Germany Bans Muslim Group Accused Of Calling For Caliphate

Germany on Wednesday banned a Muslim organisation, Muslim Interaktiv, over alleged anti-constitutional activities, including calls for the establishment of a caliphate.

Announcing the decision, the interior ministry said police raided seven properties in Hamburg, where the group was based, as the ban took effect.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the centre-right CDU/CSU bloc said the government would not tolerate groups that threaten the country’s democratic values.

“We will not allow organisations such as ‘Muslim Interaktiv’ to undermine our free society with their hatred and attack our country from within,” Dobrindt said.

The group drew national attention in April 2024 during a rally in Hamburg that attracted more than 1,200 participants protesting what they described as Germany’s “Islamophobic” policies.

Some demonstrators carried placards reading: “The caliphate is the solution,” sparking widespread debate and condemnation across the country.

According to the interior ministry, Muslim Interaktiv is accused of rejecting women’s rights, promoting anti-Israel sentiment, and seeking to delegitimise democratic institutions.

The organisation will now be dissolved, and its assets confiscated.

Hamburg’s interior minister, Andy Grote of the centre-left SPD, welcomed the ban, saying authorities had “eliminated a dangerous and very active Islamist group.”

Officials in Hamburg said the group, founded in 2020, had been active online and often claimed that the entire Muslim community was being marginalised by politicians and society.

Meanwhile, police also conducted searches in Berlin and the western state of Hesse targeting two other Islamist organisations, Generation Islam and Realitaet Islam.

Germany has previously outlawed several Islamist groups, including Ansaar International, which was banned in 2021 for allegedly funding terrorism under the guise of charitable work.