German politicians are calling for new “Islam laws” to combat possible radicalization of the country’s growing Muslim population.
Alexander Radwan, Christian Social Union (CSU) member of the German parliament, is calling for a “church tax” on Muslims to prevent homegrown extremism in German mosques. The tax would make up a certain percentage of a Muslim’s income and be used to fund the activities of the German mosques.
“If you stop foreign funding of mosques, of course you have to provide sufficient funding here in Germany,” Radwan told Suddeutsche Zeitung Tuesday.
Similar taxes are already in place for members of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish individuals. Radwan wants to force mosques to register as public corporations and receive its funding with oversight from the government. Imams would also receive their training at German institutions.
CSU’s General Secretary, Andreas Scheuer, recently said the key to preventing radicalization is making German the language of the mosques.
“We cannot tolerate a situation in which extremist views are imported from abroad,” Scheuer told Die Welt. “Europe must cultivate its own Islam.”
The proposal follows the April 14 launch of Germany’s “integration reforms” by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU coalition. The reforms include minimum wage jobs and free competition on the labor market to create at least 100,000 jobs.