Stories that people the world over information they provide the pains they want to express d. W. On facebook and twitter up to date and in touch follow us. Begin to fly were on a journey to see how europes muslims live do muslims in belgium france and spain have the same problems and worries the same desires are europes muslims the same everywhere are they able to reflect critically on islam. Where does this work especially well where doesnt it just doesnt know what are their fears do they have to fear exclusion. This can all this for me thats where the conflict is distinguishing between the ideology or religion and the people in the end and. Thats what motivated me to go on this journey how met had a Bad Reputation for hating islam that shows that critics of islam arent really welcome so you can end up in a dangerous place on that side its high time to eliminate this issue from the perspective of the people not bashing islam but not islamic. We are either we cant allow right wing populists to be the only voices criticizing islam. I dont think its bad to doubt and criticize on the contrary. How we muslims we act on it in these tense times is considered germanys toughest critic of islam our journey takes us to belgium im curious to know whether hamad will be confronted with less repudiation than in germany. At the foot i lived in brussels for a year ten years ago it was. Even then the city was really diverse. But there are more women wearing head scarves now than back then its like you know what does that mean islam more established in belgium than in germany. Is the islamization more progressed. Good question. In the debate about islam belgium was a blind spot until the attacks in paris and brussels today its in a state of emergency the mole and they can scare big districts have been referred to as a breeding ground for chair the fact that the attackers were able to stay hidden and scare bake for weeks in the middle of the capital indicates theres no peak network of coconspirators and accomplices we need officer had been issued has been a member of the police force for more than thirty years hammett is waiting across the way for security reasons. And you. Know now that. My colleague is nearby but hes not alone hes under Police Protection what is it. Hes written books critical of islam. Yes he has received Death Threats we all have to die of something. So cynical on the contrary if you fight for something you mustnt be scared. Of them i dont believe i am today if you never come again i dont. Go i dont think were curious. Whats going on in the scar big neighborhood of the volume of the f. S. A. He began in the late eightys thats when the problems started more and more women took to wearing veils and the men started growing beards for the defense of freedom the goal is this. And there was also lots of talk about islam. If you do and you know about the stuff ali in the remarks that you dont so its wrong to politicize islam. Exactly whether im a muslim a buddhist a jew or a catholic its my business i never got in public im a citizen. Its nobodys business whether at home i pray or sleep on we have to learn not to put ourselves on public display like that why should i run around waving a flag saying look at me im a muslim what for am i not convinced of being a muslim that my parents werent muslims why this constant need to show it all the time i mean you know. Come on with me where does this need come from the moment ive heard were going to do more we monitored in memes for security purposes that it could come say on the t. V. So presumably and we learned that the muslim preachers from egypt and saudi arabia have tried to islam eyes the immigrants in europe. Obvious that would be used im easy to preach is treason to the first generation of guest workers like good for nothings dont you must be. Pretty. Good they. Would you are not a proper muslims you allow your women to wear skirts and so on do you see that brings me more with i mean is there were far so be all here that you know i dont think i could live why did belgium allow it. All the countries allowed it belgium germany france spain why because of the money. How exactly does belgium benefit. Economic relations with the saudis they buy western products the oil crisis in one hundred seventy three showed how the saudis control the oil price the oil price fell. The only thing i understand is that its about oil and saudi arabia yes. How about taking a look around. Of course lets go. To meet then if she was convinced that belgian. Politicians ignored saudi arabias influence on the moroccan and turkish immigrants for too long saudi arabia has funded and controlled most of the mosques in the country since the one nine hundred seventy s. A mom supported by the saudis have preach wahhabism for more than thirty years its significantly more conservative than the islam of the guest workers. I spoke of always talking about the islam of the salafist the islam of the Muslim Brotherhood or of the habits or the islamic practice by my mom and dad. Which islam are we talking about. We wont get anywhere with sweeping judgments just one terrorist suffices to bring an entire neighborhood into disrepute its only at Second Glance that i spot small mosques in some residential buildings one aspect that since the attacks is unique here the mosques only open in certain minutes before prayer you know they can say oh all day for security reasons there was aggression. Against muslims and yes in saw it. When it is do you know young people whove become radicalized. Sometimes i talk to parents whose children have gone to syria i always tell them your children a grown up it was their own decision to leave you with those awful. You cant say discrimination is to blame or the teacher who put the children into a corner no children radicalized themselves not sure where you see the pov is the thing i mean you know why they chose that option off you see this let me. Offer you i tell them quite clearly if your children go away and participate in an attack then the terrorists will win the housing was awful at the fact. There is no