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ISLAM

Krekar back in court after ‘dream’ arrest

The arrest of Mullah Krekar could represent a dream scenario for the Kurdish Islamist convicted this week for issuing death threats, said terrorism researcher Magnus Ranstorp.

Published: 28 March 2012 09:50 CEST

His stature would grow in extremist circles after he was apprehended on Tuesday in a raid on his home, Ranstorp said. But the Swedish terrorism expert added that the arrest did automatically equate to a heightened risk of terrorism in Norway.

“There have been similar situations in other countries, including Britain, without them leading to further violence. I'm sure the security police (PTS) are following this situation closely,” he told broadcaster NRK.  

Krekar will face a remand hearing on Wednesday morning at Oslo District Court. PST has asked for him to be held for eight weeks, while the mullah’s lawyers are calling for his immediate release.

Krekar was sentenced on Monday to five years in prison for issuing death threats against a former government minister and three Kurds living in Norway. He was released pending the outcome of an appeal.

Tuesday’s arrest came after it emerged that Krekar had issued further threats on an internet forum last weekend. If jailed, his followers would hold an unnamed Norwegian hostage in a cellar, Krekar said.

He also spoke of former government minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, claiming he knew where the Christian Democratic politician lived.

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ISLAM

Mosques in Cologne to start broadcasting the call to prayer every Friday

The mayor of Cologne has announced a two-year pilot project that will allow mosques to broadcast the call to prayer on the Muslim day of rest each week.

Published: 11 October 2021 10:28 CEST
Mosques in Cologne to start broadcasting the call to prayer every Friday
The DITIP mosque in Cologne. Photo: dpa | Henning Kaiser

Mosques in the city of the banks of the Rhine will be allowed to call worshippers to prayer on Fridays for five minutes between midday and 3pm.

“Many residents of Cologne are Muslims. In my view it is a mark of respect to allow the muezzin’s call,” city mayor Henriette Reker wrote on Twitter.

In Muslim-majority countries, a muezzin calls worshippers to prayer five times a day to remind people that one of the daily prayers is about to take place.

Traditionally the muezzins would call out from the minaret of the mosque but these days the call is generally broadcast over loudspeakers.

Cologne’s pilot project would permit such broadcasts to coincide with the main weekly prayer, which takes place on a Friday afternoon.

Reker pointed out that Christian calls to prayer were already a central feature of a city famous for its medieval cathedral.

“Whoever arrives at Cologne central station is welcomed by the cathedral and the sound of its church bells,” she said.

Reker said that the call of a muezzin filling the skies alongside church bells “shows that diversity is both appreciated and enacted in Cologne”.

Mosques that are interested in taking part will have to conform to guidelines on sound volume that are set depending on where the building is situated. Local residents will also be informed beforehand.

The pilot project has come in for criticism from some quarters.

Bild journalist Daniel Kremer said that several of the mosques in Cologne were financed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, “a man who opposes the liberal values of our democracy”, he said.

Kremer added that “it’s wrong to equate church bells with the call to prayer. The bells are a signal without words that also helps tell the time. But the muezzin calls out ‘Allah is great!’ and ‘I testify that there is no God but Allah.’ That is a big difference.”

Cologne is not the first city in North Rhine-Westphalia to allow mosques to broadcast the call to prayer.

In a region with a large Turkish immigrant community, mosques in Gelsenkirchen and Düren have been broadcasting the religious call since as long ago as the 1990s.

SEE ALSO: Imams ‘made in Germany’: country’s first Islamic training college opens its doors

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