Berlin’s First ‘Liberal Mosque’ and Its Female Leader Fight for ‘Modern’ Islam Despite Threats – NBCNews.com

Human-rights activist Seyran Ates, left, chats with colleagues ahead of Friday prayers during the opening of the Ibn-Rushd-Goethe Mosque in June 2017. Sean Gallup / Getty Images

Sheikh Atef Asker, head of Egypts Al Azhar mosque and university often referred to as the foremost Sunni institution worldwide said that the Berlin mosque does not follow the true path of Islamic methodology.

Allah, peace be upon him, has ordered us to have the prayer led by a man and not a woman. It's not about being strict or not, it's about following an order, Sheikh Asker told NBC News.

Meanwhile, Egypts Dar al-Ifta al-Masriyyah, a state-run Islamic institution assigned to issue religious edicts, also

While only a few worshippers attended Friday prayers on the official media day, Ates said that the interest from liberal Muslims in her mosque has been significant" and that it has welcomed 20 to 30 regular followers, including several recently arrived refugees.

We also have refugees approach us, who say that many of the traditional mosques here are too conservative, too radical, too orthodox, Ates said, referring to the recent influx of nearly a million refugees from Muslim countries such as Syria and Iraq into Germany.

She said that the mosque and the work of her group is sending a signal in the fight against Islamist terror.

Coincidentally, her institution is only a few blocks away from

To show that "Islam is peaceful" and that many Muslims are open to change, Mohammad Moshiri, an Iranian writer and poet, joined the Friday prayers.

"We should not surrender our religion to fundamentalists," said the 60-year-old Moshiri, who also works as an integration representative in Berlin. "Seyran Ates is very courageous, we need to support her."

The taboo-breaking mosque will stay open despite the death threats and strong criticism, Ates vowed. It is now cooperating with local schools and plans to offer Quran and Arabic language classes in the future.

Our vision, our dream is to one day have our own building with rooms for Sunnis, Alawites, Shiites and Sufis, and one room where they then can all come together for religious encounters, Ates said, naming four sects of Islam.

But there should also be a place for inter-religious dialogue that would even invite people who do not believe in God, she said.

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Berlin's First 'Liberal Mosque' and Its Female Leader Fight for 'Modern' Islam Despite Threats - NBCNews.com