excuse for them. To leave the phone. So the radicalization doesnt start in the mosque it starts in the head. And. The process begins here when the parents of these children were still young themselves. It was their grandparents who came out here to tell their wives said no more skirts. Or oh you know the emotions are partly to blame ok ill say it as clearly as i can the responsibility lies with him and all the muslim institutions i tell them to their faces i cant bear the things you say spiritual journey nonsense as if my mother was not on a spiritual journey good does it do the young people who move from here to syria but also you. See the point that he was very they talk of liberating greater syria just as its written in the quran to get to paradise with seventy two virgins times three so two hundred. A lot in any case. You know two hundred forty could you satisfy them all. We. Have a bit i think the problem. If. We are involved or just outside of brussels. It is from here that the greatest number of young people moved from europe to syria to join as state. We need social worker malott. He does preventive work to counter radicalization. And you know. The best support. How would you describe this place. If you would from the humans. Have evolved to build thought is a small flemish town with a population of forty three thousand thats basically quite ordinary but in twenty twelve dozens of young people went to syria mostly from here twenty nine young people from will vote alone i knew almost all of them you were there during the time they were radicalized. Yes i dont start in billboard in two thousand and nine before the war in syria. Started when the he job was banned in schools. Whether they saw the young people ask themselves why and started considering their identity a year later the government banned the burka for security reasons we were told because any woman wearing a burka could rob a bank. Because he had a valuable ticket but the kids believed far more Bank Robberies were committed by people wearing motorbike helmets and that the ban had nothing to do with public security. It was only intended to discriminate against muslims. Thats a given here not long after that the belgian government decided to support the americans in afghanistan. Over the more because this is the young people said thats going too far away are. We muslims are paying taxes that fund a war against our own muslim brothers and sisters in afghanistan. If it would leave or i get caught hold of. This one of those dont know what. Would you already call that radical thinking that you know groups of your corner. Yes because at that point youve already pushed the young people to the edge of society to such an extent that they dont want to assimilate any more they use a statement by the prophet as an argument the Muslim Community is a body one part is hurting the whole body feels it thats why young people also feel connected to their sisters and brothers in afghanistan for good or for purpose to see so thats why they said i cant say here anymore in part for humanitarian reasons i have to do something in syria it was here before but it was also ideological in order found this islamic state. How can it be that this barbaric ideology is so attractive to them that this is their view. Because it gives them a kind of identity youre not just a number anymore all at once youve got status like you the brits i remember one young person who learned a few words of arabic the other said wow he speaks arabic he knows something about religion. It was a to last a while after youve internalized their form of islam the natural conclusion is that you should reject non muslims and that you must be violent of us never said always of course if thats the process of life of your forgiveness at that for but. Because it is the help of purification. Exactly. Are you optimistic about the future of him he will still have to contend with those who returned i know how frustrated these young people were when they left they had a strong aversion to the police resound told weve not yet seen the last of the attacks unfortunately. Though as if. This was. A book with a lot of it. Just was me i must know what grieves me the most is all the unfulfilled potential. I see young people who have real potential who are friendly and kind since the. Screaming out to achieve something and they dont succeed. On this front of what in this unfulfilled potential is the Central Source of suffering in all civilization just. Forget about radicalization violence and terrorism those are just by products that is the. Problem. Yet. Im still thinking about where this hatred comes from and how it develops were going to meet someone who got caught up in this trap of radicalization himself today he fights against extremism. Hes become a real role model for many young people in the Banias Jeremy model does not owe also known as joe dalton he became radicalized in prison and knew one of the paris attackers personally he experienced the recent wave of extremism close up and personal. That answers. Another reason youre not going to. Get us whats changed over the past ten years you know more and so i think that the more the world becomes radicalized the more important it is to keep a level head you know. Otherwise youll go under in this system thats selfdestruction. Thats whats the problem with the system. We come from problem areas all the things the system says about us they dont affect us thats why we dont expect anything from the system either. But i have used them because what you mean with the system is that injustice french democracy fraternity equality. Theres no equality we dont live as equals. And when you think thats amusing. Theres no fraternity either we live in an individualistic society the rich get richer and the poor poorer there are many People Living on the streets. Theres no equality nothing is shared to us democracy is hypocrisy or no. Who is us and. Us the others those who are excluded we struggle to integrate is not like we havent really tried weve tried to open the doors to get in but weve always been pushed back