00:00Suleyman Malik wants to build a mosque with a minaret, among the first of its kind in
00:09East Germany, but opposition has been fierce.
00:12I honestly didn't think it would be this difficult.
00:17There was trouble right from the start.
00:19Crosses as protest signs at the site, impaled pig parts, and years of Monday demonstrations
00:25in front of the mosque.
00:27The far-right AFD, a well-established party in Thuringia, has stoked tensions against
00:32the Ahmadiyya community.
00:34I consider this group, which some also call a sect, to be quite dangerous.
00:39Can Suleyman Malik overcome the anti-Muslim sentiment?
00:55And so we pray, help us, Lord Jesus Christ.
00:59February 2024.
01:01For about seven years now, this group has been staging regular Monday protests.
01:07They call it a citizen's church service against the new mosque in the Marbach district of
01:11Erfurt.
01:12At first, Suleyman Malik tried to talk to them, but he's since given up.
01:19They're always on transmit, never on receive.
01:22You can't talk with these people.
01:26They don't want to talk to us on camera, either.
01:29They distrust established media.
01:31But we are allowed to show them.
01:33They're proud of their long-standing protest.
01:37Our prayer for the day, Lord, my God, give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death.
01:46These demonstrations are not organized by any Christian church.
01:50The protesters' views are aligned with those of Thuringia's branch of the AFD, which is
01:54considered to be right extremist.
01:57Party officials have been praising the group's many years of protest against the Ahmadiyya
02:01community.
02:02It's good people are vocal, because I consider this group, which some also call a sect, to
02:09be quite dangerous.
02:11I firmly believe it is not one to be integrated into society.
02:18But what is Malik's community all about in reality?
02:22The Ahmadis are a Muslim community, officially recognized by German authorities.
02:28The mosque is financed solely through donations.
02:32Nevertheless, this community in Erfurt of about 100 people is consistently faced with
02:38hostility.
02:39There have been incidents where people spat at my wife or threatened my children.
02:49Because I'm also the spokesperson for the mosque, I experience a lot of hate and try
02:54to protect my family from that, so that they don't encounter that same hatred.
03:03In order to protect others in his community, Malik is the only one who speaks out and shows
03:08himself in public, like in this report.
03:11So what keeps him motivated?
03:13Malik was born in Pakistan and learned the hard way what it means to be an Ahmadi there.
03:19I had a great childhood.
03:21But when I realized that the Ahmadis were a persecuted minority in Pakistan, and that
03:25my father had to flee, everything changed.
03:30Mirza Ghulam Ahmed was at the root of the persecution.
03:34For the Ahmadis, he is the messiah promised in the Quran.
03:37Other Muslim communities consider this to be heresy.
03:41In the entrance hall of the mosque, there's an exhibition where Malik documents the persecution
03:46of Ahmadis in Pakistan.
03:50In 1974, Pakistan changed its constitution.
03:56Ahmadis were no longer allowed to call themselves Muslims.
03:59They couldn't pray or make calls to prayer.
04:04There is also information about the attacks on two Ahmadiyya mosques in May 2010, which
04:09killed over 80 people.
04:12Malik was still a teenager when he was forced to flee his home country.
04:16From one day to the next, we fled from Pakistan to Germany.
04:20That was a difficult phase for me, because I had to leave everything behind and come
04:25to a foreign country where I didn't know anyone.
04:32Suleyman Malik has been living in Germany for nearly 20 years now, and Erfurt has become
04:37his home.
04:38In his district of Riet, he also serves as the deputy district mayor.
04:45I grew up here, too.
04:47I've lived here since I arrived in Germany.
04:51For security reasons, he can't show us his home.
04:54But he wants to show us his district.
04:58Germany has given me a lot, so I wanted to give something back.
05:02That's why I ran for district council and am now deputy district mayor here in Riet.
05:13The Ahmadiyya mosque is not the first Muslim house of worship in Erfurt.
05:17But others are tucked away in courtyards — inconspicuous and barely recognizable.
05:24The Ahmadiyya community of about 40,000 people in Germany has a goal of building 100 mosques.
05:31And Malik's is one of them.
05:34To him, it's important the mosque has a minaret.
05:39A mosque needs a minaret so that people recognize that this is a Muslim place of worship.
05:45So that the mosque is also visible as a mosque.
05:51The inclusion of the minaret makes this mosque one of the first of its kind in eastern Germany.
05:56Although it's located on the city's outskirts, it's been controversial from day one.
06:02David Maischer is an Erfurt city councillor from the Green Party who lives near the mosque.
06:07He recalls the mood seven years ago.
06:11The massive opposition was palpable in Mabach.
