A new report from Germany has revealed how an asylum home was built in close proximity to a known Islamist mosque, and it is often now frequented by the residents.
An asylum home in Frankfurt is gaining attention in German media after it was reported that the migrants who live there are mere footsteps away from a mosque that has ties to radical Islamic groups and potential Islamic state recruiters, German broadcaster HR1 reports.
The asylum home in the Enkheim district of Frankfurt is home to 74 male migrants, 14 of whom are underage, and the majority are Muslims.
While a small handful of the asylum seekers in the Enkheim asylum home visit a nearby Church to pray, the majority visit the Abu Hanifa Mosque, which also serves as an Afghan cultural association. According to the domestic intelligence service in the German state of Hessen, the mosque is a hotbed for radical Islamic activity.
The intelligence service believes many Muslims who lived within the vicinity of the mosque have gone to fight for radical Islamic groups in Syria.
The state security police in Frankfurt allege the Abu Hanifa Mosque is also home to recruiters of the Islamic State terror group. They claim that many of the visitors to the mosque do not recognize the validity of the German constitution, likely wanting Islamic Sharia law to rule over Germany.
The mosque is led by Imam Said Khobaib Sadat, who has claimed to have distanced himself from the Islamic state, but some say he still tolerates the presence of ISIS recruiters in the mosque. The Imam is no stranger to German domestic intelligence, and he has preached int he past for Muslims to heed to call for Jihad, or holy war.
In 2007 Imam Sadat was found to be connected to a trio of radical Muslims who had plotted a bombing attack in Germany, though no evidence could be found that could give a pretext for his arrest or deportation back to his native Afghanistan.
More recently the Frankfurt prosecutor was able to find contacts to Islamic state members on the cell phone of the Imam’s daughter. The Imam claimed that he had no personal relationship with the terror group though the prosecutor suspected he may try to move to Syria at some point in the future to join the Islamic state.
The investigation is still ongoing and no charges have been made.
The authorities in charge of the Enkheim asylum home are working on alternatives such as a prayer room within the asylum home, in order to dissuade Muslims from going to the radical mosque.
ISIS recruitment of asylum seekers, especially underage males, is a concern for the German authorities. Some like French academic Gilles Kepel take the subject a step further claiming that the underage migrants, combined with third generation Muslims may be leading Europe down a path to civil war.