once you accept that youre going to be on the outside the problems start when you start seeing more clearly and discovering the system behind it but how to fight this monster of a system was so small were going to go for what im doing but yeah i system. Maybe with the help of religion. Religion is god and god is above the system its. About. The debt load of. Yes no you just said i was in prison because i was accused of a murder i didnt commit. The sin not you sit there innocent but convicted even though you havent done. And i think. I dont want to steal from but i have. Said the only ray of hope i saw was religion you think why not become gods soldier and go into battle against the system but given your son when you did you i already had children but i no longer wanted to see them. All martyrs up so its good to make a movie i was afraid i would lose my vision or become too sensitive because of the. God that was all there was for me. One day my sister came to visit me in prison even though i didnt want her to she showed me pictures of my children and said they havent done anything to you they havent chosen to follow a religion they feel nothing but love for you. As you can i work for you but they are meant to get it is it gives you think about it. Later i was meditating in my cell and suddenly i saw images of joy the joy of life thats when i realized that my love for my children was far greater than the voice in me that told me to fight a system. That was all are you now in touch with your children oh. Yes and i have contact with all children i work with children from these neighborhoods here. I teach them discipline and i try to find the key to strengthen them in their vision of life. Easy. To get a real sense that jeremys life is shaped by extremes now he advocates the ideals of love and he gets through to young people thanks to his convincing me. But how far would he have been willing to go during the days he felt he tripped. When i hear soldier of god it scares me. Of course its scary i was consumed by hatred i was in a hole you cant fall deeper than prison beyond that theres only death as soon as you cut off the life inside of yourself you become one of the living dead. You no longer have emotions you just have to do needs to be done. To discover that in your meaning if you have to sacrifice yourself you have to sacrifice yourself so the system understands that it doesnt have any power over you and that there is only god back then i would have done that that means people like me could have become victims of your attacks even though were innocent there was that for tony but i was innocent too. And that justifies killing people. No it doesnt justify it but once youve cut yourself off from life you dont see people anymore just the system you have to put yourself in their place to understand it otherwise you cant understand this hatred if youve not lived the life of a homeless person and youve never felt excluded you wont understand you could be an expert in philosophy and education but it wouldnt help. You good morning. To you cannot shatter childrens dreams at that age they still believe what theyre told on television as best you feel but as it is a government i start well but i think. But then they grow up. And they even want you and when injustice strikes if you talk to them ten twenty years later. Theyre no longer the same. Its so easy. To say its up to adults to recognize that and restore their dreams until theyve grown up. So you know lets go see god is it that some point these young people will no longer comply with the system most of the forms monsters are created not born. At the. End of the civil war was this. In contrast to germany france maintains a strict separation of church and state the principle of secularism is meant to give all people religious freedom there are no statistics about religious affiliation theres no religious education at state schools and rang religious symbols in public is against the law. That means veils are forbidden as a result some muslims feel their religious freedom is being infringed. We want to meet a former grand mufti so hey ben cheikh were about to find out whether the deeply religious bent. Shaykh well debate with hammett so he was born in saudi arabia seven of his uncles were the moms and his father was also an islamic scholar im interested in why hes convinced that secularism doesnt prevent muslims from practicing their faith in these events. On his own i felt then as an opinion on something. I dont own a lot of lets talk about islam in france and of holes is there a french islamic. Over him or not really theres no french islam but that will come its almost obligatory because islam doesnt exist in a bubble you always have to see it within the context of the culture within which it exists because given control why is islam compatible with europe. There are people who claim the opposite. When im in pakistan you dont have a choice it doesnt matter whether youre a citizen or whether youre just living here because everyone has signed the contract of secularism in france because im concerned that the extremists are using secularism as a trojan horse to benefit from it as a minority its secularism gives them the same standing as the catholicism that fundamentally shaped frances history its about banned in muslim countries and those countries minorities such as Christians Jews and those without a religion arent given the same rights as muslims so those who are ideologically opposed to secularism mind even know what it means when if there was no secularism in france only democracy meaning the will of the majority then the constitutional principle of secularism wouldnt exist because it would be kept. On a kid on a city we wouldnt be here anymore wed have fallen silent its secularism this allows me to talk about my religion. So you know ways to be more thorough is a part of the at the moment but theres no strict secularism in germany. You have freedom of religion the neutrality of the state with regard to religious denominations that means it doesnt matter if you have a faith or not theres a tacit