This is one of the more disturbing stories of the day. Syrian refugees in Germany are uncomfortable in Arabic-speaking mosques. Why? German mosques are too radical:
Hani Salam escaped civil war in Syria and survived the journey from Egypt to Europe. But when he saw men with bushy long beards at a mosque near his current home in Cologne last November, he was worried.
The men’s appearance reminded him of Jaish al-Islam, the Islamist rebels who took over his hometown near Damascus, said Salam, 36, who wears a moustache but no beard. One of them told Salam that “good Muslims grow beards, not moustaches,” he recalled – a centuries-old idea that he dismisses.
“Everything about this mosque made me feel uneasy,” he said.
Syrians in Germany say many of the country’s Arab mosques are more conservative than those at home.
Turkish mosques are more moderate, but Syrian refugees don’t speak the language. When they visit Arabic-speaking mosques, they’re finding them overrun with Salafist theology. Recall, many of the mosques in their Syrian homes are preaching the theology that bred ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front. More:
At the al-Nur mosque in Berlin, which is run by Wahhabis, Syrian Abed al-Hafian said he was alarmed by a strict interpretation of the Koran and Hadith, a collection of sayings of the prophet. He recalled a sentence from Hadith that the preacher quoted on his first Friday: ‘Every novelty (in religion) is innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance leads to the hellfire.’
“I had never heard that sentence in Syria,” said the 42-year-old father of three, who arrived in 2014. “The message is clear and is directed at us Muslims: ‘Don’t you dare interpret your religion. Take the Koran word for word.’ It’s a problem.”
This report is a vital reminder of the malignant effect of the avalanche of international funding (often led by the Saudis) for Wahhabist/Salafist theology. There are those who’ve long argued that Islam needs a reformation. Saudi clerics (and others) have agreed — and they’ve launched their own reformation, one that is lavishly funded and calls Muslims to jihad. So now Europe has mosques in its major cities that are no less radical in many ways than madrassas in Pakistan or Afghanistan. In other words, Germans will be trying to radicalize Syrians.
It’s a mistake to think of the terror challenge as one of infiltration only. Rather, it’s also a matter of instruction. When Salafist theology reigns, terror often follows, and Europe has a Salafist problem. Just ask Syrian refugees.