Muslims in Germany

A young woman wearing a headscarf sits behind the counter of her decoration shop surrounded by ribbons, bows and piles of colored paper in the western German city of Cologne. The scent of oriental perfume fills the air, and the sound of traffic creeps in through the open door.

"We see something coming," Meral Sahin said. "And it's not for the first time."

The advance of "Islamic State" militants in northern Iraq and Syria, the brutal expulsion of Christians, Yazidis and Muslims and the savage slaughter of human beings has shocked her to the core.

"Islamic State has nothing to do with religion," she told DW. "They are terrorists who misuse Allah's name."

To what extent can Germans differentiate between the majority of non-violent Muslims and the minority that comprises the barbaric radical Islamists? Meral said she hopes they can disentangle the two, but admitted to being afraid of what she described as "another round of alienation."

Just four months ago, Sahin, who is also chairwoman of Cologne's Keupstrasse community interest group, walked down the street with German President Joachim Gauck. It was the 10th anniversary of a nail bomb attack carried out by the far-right National Socialist Underground group (NSU), and the German president's presence was seen as a symbol of understanding.

At the time of the attack, the police initially suspected it to be the work of foreign organized crime. Many living in the district where it happened were Turkish, and there is a general sentiment that they had been unfairly placed under suspicion.

Ten years on, 70,000 Cologne residents took part in a major cultural festival bearing the slogan, "Birlikte," which is Turkish for "standing together."

Preventing conflict

The festival was a major success for Maria Fichte. As a community manager, she co-ordinates the activities of various organizations, associations and religious groups. Part of her remit is to ensure that the multi-ethnic district is a place of harmony.

"There are a lot of Turkish residents here, as well as Germans and people from Africa," she told DW. "We try to prevent problems from arising."

Ahmet Erdogan's mosque shares a courtyard with a Turkish food shop. Sitting cross-legged on the carpet of the prayer room, he said he doesn't believe the majority of Germans paint Muslims and terrorists with the same brush - despite a rash of polarizing media reports.'

But he does have other concerns. As a father, he is worried about the fate of younger Muslims who are being radicalized. "We should be worried," he explained, "it can happen in any family."

He said those who spread Islamic-extremist hatred know exactly where and how to find children susceptible to their false promises. "They seem to give them a feeling of friendship, a feeling of 'we're in it together,' a feeling of being strong," he said.

But all of that, Erdogan said, is followed by the ideology, by the growing of the beard, and by the asking of certain questions. Erdogan has his own questions, and is not afraid to put them to himself.

"Are we doing something wrong? Are families doing something wrong? Is everyone doing something wrong?" he asked. "We have already lost a lot of children, and I feel compelled to do something about it."

'Murderers not Muslims'

While most pedestrians in the neighborhood don't want to speak openly about politics and religion, others are glad for a chance to make their views known.

One woman, who describes herself as a "Turkishified German," a Muslim with Turkish roots and a German passport, said fear is widespread.

"We are afraid of being put in the same category as the terrorists, and we worry that people don't look to see that these terrorists are not Muslims, but terrorists and murderers," she said.

She added that all they want is power and money, not God's peace and blessings.

"I am sure that we Muslims will have to start justifying ourselves again," she said.

For her part, Meral Sahin said she likes to think back to June and the success of the Birlikte festival that brought so many people together. But now she, like many others, is now left wondering what happens next.