Excerpt:
Heads of leading German Islamic groups have criticized the AfD's proposed ban on minarets and burqas. Germany's Islamic Council has even compared the far-right party with the NSDAP.
"I think the AfD is playing with people's fears," Burhan Kesici, the head of the Islamic Council, told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. "We had a wave of refugees last year, we have a lot of unemployment, we have other problems. I think now they are trying to score, using Islam to attract new voters," he added.
The leader said that Islam was "obviously compatible with the German constitution" and that there was no need for Muslims to expressly campaign against the AfD's opinions. Muslims were well-integrated within German society and those converting to radical Islam were usually youth who had drifted away from the mainstream, he said.