The Council of Islamic Communities in Hamburg, the Schura, intends to found a Muslim welfare association. This should unite existing initiatives such as intercultural day-care centers, religion-sensitive care services, and counseling offers run by Muslim women under one roof. “In the Federal Association of Welfare Organizations there is currently no one explicitly representing a Muslim voice,” says Lena Çoban of the Schura. “With this, we are closing a gap.”
The planned welfare association aims to bring together local umbrella structures, professionalize them, and later as an advocacy group become part of the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der freien Wohlfahrtspflege. There, the six major welfare organizations are organized: AWO, Caritas, Diakonie, DRK, the Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband, as well as the Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Jüd*innen.
That there has not yet existed a nationwide-recognized Muslim welfare association so far is mainly due to structural reasons. “Islamic associations, because of their history, often also function as cultural associations,” says Çoban. “The German state does not know such diverse actors and demands a single point of contact, which we currently cannot provide given the pluralistic landscape.”
They face a major structural challenge. In the end, according to Çoban, it also comes down to a legal question: “Ultimately, perhaps the Federal Administrative Court will have to decide: Do we have to speak for all Muslims?”
The need has existed for a long time
Samee Ullah, co-founder of the already existing Islamic association An-Nusrat, which operates nationwide tutoring centers and counseling services, considers a Muslim welfare association necessary. Large organizations regularly seek advice from Muslim associations, he says. “But when it comes to funding or own projects, we are no longer allowed to have a say.” Meanwhile, mosque communities are places where social work has long been carried out.
Erst in den 2000er Jahren gab es erste Versuche, interkulturelle Strukturen zu schaffen und sich als Einwandererland zu verstehen
Rauf Ceylan, Religionssoziologe
According to religious sociologist Rauf Ceylan, the need has existed for a long time. In the welfare associations themselves, the question of intercultural opening had long played little role. It was assumed that Muslim migrant workers only lived temporarily in Germany. “Only in the 2000s were there first attempts to create intercultural structures and to understand themselves as a country of immigration.”
Offers in elderly care, end-of-life care, youth services, and work with refugees repeatedly hit limits when religious and cultural references are missing. “For that, Muslim structures are needed,” says Ceylan.
The increasing Islam- and Muslim-hostility in society is also a major problem for Islamic associations, initiatives, and clubs, says Çoban. “Many sponsors therefore do not dare to call themselves explicitly Muslim. They prefer to write: multicultural, out of protection.”
Viele Träger trauen sich nicht, sich explizit muslimisch zu nennen. Sie schreiben dann aus Schutz lieber: multikulturell
Lena Çoban von der Schura Hamburg
The Schura is aware of these tightened political conditions: “We have a lot of work ahead in a time when the social climate is moving more against us,” says Çoban. “This is reflected, for example, in the coalition treaty, in which Islam is treated only as a security issue. There is not a single paragraph about Muslims as social actors.”
Many qualified Muslim women are therefore increasingly losing their trust in German institutions. “We want to encourage Muslims to shape this country, even if it does not always extend a hand to them or greet them with open arms,” says Çoban.
In Hamburg there are already numerous Muslim initiatives. For example, an outpatient nursing service, a family counseling service, a Muslim retirement home is being founded. In the coming months they plan to approach these projects and thus attract members for a welfare association. “We know the topic raises many critical questions,” says Çoban. Therefore they want to increase public outreach as well. “We need well-formulated German-language positions to become more articulate and more compatible in public dialogue.”
A theological guiding framework for the Muslim welfare association to be founded already exists, prepared with the support of the Evangelical Diakonie. An initiating circle has already been formed, and the next steps are now: recruit members, raise public visibility, establish a formal sponsor. In a few months, Çoban expects, the welfare association can be founded in Hamburg.
