrutt, Joana (5 November 2022). "Blaue Moschee Hamburg: IZH-Vize entgeht Abschiebung – SPD fordert Schura-Ausschluss" [Blue Mosque Hamburg: IZH vice president escapes deportation – SPD calls for Shura exclusion]. Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Bundestag fordert Verbot des Islamischen Zentrums Hamburg" [Bundestag calls for ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg]. Der Spiegel (in German). 9 November 2022. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Hamburgs SPD, Grüne, CDU und FDP fordern Schließung des IZH" [Hamburg's SPD, Greens, CDU and FDP demand closure of the IZH]. Norddeutscher Rundfunk (in German). 25 October 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Germany shuts down Islamic Center Hamburg". DW. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Bekanntmachung eines Vereinsverbots gegen die Vereinigung Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg e.V. (IZH)" [Announcement of a ban on the association Islamic Center Hamburg e.V. (IZH)] (PDF). Bundesanzeiger (in German). 24 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Wegen Verbots des IZH: Teheran bestellt deutschen Botschafter nach Razzia in Blauer Moschee ein" [Because of ban on IZH: Tehran summons German ambassador after raid on Blue Mosque]. Der Spiegel (in German). 24 July 2024. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  13. ^ Ahmadi Al Hashem, Morteza (26 July 2024). "Iran strongly condemns Germany's ban on Islamic center". Mehr News Agency. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Direction of ICH". Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  15. ^ "Ayatollah Ramezani's mission in Hamburg ends". Tehran Times. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Neuer Leiter des Islamischen Zentrums ist dialogbereit" [New head of the Islamic Center is ready for dialogue]. Die Welt (in German). 31 August 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
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