The Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) association and its affiliated organizations have been banned by Germany’s Interior Ministry, which stated on Wednesday that they support radical Islamist objectives – writes the Zeit Online.
In a statement, the ministry said that, in response to a court order, authorities in eight German states had searched 53 of the organization’s locations early on Wednesday. Apart from the IZH headquartered in Hamburg, which houses one of Germany’s oldest mosques renowned for its turquoise exterior, its affiliates in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin were also outlawed.
According to the ministry, this will lead to the closure of four Shiite mosques. The IZH was banned on Wednesday based on information gleaned from a previous search of 55 properties carried out in November, according to the ministry.
“IZH Promotes Antisemitism, Terrorism”
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser declared, “Today, we banned the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, which promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany.”
“This Islamist ideology is opposed to human dignity, women’s rights, an independent judiciary and our democratic government.”
She stated that “the peaceful practice of the Shiite religion absolutely does not fall under this ban.”
“This is a further decisive step against Islamist extremism.”
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Wednesday announced a ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH), an organization that is considered an extension of the Iranian regime in Germany. pic.twitter.com/2s0ufMm8Re
— DW Politics (@dw_politics) July 24, 2024
According to the ministry, the IZH sought to establish theocratic rule in Germany through an Islamic revolution, acting as a direct emissary of Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Furthermore, it stated that IZH supports the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which is likewise prohibited, and antisemitism.
Berlin’s decision to outlaw the Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) organization prompted Iran’s foreign ministry to call Germany’s ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday, according to the official IRNA news agency.
What to Know about IZH
The Imam Ali Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, is a Shiite place of worship that is both magnificent and divisive politically. It is 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. Iranian theologians and politicians (including Ayatollah Beheshti, Ayatollah Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari or Mohammad Khatami) have spent time at the IZH.
The controversy of the IZH in Hamburg dates back nearly thirty years. Since 1993, the City State’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution has included information about the association’s operations in its annual reports.
Fundamentally, the secret service views IZH as “an important instrument of the Tehran regime” that works throughout Europe to propagate an Islam that is anti-Semitic and anti-democratic. This is the current report from the previous year. Additionally, the IZH is alleged to have provided support to Hezbollah, a terrorist group that Germany outlawed.
The late Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and the ruler of the nation until his death, wrote the book The Islamic State, which is distributed by IZH.