separation between church and state so its secular without germany calling it that. And for you to. Say that you know. Im not making this film alone. Im making it with handmade abdel some odd have you heard of him yes i have is he here you know hes not far from here ill call him if youre ok with that call him i know he attended five himself as an atheist ill call him i really want to meet him great then the three of us can talk honestly i dont agree with him but i do anything to ensure he exists and that is voice be heard i know that his opinions have caused debates online and it was only thanks to the intervention of printing those in the fifteenth century people were able to liberate themselves from the dogmas of the Catholic Church and. The loss of colossal you would like it you can see how many voices from the same thing is now happening through the internet only much faster and more intensely. Right. You cant hide the frightening bits of scripture in islam there freely accessible to everyone one museum it takes some talent some to expose the art and more so i wanted. To say that i miss how often we have him. I dont want you. To start all over. Again if you will mark i dont always agree with your methods but i agree with your goal in my view your style is sometimes too provocative stiffs is. Looking not looking any but ill do anything i can to ensure your voice exists because you started an important discussion cannot you. May come up with a specific good if you will how do you explain that there are muslims threatened with death. Just simply because he criticizes islam so its. Just so. What the people who wish for his death do is justify his position. So this new. Term in his death would prove him right. To have a. Strange praise indeed when. Your work is important. For you to do this shows because our scriptures are sacred they dont allow any critical voice thats pathological deadly you wish death upon others those who avoid dialogue and confrontation are consumed by dont see deep within. The need of these. Their muslim muslims should try to take a detached review of their religion. Right i mean this is coming so that anyone. Thats exactly what i did i took a few steps back and looked at the whole thing from the outside i saw how rigid it all was they say its the world i use a sort of Shock Therapy to show that its not the world that the prophet isnt the holiest thing to have ever existed so zog and us escape missed this is this the event. That the quran isnt the best book to have ever been written as this this is the move this is this is and its a book by many people. And is a historical character with flaws and vices and all of that thats what triggers this reaction. The. Hours after that some people start to think others become aggressive but we cant just leave it as it is. The conclusion we can draw here with him as a devout muslim and you as an ex muslim and i dont like the term x. Muslim how would you describe yourself he doesnt like x. Muslim no muslim is that better. Thats ok. The conclusion we can just write. Is that mr ben cheikh as a practicing religious muslim and you as opposed to muslims share something. I met. And thats the premise ability of doubt and the fight against radicalization. And we agree on secularism in this. That is. Thats a good foundation. Exists to know. How many doesnt force anyone to be an atheist or to be nonreligious he just talks nobody should be allowed to force their beliefs on someone else. Thats your common denominator. Even though your religious and hunted isnt any more. After listening to it im not so sure. Thats the local it was able. To last night and i still have to come out i set myself up. Yeah then we were in france the country a vault it was so critical of the church and religion. Suppose these thinkers hadnt been so courageous in taking on religion etc they didnt destroy religion or christianity but they brought about the separation of church and state is that when we achieve this goal in islam namely that religion and freedom are neutrally exclusive that religion and democracy arent mutually exclusive then critics like me will no longer be needed theres no point in mild or gentle criticism of islam is how i used to work in construction some people are given the job is tearing down Old Buildings and others are thats a put up new ones in the place i belong to the wrecking crew. Has been see thats when that license of. The golden age of andalusia for seven hundred years islam was the dominant political religious social and cultural force in this part of europe it said that muslims jews and christians lived here and harmony hope im not thinking of this utopia of Jews Christians and muslims living in peace and so on im thinking about the idea of creating something together and being curious at first. Was like i was mostly when muslims were open minded and curious when they translated the works of the greeks they translated huge amounts of when philosophy knowledge and chemistry were as important as religion and identity they achieved so much. And thats whats missing in the islamic world today. Does islam belong to europe. Its a historical fact that islam was deeply rooted in this part of spain for centuries. How do muslims with spanish roots live. During my research i read that spaniards and granada in particular have adopted the muslim faith how are they different to muslims who grew up outside of europe. What i noticed right away was the manner in which the women wear their headscarves the muslim women were predominantly young and fashion conscious almost stylish. The community which is celebrating the highest islamic festival the sacrifice feast is part of the mood of the tune World Movement and Islamic Movement founded by a scottish actor in the one nine hundred seventy s. How do they manage to reconcile the divine order with european values. By meeting basheer cast an adage of find out. Hes an email and director of the granada mosque foundation. Thing you know last year right yes now i looked in the eyes of my dear nice to meet you welcome to another thank you it was not hard to