Muslim organizations in Germany lobbying for rights of social minorities: Contested issues of naturalization and religious recognition

This paper discusses the advocacy of Muslim umbrella organizations in Germany for civil rights both in the sphere of religion and beyond, including an organizational-sociological analysis of undelying motivations and challenges.

The empirical and historical background is a so-called double shift in German legislation: On the one hand, changes in the German migration regime since the turn of the 21^st century include an opening up of the ethnic nationality concept due to the introduction of ius soli elements in the Act on the Reform of Nationality Law in 2000. On the other hand, the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 were followed by a tightened security policy that has aimed at the fight against Islamist terrorism. Both developments coincided and affected the relationship between Muslims organizations and the German State

In light of the theoretical debate on securitization, which can be applied to the three security dimension state-, societal-, and human security, this paper highlights the political emphasis of a threat rhetoric, while analyzing its impact upon Muslim organizations. Especially, their responses to the changes in German nationality law and the still pending status of Muslim organizations within the German church-state relations are discussed based on empirical material gathered from six main Muslim umbrella organizations (including organizational documents from 2000 to 2010 and 11 semi-structured interviews).

The paper includes a discussion on the following topics related to the naturalisation debates: German language acquisition, integration courses, ability to ensure self subsistence, naturalisation tests, dual citizenship, and local voting rights. Furthermore, issues regarding the recognition of religious rights for Muslim individuals and organizations are discussed, such as the pending official recognition of Muslim umbrella organizations, the hampered introduction of Islamic religious education in public schools, contested issues around the wearing of headscarves, and exemption rights from school classes due to religious believes.