7. Resource Mobilization and the Institutional Frameword of Islam: The Integration of Muslim Turks in Germany

Integration is a dynamic process that includes the contribution of both the host state and the target minority group, and both actors set the limits of inclusion and exclusion, where integration itself could be defined through disintegration. Despite the fact that the host state defines the legal framework that identifies who is to be included or not within the host society, still the minority group plays an important role in this process, through its organizational and mobilization capabilities. The case of Turkish Muslims in Germany is an obvious case of this dynamic process since it reveals the defects in the process of integration, through pointing out the lack of organization, and the different platforms that organizations adopt towards the process of integration, as well as the inconsistent and indecisive role of the German state in defining the ‘integration process’, and in applying it. Both actors have taken different routes towards the integration process, the German state wanting to develop a Euro-version of Islam that fits with its secular values and which is supported by organizations such as the DITIB. At the same time it is faced with an opposing trend represented by organizations that aim to impose their own version of Islam which contradicts the principles of secularism, such as the Milli Gorus. These opposing trends have been clearly reflected in the issue of the headscarf debate, and the incoherent legal stance taken by the different German lander towards this question. The problem lies mainly with the top-down approach adopted by both actors that does not deal with the real problems of integration. There are different political agendas adopted by the host state and the sending state and its own opposing political groups that operate within the host state, leaving the target minority group left out of the whole equation and thus impeding the entire integration process. A grass-rooted bottom up approach that understands the ‘identity’ and needs of the target community, and also of the host community, could be a step forward towards defining ‘integration’, and choosing the most suitable mechanism a step towards a real application.