find the mosque because i still really would be here great and very grand mosque like its presented in the newspaper but its very discreet and very little makes for the world the building has to go with the rest of the houses of the neighborhood so it has to be discreet but it is big in significance its the first mosque built by spanish muslims after five centers so who is coming to the mosque actually i mean what kind of muslims are these all kinds really its an open mosque of course its its an open place of worship and prayer and so all muslims are welcome. Mainly the muslims living in other which are partly spanish muslims and partly immigrants mainly from morocco in north africa and europe and then of course we have many many visitors because of the location youve seen the views that we have here and its a credible view so from here were looking into the Islamic Heritage of our under law with rightly i like to say this is the past of islam in a london lives and this is the present for seventy five one hundred seventy five there were no muslims in spain whatsoever it was only after the death of franco general franco that muslims started to come to spain and the spanish people started to embrace islam is there a possibility of european islam of course there is there is already european islam. I think i am a proof of european islam and there are many many like me im already Second Generation my children or Third Generation of european muslims i think muslims in europe need a strong european Muslim Identity european on muslim some people find it very difficult. To have to unite these two things so they think you are either european which means you have to eat pork and go to parties have sex with as many girls as you can otherwise you have to be a muslim grow long beard to go to the mosque every day have a. Heart in your head and just be very pious and pray a lot i think you can combine the two things without going to an extreme. You can have a good relation with your god believe in your god pray every day be a good muslim and have the same time you dont have to be trained your culture i read spanish writers i watch spanish cinema and and i go to theater with my kids to choose his buddies place as you maybe know im doing is going on now on bandais will have a customer i just want to know why he couldnt be here today with me we tried to be very open this is this is not the thing you know the thing is to criticize islam to be honest is not acceptable for us if someone criticizes islam we would do not accept it because we believe its. The last form of warship that god revealed to the human beings you can criticize muslims or actions of the muslims or way of life or a way of understanding islam which we even criticize we muslims say these particular people have a wrong understanding of islam they have a wrong understanding or of doing things in their way the prophet you wanted them to do it. We can accept these kind of critics but not to criticize someone criticize islam. As such. So hes allowed to criticize other muslims for their stance and incorrect interpretations but nobody is allowed to criticize him for what might be is incorrect interpretations i think in his view hes not interpreting the religion incorrectly because hes convinced he has the True Religion in his heart and you would have thought i told him you have sympathies toward sufism and that you emphasize the spiritual component a lot of what is it really confident they have a twist as the i missed us throughout thats the sad thing is that the spiritual people we place our hopes in are closed off and not really open to dialogue. Oh i missed this if i cant using counters for their own propaganda and they prefer not to talk and thats. Just the hour. So thats it have we become wiser how mad i feel i have. Just gone what do you think. I kept hearing the phrase the truth is around me i cant say what the true islam is to me its just words. Whats a good muslim how often did we ask that question is it someone who prays five times a day if its not just the fundamentalists who say that ordinary muslims use the phrase is good muslim and the true islam. A good muslim true islam the not liberating themselves from these expressions thats the problem thats why i still dont believe islam can be reformed but i do believe many muslims can become a monster pated i believe in change in whole. That this change will take place with very few victims but then again whats starting to come about i ask myself how reform of islam could even happen would that require a muslim march in the water the thing that needs changing is the attitude to religion that brings us back to the people i meant a person cannot reform god or his word but a person can change their attitude to the scriptures i think its important to permit doubt. How can these doubts be accepted if critics are permitted from the outset for one hour im going to start colonized by i know eyewitness that they should make peace with their critics everyone should talk first address yes quiets criticism must be allowed you dont have to agree but you have to be able to disagree here. Why do elephants need this. How does a plastic model turn into a paving stone why do algae make it clean your. Good idea can work in the where and there are people developing Smart Solutions everywhere. Lets inspire each other the environment magazine a go at africa thirty minutes on t w. One you can buy. Or can it. German on line dating websites ten over two hundred fourteen million year is a year. Thirty percent of germans now find their partner on trying. The dating business our special focus on made in germany starting october twenty fourth on d w. When history books are brought to life. Maybe the stories therein will get a rewrite. Of the story of the russian revolution. From the perspective of writers thinkers and to Covent Garden just what did it feel like to live in times over the revolution of the people. Nineteen seventeen the real october starting october twenty fifth to w. This is good on the news live from berlin bond of asia and the u. N. According forehead six