Mathias Rohe at the symposium “Islamic Religious Community as Public Corporation – Opportunities and Challenges”
On 21 September 2019, EZIRE Director and Islamic scholar Mathias Rohe spoke at the symposium “Islamic Religious Community as a Public Corporation” of SCHURA Hamburg about the opportunities and challenges associated with such a status. The reason for the symposium was, besides current discussions about mosque tax and imam training, the state treaty existing in Hamburg since 2013, according to which the Islamic religious community strives for the attainment of the rights of a public corporation.
In his lecture Mathias Rohe dealt with the prerequisites for recognition as a corporation. In addition to the existence of a religious community, these are also the guarantee of the duration and the compliance with the law of the association. Also the existence of necessary financial resources plays a role, as well as the necessity of membership lists.
Rohe also argued that the influence of foreign organisations plays a role in a recognition procedure – whereby not the existence of theological authorities, but a political influence on religion is viewed critically.
According to Rohe, he considers the establishment of a relationship of trust to be just as important as the fulfilment of legal criteria. He urged Muslims to make their processes, including internal conflicts, as transparent as possible. In view of increasingly harsh political conflicts, it is also becoming increasingly important for Muslims to gain social allies for their concerns.