October 3 is not only German Unity Day, which this year celebrates its 34th anniversary, it is also the Open day of mosques (Open Mosque Day). Every year since 1997, more than 1,000 Islamic places of worship have opened their doors to interested people to meet and exchange ideas. Since 2007, Open Mosque Day on October 3 has been organized by the Muslim Coordination Council (KRM). The list of participating mosques can be consulted on the official website. It attracts some 100,000 non-Muslim visitors each year.
Mosques offer, among other things, guided tours, lectures, exhibitions and, in many places, culinary offerings. According to the organizers, the date of German Unity Day was deliberately chosen by German Muslims to assert themselves as an integral part of German society. The objective is to show that there is a German Islam and that mosques are not just places of refuge for communities of foreign origin.
This year, 2024, the motto of Open Mosques Day is “Life matters: every life matters!” “. This is an obvious reference to international news but also a way of standing out from authoritarian regimes inspired by Sharia law where everyone’s life hardly counts.
It is estimated that more than 5.5 million Muslims live in Germany, three-quarters of whom are Sunni, the rest are Shia, Alevis, Ahmadis and others. The number of mosques is estimated at around 2,800. They are often low-key “backyard mosques” located in outlying neighborhoods, but there are also representative mosques with domes and minarets, modeled after those in Turkey, in Bremen, Mannheim, Duisburg, Cologne…
An article from theAlmanach international editions BiblioMondeOctober 3, 2024
