Following the fatal knife attack in Mannheim, calls for tougher state action against Islamists are growing louder. This reaction comes rather late, says Michael Schmidt-Salomon, chair of the Giordano Bruno Foundation: "For many years now, not only ex-Muslims and critics of Islam have faced severe threats, but also advocates of an open-minded Islam like Seyran Ateş, whose liberal mosque became a target of ISIS."

Warnings about the dangers of political Islam were issued as early as the "1st Critical Islam Conference" in 2008, Schmidt-Salomon explains. However, the conference's insights, organized by the Giordano Bruno Foundation in cooperation with the Central Council of Ex-Muslims, were largely ignored in the political sphere. "The urgent warnings from ex-Muslims and liberal Muslims, who knew exactly what they were talking about when exposing the strategies of 'Islamic fascism,' were almost entirely disregarded. Worse, efforts were made to discredit these authentic voices from the Muslim cultural sphere by labeling them with terms like 'Islamophobia' or 'anti-Muslim prejudice,' effectively pushing them into the 'far-right' corner. Unfortunately, we must note a tragic failure of the established parties here, whose ignorance has not only strengthened Islamism but also fueled right-wing populism in Germany."

In his book "Die Grenzen der Toleranz" ("The Limits of Tolerance", Piper 2016), Schmidt-Salomon succinctly captured this dynamic: "Those who deny the reality of political Islam, who against all reason dispute any connection between Islam and Islamism, or who think they need only fight terrorists but not the ideologies that motivate them, are driving voters straight into the arms of politicians who can perfectly disguise their anti-enlightenment agendas under the guise of 'enlightened criticism of Islam.'"

 
Bold Statements Before the European Election

Eight years after the book’s publication, this prediction has come true. Why democratic parties failed to act against these foreseeable developments is a mystery to Schmidt-Salomon, especially since the responsible politicians were well-informed. In 2019, during a policy conference for the Green Party, he shared a stage with Annalena Baerbock, warning against ceding criticism of political Islam to right-wing populists. Yet, this seems to have yielded little impact.

At least: Last Sunday, after the deadly knife attack in Mannheim, Green Party chair Ricarda Lang admitted the party may have "shied away from the debate" in the past, fearing it might "ultimately aid right-wing populists." She now stated that Islamism is "an enemy of a free society" that must be fought "both through security policies and on a societal level." Schmidt-Salomon remains skeptical: "I hope this represents sustainable insight and not just a desperate attempt to win back disillusioned voters with bold statements shortly before the European elections."

Bold rhetoric also came from FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai, who on Monday demanded the deportation of criminals to Afghanistan in response to the Mannheim attack. "While this may sound decisive, it wouldn't have prevented the attack by the suspected perpetrator, Sulaiman A., who had no prior criminal record and was even considered a 'model of successful integration' until last weekend," Schmidt-Salomon explains.

 
Right-Wing Populism as Islamism's Mirror Image

The 2nd Critical Islam Conference in 2013 already addressed how to counter both Islamism and right-wing populism in its resolution, "Self-Determination, not Peer Pressure: Against Islamism and Xenophobia". "It is crucial to recognize that Islamism and right-wing populism reinforce each other and share more ideological similarities than differences," explains Schmidt-Salomon. "Both defend their cultural enclaves against the perceived threat of the 'other' – 'infidels' on one side, 'Muslims' on the other – and oppose modern cultural values like liberalization, individualization, secularization, as well as the rights of women, homosexuals, and transgender person, against the principles of a secular, open society. It is absurd to think the AfD is an effective antidote to Islamism; in fact, it is largely just its Christian-nationalist mirror image."

To counter the dangers of Islamism and right-wing populism, it is essential to "attack the identitarian thought structures that underlie both movements." The 2nd Critical Islam Conference proposed strategies over a decade ago, including "the introduction of a universally binding religious and worldview studies subject, in which students are no longer selected according to their respective families of origin, but can jointly search for fair solutions to conflicts of interest." The conference also called for politics to "make greater efforts to strengthen the rights of children and young people – including against the claims of their own parents." This applies also to their physical integrity: "The legitimization of medically unnecessary circumcision of boys was a step in the wrong direction that should be corrected as soon as possible."

 
A Signal for an Open Society

"Broadly speaking, we should evaluate whether our legal framework strengthens or weakens the democratic constitutional state," Schmidt-Salomon argues. This is also why he submitted a petition to abolish the so-called "blasphemy law" (§166 of the German Penal Code), which is currently under review by the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag: "Unfortunately, there is little awareness of the issues surrounding this law, even though it effectively makes German prosecutors accomplices of Islamists. Recently, three ex-Muslims received penalty orders of 90 daily fines for demonstrating outside the 'Islamic Center Hamburg,' the headquarters of Iran's clerical regime in Germany, and tearing pages from a Quran. I understand that fundamentalists do not like this, but why should tearing out pages from a Quran be prohibited in a secular constitutional state when you can legally dispose of the entire book in a paper recycling bin?"

Convictions like those in Hamburg are rare. The real impact of the blasphemy law lies in preemptive censorship, Schmidt-Salomon points out: "Section 166 is why critical comments about Islam are deleted on social media platforms, as it is explicitly mentioned in the 'Network Enforcement Act.' Platform operators are therefore inclined to remove anything that might offend Islamic fundamentalists. For example, a photo of two men kissing in front of the Kaaba was flagged as 'anti-Muslim hate speech.' I believe that a censorship law like this has no place in the 21st century, and its removal from the German Penal Code would send a strong signal for an open society!"

A change in asylum and refugee law would be desirable, although legally much more challenging. Schmidt-Salomon suggests exploring the possibility of "conditioning the granting of residency rights on a clear commitment to the liberal-democratic constitutional state." He explains, "Currently, we are obligated to offer protection even to refugees who had to flee their homelands because they hold even more totalitarian views than the regimes they escaped. I fear this approach will not work in the long run. In any case, I believe Germany's internal security is far more threatened than many citizens realize."

 
Supporting Liberal Muslims

Schmidt-Salomon however places "utmost importance" on ensuring "that this is not misunderstood as a general suspicion towards Muslims": "Many German Muslims can reconcile their faith with the principles of the constitutional state just as well as Catholics or Protestants. Some are even completely non-religious and suffer particularly from the reactionary norms that prevail in 'their' community. The political struggle, therefore, cannot be against 'Muslims' as a whole but against a radical minority that seeks to expand its vision of a totalitarian theocracy."

Instead of cooperating with major Islamic associations often linked to Islamist networks (see the fowid analysis on "Islamic Lobbying"), the state should "promote humanistic interpretations of Islam, such as those presented by Mouhanad Khorchide or Seyran Ateş." "Tragically, liberal Muslims are particularly targeted by Islamists. Seyran Ateş has been under police protection for years – and the threat level has worsened since her Berlin-based 'Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque' was labeled a 'place of devil worship' in ISIS propaganda. I think it is our civic duty to support liberal Muslims like like Seyran Ateş in their corageous fight against political Islam. Hopefully, democratic parties will recognize this and take appropriate action – not just spout bold statements during election campaigns."