Salafis in Germany have been frequently linked to jihad terror plots. And the Qur’an, of course, with its exhortations to violence against nonbelievers (2:190-193; 4:89; 9:5; 9:29; 9:123; 47:4; etc.) is not as innocuous a book as Rauf Ceylan makes it out to be. It is, as we document here every day, all too easily “misunderstood” by the pious.
“Govt taking free Qur’ans project very “˜seriously,– from DPA, April 14:
The government in Berlin said yesterday that it is taking “extremely seriously” a mass give-away of translations of the Qur’an on German city high streets by Salafist Muslim fundamentalists.
“The interior ministry is taking the current Salafist efforts extremely seriously,” a spokesman in Berlin told reporters, a day before the Salafist organisation was to continue the Saturday morning handouts in dozens of city pedestrian zones.
The spokesman said police were also investigating threatening criticism by Salafists of German newspapers, which was “absolutely unacceptable”.
The newspaper Die Welt had earlier reported that a video on YouTube showed a German Salafist ranting against two daily newspapers that have attacked the project to give away 25mn copies of the translation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Politicians across Germany”s political spectrum have assailed the give-away campaign by a Cologne-based Salafist activist and businessman, Ibrahim Abu Nagie.
The project reportedly began in October, but the controversy only erupted this week.
A professor of sociology warned yesterday that the outrage about the Muslim radicals was playing into the hands of fundamentalists.
Rauf Ceylan, who teaches sociology of Islam at Osnabrueck University, said: “They wanted to get publicity, and they have achieved their objective. Everyone is talking about Salafism now.
“Another objective is to make contact with people during the give-away. It’s not reprehensible to distribute the Qur’an. It’s not dynamite: it’s the holy scripture of Islam. What matters is who is behind it and the ulterior motive, which is missionary.”…