Berlin imam pleads for tolerance, as young Muslims lured into jihad
Berlin's House of Peace mosque preaches moderation in face of militants' call for jihad, but some young Muslims don't wish to hear
After the latest of his sermons denouncing the Islamic State group, Mohamed Taha Sabri stepped down from an ornate platform at the House of Peace mosque. The 48-year-old chief preacher then moved to greet his congregation, steeling himself for the fallout.
Soon, two young men were calling him out.
Only moments before, Sabri had derided the militants' tactics, saying "it is not our task to turn women into slaves, to bomb churches, to slaughter people in front of cameras while shouting 'God is great!'"
One young man in a black leather jacket angrily chided him for challenging "Muslim freedom fighters". His companion in a yellow shirt then chimed in: "What is your problem with Islamic State? You are on the wrong path!"
"No," said Sabri, embracing the surprised young men. "My brothers, you are the ones on the wrong path."
In the era of Islamic State, the wrong path has become all-too-familiar ground at the House of Peace. The liberal mosque stood for years in an immigrant neighbourhood in south Berlin as a place where battered Muslim women could find help divorcing their husbands and progressive imams preached a positive message of religious tolerance.