06:14The district mayor and the district council also spoke out against it, saying things like
06:18we wanted a daycare center and got a mosque.
06:24On its website, the anti-Muslim network 1% still shows images from a 2017 campaign when
06:31demonstrators erected wooden crosses up to 10 meters high.
06:35However, the link to the YouTube video of the campaign is broken.
06:40YouTube deactivated the account.
06:43A separate time, protesters impaled pig heads and other carcass parts on nine stakes.
06:49Bodo Ramelow, state premier of Thuringia since 2014, has repeatedly shown support for the
06:55Muslim community.
06:59This is very unpleasant to experience.
07:01I live in the neighborhood where the mosque has been built.
07:05I see the hostile flyers, the stickers, the hatred associated with them, the pigs' heads
07:10and pig's blood that have been dumped onto the site.
07:14I find all of that completely unacceptable because freedom of religion means that everyone
07:19must be able to practice their religion here in their own way, as long as their religious
07:25practice does not stand in the way of others.
07:31At Thuringia's largest consumer fair, visitors find local beer, dumplings and grilled sausages
07:39— a whole array of traditional Thuringian food.
07:43And right in the middle of it all is Suleyman Malik with his information stand.
07:48He's taken part in the fair for many years.
07:55The fair showcases Thuringia.
07:59It presents the culture of the state.
08:02We too have become part of this culture.
08:07Members of Christian churches have stands just across from him.
08:10They've known each other for years.
08:13What's the situation with the mosque in Malbach?
08:15Have there been more problems from the opposition?
08:19Yes, there have been attacks.
08:22That's the general situation.
08:25But on the whole, things are going well.
08:27Of course there's prejudice.
08:29That's why we're here.
08:33Christian churches in Thuringia have long supported Malik and his community.
08:38The bishop released a statement about the construction of the mosque, which clearly
08:42states that people are entitled to religious freedom, and Muslims must be able to practice
08:47their religion.
08:48We, as Protestant Christians, shouldn't have anything against that.
08:53Malik's most powerful ally is also making the rounds.
08:57State Premier Bodo Ramelow stops by to say hello.
09:00Are you doing well?
09:02These are exciting times, politically speaking.
09:05But that's just how it is.
09:06As a community, we're on your side.
09:10Mr Malik, anyone can do easy.
09:12That, I know.
09:15The visit means a lot to Malik.
09:18It's recognition.
09:20It's friendship.
09:22It shows we are part of this society.
09:25That we're recognized.
09:27That we receive the support from the state premier.
09:33On this day, there's a sense of belonging.
09:36Let me give you a pen.
09:42Back at the construction site.
09:44Malik's office is still not finished.
09:47He uses his cell phone as his computer.
09:50He's not only the spokesperson for his community and deputy district mayor, he also has a job
09:55as a personnel organizer.
09:57Needless to say, he keeps busy.
10:03Construction delays are almost routine at the site.
10:06Building companies face intimidation online.
10:10Construction companies have refused work orders in some cases.
10:14Or cancelled construction contracts that were already awarded because they were afraid of
10:19being attacked.
10:22A few months later.
10:24The minaret is still covered in scaffolding.
10:27But the name is already above the entrance.
10:29Mahmoud Mosque.
10:32And real progress has been made in the prayer room.
10:38Everything is painted.
10:39And the carpet's been laid.
10:46It's an indescribable feeling to accompany the construction of this house of worship
10:51from the groundbreaking to now.
10:54I'm very grateful for that.
10:58But politically a lot has changed in Thuringia.
11:01There were state elections not too long ago.
11:04And Bodo Ramelow's left party saw huge losses.
11:07The Greens, David Meicher's party, were thrown out of parliament altogether.
11:13The AfD, using slogans decrying multiculturalism, was the big winner.
11:17It is now the strongest force in the new state parliament.
11:21His developments concern Suleyman Malik.
11:24But he's not surprised.
11:27It has long been clear that fascism has arrived in the heart of society.
11:32I've experienced it firsthand.
11:35That's why it didn't surprise me at all.
11:37I've been sounding the alarm.
11:39We all have.
11:43The 35-year-old simply carries on.
11:46He is currently waiting for a delivery of plants.
11:49A gift from the Ahmadiyya community in Frankfurt.
11:54Giving up is not an option for anyone here.
12:00We fled from extremists in our countries.
12:02And now we're looking these extremists in the eye again.
12:05That doesn't scare me.
12:07It encourages me to keep going.
12:11The pulpit is in its proper place.
12:14And despite the opposition, the grand opening of the mosque is coming.
12:17Suleyman Malik is making sure of it.
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