The Hamburg Islamic Centre and its affiliated institutions were banned by the Germany state due to an accusation that they are an Islamist extremist group with unconstitutional objectives and radical Islam.
In a statement, Germany’s interior ministry claimed it had “banned the Hamburg Islamic Centre and its associates across Germany until this day, for being an anti-constitutional Islamist extremist grouping.”
It also added that though it claims to be purely religious and apolitical in nature, this centre is not seen as other than a “direct representative of Iran’s supreme leader” who broadcasts Tehran’s ideology in “a way which is hostile and violent.”
According to the ministry, The Hamburg Islamic Centre aims at establishing “authoritarian, theocratic rule” instead of democracy and supports the “military and political dimension” of entities such as Hezbollah.
On Wednesday, 53 properties allegedly connected with the centre nationwide were searched by detectives while there will also be no room for many related organisations including four Shiite temples.
Interior minister Nancy Faeser said that those actions weren’t against religion.
“We do not fight against religion. We distinguish clearly between Islamist extremists who are involved in criminal activities within our country and numerous Muslims living here who practice their religion. This order has nothing to do with peaceful adherence to Shiite faith,” stressed out Faeser.
Germany prohibited Hezbollah operating on its territory in 2020 after declaring it a “Shiite terrorist organization”.
For some time now, domestic spies have been monitoring the Imam Ali Mosque called the Blue Mosque which is operated by Hamburg Islamic Center over associations with Iran.
In November last year security forces conducted comprehensive searches at several centers owned by it throughout seven German states leading to extensive evidence confirming earlier doubts resulting into present ban on Monday.
