“They stressed on more than one occasion that most of the minority members have agreed to abide by the German constitution,” Micksch said.

VIENNA, April 14, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Muslims in Germany have integrated effectively despite several challenges on the way, according to a writer and researcher on Islam.

Jurgen Micksch, founder of a multi-cultural center established after 9/11, said members of the Muslim minority have shown an inclination to abide by the (German) constitution and the separation of the religion and state.

However, a number of restrictions have hampered their tendency, including discriminating against women with the imposition of the hijab ban, Micksch told Frankfurter Rundschau daily in an interview published Thursday, April 14.

“That sort of discrimination against Muslim women remarkably rose in recent years, with laws having been amended in several schools and public institutions to remove the dress code,” Micksch said.

Micksch has released a book, under the title “Islam Forum in Germany: Interviews with Muslims”, in which he expounded on the results of an initiative his center had made in the wake of the September 11 attacks, blamed on Al-Qaeda leader and Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.

The attacks, in which an Egyptian student studying in Germany was also involved, sent approval rates toward Muslims hit a record low among Germans, forcing the minority members to react with ghettoizing themselves, according to Micksch.

He added that Muslims responded positively to the initiative, which brought together church representatives, government and security officials from various German states to compare notes with the leaders of Muslim organizations on the future relations between Islam and the German society.

“They stressed on more than one occasion that most of the minority members have agreed to abide by the German constitution, underlined the need for equality between men and women and reject violence in all forms,” said the German researcher in his book.

“Opinion polls also showed most Muslims accept the German constitution, and Muslim feminist groups were set up to introduce changes to the position of women.”

Micksch believed there are extremist positions adopted by some Muslims, but he stressed they were not playing a key effective role among other members of the minority.

In November 2004, Muslim leaders attending the forum organized by Micksch’s center highlighted that Islam should not be bracketed with violence, hoping their participation would clear up such stereotypes and baseless misconceptions.

Citing another misconception, the German researcher said the lack of Muslim women’s role in Germany should not be contributed to Islam but rather to a set of traditions that dominate their original Muslim countries.

He also lamented that real problems facing the Muslim community were discussed in Germany narrow-mindedly and on the basis of wrongful judgments on Islam and Muslims.

Meanwhile, Micksch opened fire on banning female teachers from wearing hijab in some schools, which he sees as a discriminatory act as it also reflects on other workplaces.

In the hospitals of Frankfurt University, for one, hijab-clad nurses are not appointed. In the hospital of Giessen, even garbage collectors are not allowed to wear the Islamic dress code.

To add salt to injury, private sector institutions halted the recruitment of hijab-clad women despite rulings by Germany’s highest tribunal, the constitutional court.

The court ruled in 2003 that Baden-Wuerttemberg was wrong to forbid a Muslim teacher from wearing hijab in the classroom. However, a number of states enacted the ban on school teachers.

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations – unlike the symbolic Christian crucifixes or Jewish Kappas.

Micksch noted a noticeable desire by Muslim organizations to integrate in the German society despite the existence of such hardships.

Earlier this month, Germany’s biggest mosque has formed a team to introduce Islam to those seeking first-hand information on Islam.

In December, 40 Muslim youths, aged 18-30, set up a kiosk in central Hamburg on December 21-24, distributing illustrative materials on Islam among attentive and enthusiastic passers-by.

Islam comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity. There are some 3.4 million Muslims in the country, including 220,000 in Berlin. An estimated two thirds of them are of Turkish origin.

Germany’s mass-circulation Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported in July that Germans reverting to Islam have risen dramatically in the past few years and are keen on leaving their indelible marks on society.