Seyran Ateş: "The far right is growing because it talks about the problems while other parties remain silent."
A lawyer, Muslim feminist, and imam, she founded the liberal Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque in Berlin.
BarcelonaShe's a woman and a magnet. A perfect match. a priori antagonistic. Seyran Ateş She was born in Turkey into a Muslim family but grew up in Germany. A lawyer by profession, she has lived under police protection since 2006. She began receiving death threats because she helped Muslim women who were being forced into marriage. Later, to publish the book Islam needs a sexual revolution (Islam needs a sexual revolution). And finally, to open a liberal mosque in Berlin, the Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosquewhere women and men pray together in the same space. The documentary Seyran Ateş: Sex, Revolution and Islam (Seyran Ateş: sex, revolution and Islam) tells his life story.
Excuse me, but can a woman really be a magnet?
— As a lawyer, I've done extensive research on the theological possibilities, and after more than eight years of investigation, I can say that each Islamic country has a distinct understanding of the imam. An imam is not like a priest. An imam is the person who leads the prayers of a group of Muslims and oversees other religious services. In other words, someone can be an imam if a group of believers accepts them as such, whether male or female. There are many female imams around the world.
Here in Catalonia, we don't know who the imams are, where they're from, or what they preach. Should this worry us?
— Absolutely. We should know what's happening in mosques, because a large number of believers go there and follow the imam's advice. It's essential to know who leads them, what advice is given, which preachers are read, and what kind of theology is taught. Because perhaps it's an anti-democratic theology, or one that opposes women's rights, or one that goes against the country's constitution. I worry that governments are sometimes too naive.
But what he proposes goes against religious freedom.
— No one is saying you don't have the right to practice your religion. The question is what the ideology of the mosque and the imam is, and what is taught. Because even freedom of religion has its limits if it goes against the Constitution or the law.
Some imams say that women are not required to pray in the mosque on Fridays, and that is why many mosques do not have room for them.
— This is not true. The Quran states that all believers are called to prayer on Fridays in the mosque, without mentioning gender. The second caliph after the Prophet's death, Umar, was the one who said that the best mosque for women is their own home. Therefore, we have hadiths on this matter, but we have nothing about gender segregation and the expulsion of women from mosques. If an imam says this, it means he is extremely misogynistic and a sign of a very radical interpretation of Islam.
Other religions are also misogynistic.
— As a women's rights activist, I fight against patriarchy, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or country. I know that radical Catholics, Evangelicals, and Orthodox Jews are also against gender equality. However, the Catholic Church has changed some practices. In the past, women used to sit on the left side of the church, and men on the right. Today, men and women sit together. There has been some modernization. And the same must happen with Islam: we live in the 21st century, so we must read the Quran in a contemporary way.
I insist, this should apply to all religions.
— It is true, however, I'm sorry to say, I have no evidence of a single Catholic family in Germany practicing child marriage or forced marriage. Although there is no Jewish or Catholic group in Europe planning terrorist attacks against our way of life. Therefore, we must discuss the similarities and women's rights across all religions. But we should also be honest enough to discuss the differences.
So what to do?
— Governments should engage in dialogue with Islamic organizations about integration, but they also have a responsibility to clarify that there are rights in our countries that must be respected. This is what I demand of our politicians: that they state, ever more forcefully, that some things are absolutely unacceptable here, and that we have democracy and gender equality.
But this could fuel Islamophobia and give wings to the far right.
— This argument kills any discussion, and that's what's happening all over Europe. The far right is growing because it talks about the problems while the other parties remain silent. We need to talk about the problems.
So, is the far right right?
— In a way, yes, but it lacks good solutions to the problems. Its only idea is to expel all Muslims, and that's not a solution. I have other proposals. I opened a liberal mosque precisely to demonstrate that Islam can be practiced differently, where a woman can lead the prayer, and women and men can pray together. But we also need more education, more debate, and a specific ministry for migration.
To what extent is the Islam you propose representative?
— I live under police protection, and ISIS terrorists want to attack our mosque. If our opponents use violence against us progressives, who dares to speak out? Who can say how many progressive Muslims there really are if they remain silent for fear of being harmed? Our mosque has been operating for eight years, and many people have asked us for advice on opening a liberal mosque in their country, but most ultimately haven't because they don't want to live under police protection. I'm not saying I represent Islam, but I'm sure there are millions of progressive Muslims living in Europe who remain silent.
Are there any countries in Europe that are doing well?
— Not entirely, although some countries are doing some good work, like Austria and Germany. That's why I'm calling for a European conference on Islam, because we have the same problems across Europe, and we should have much more interaction between countries to figure out how to tackle the challenge of radical and political Islam together. Instead, all European countries have economic interests in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar… This is the most serious issue.
