Kiel in the turmoil: Islam week ensures scandal about Salafism and gender segregation!

Kiel in the turmoil: Islam week ensures scandal about Salafism and gender segregation!

In the past few weeks, the Christian Albrechts University Kiel (CAU) has led to a violent controversy that the student body and politics shaked up. The focus is on the Islam week, organized by the Islamic University Group Kiel (IHG), which took place between May 5 and 9. Critical voices are directed primarily against one of the speakers, Sertac Odabas, who is assigned to the Salafist movement and is known as head of the organization "Iman". The situation escalated when reports on gender -separated seating and anti -Semitic statements became public during the events.

The allegations take both the event and the university. According to eyewitnesses, women and men were strictly separated during the events, which was presented by the IHG as a "voluntary offer" for religiously motivated "spatial distance". However, critics refer to social pressure that has been exercised to participate who did not want to join him. In addition, some visitors to anti -Semitic stickers reported on laptops that could be found in the event room, as well as a speaker who spoke about the "chase" of women, which makes the whole thing even more explosive. The Chancellor of the University, Claudia Ricarda Meyer, announced that the CAU only found out about these incidents after the event and clearly distanced itself from content that is not compatible with the basic values ​​of the university. Nevertheless, the approval of the use of space is questioned.

political processing and criticism

The excitement around Islam week has also achieved political dimensions. On July 10, the state parliament's education committee will deal with these allegations after the FDP has requested a comprehensive examination and processing under its parliamentary group leader Christopher Vogt. This shows that the topic of Salafism and its influence on educational institutions are increasingly focusing on the public debate. Meyer emphasizes that the university will take the allegations seriously and listen to the IHG and evaluate reports from event participants.

The IHG is under pressure in this situation. It indicates that he knew nothing about Odabas ’extremist background and explains that the events had no extremist content. But the arguments also draw questions. One of the previous allegations that have appeared in the past is that anti -Semitic rallies on campus have not been sufficiently prevented, which also casts a shadow on the reputation for the university. These events are perceived as part of a major problem that not only affects the CAU, but is also observed nationwide.

The role of Salafism

In order to better understand the background, it is important to look at some basic information about Salafism. This movement is often described as a current within Islamism, which propagates a return to the roots of faith. While Salafism has different forms, one of his manifestations is the jihadist extremism that endangers society. The protection of the constitution sees a serious threat to the democratic basic order in Germany in Islamism, including Salafism. Here it becomes clear that the discussion about the Islam week on the CAU is not only limited to local events, but is also part of a broader social debate.

Further information on the backgrounds can be found in the article by Welt , Haintz Media and bpb read.