Beyond the establishment of an ecumenical community, we should also recognize Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah himself and his friendship with Hugo Marcus. As the imam and leader of a minority religious institution and a community that was on the margins of German life, we can see that Imam Abdullah initially reacted in a way common across other religious communities. He made overtures to the Nazi authorities, even when the situation began to deteriorate for many at the mosque, including Hugo Marcus. We can make a variety of excuses for Abdullah: what he did was a survival strategy amidst increasing scrutiny and surveillance, doing what was best for the community as a whole. We can also look down from our position and say that he could and should have done more. Both can be true. These decisions, however, did not ultimately define who Abdullah was or who he chose to become when it mattered most. At a time when the Nazis ramped up their persecution of Jews, he stood by Hugo Marcus.
He did this even as his mosque faced animosity from other Muslims, an issue that continues for both the Ahmadiyya and other Muslim minority groups today. The inherent othering within the wider Muslim community, particularly among more fundamentalist Sunni groups and schools of thought are sometimes weaponized, particularly in countries such as Pakistan, where groups like Shia, Ismailis, and Ahmadis are sometimes considered “non-Muslims.” In many religious communities in countries like the United States, there remains a distrust and a willingness to other groups based in deep-seated misunderstandings. The example of the Muslim community in Berlin at the height of these tensions should serve as a cautionary tale for all faiths. We must see that fear, mistrust, and hatred of the religious “other” can lead not only to compromising and contradicting core beliefs but can also harm and bring trauma for generations to come. Let us heed their lesson now to avoid going down such a path.
We do not know what may have caused a shift for Abdullah. Whether it was the normalization of violent pogroms against Jewish people, their property, and their synagogues, or the imprisonment of a Jewish friend whom he had come to know as a brother in faith, he felt compelled to journey 40 kilometers from Wilmersdorf to Oranienburg with a Catholic priest and Protestant to protest in the name of truth and justice. Yet, the freedom of his friend was not sufficient. Abdullah went a step further to do his due diligence based on his religious principles. He ensured Marcus would have a safe place to flee to, given the deteriorating conditions in Germany. Eventually, Marcus did escape. Shortly afterward, Abdullah himself was forced to return to the UK.
What matters above all, however, is that he made his choice and helped his friend. As Baer astutely writes, “When it mattered most […] even as their accommodation to Nazi ideology helped contribute to the antisemitic atmosphere in Berlin, they ultimately frustrated the Nazis’ attempt to annihilate the Jews of Europe, if only by saving one life”22. The Qur’an teaches that “whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity”23. Abdullah knew these words and acted on them.
The stories and experiences of Hugo Marcus, his interfaith liberation coalition, the Berlin Mosque, and the wider community serve as timely examples for the diverse, interconnected world we live in today. They challenge us to go beyond our comfort zones, to honor one another for our humanity, to reconcile our shortcomings, and to know that ultimately, we are accountable for the decisions we make. As the fourth Caliph of Islam, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, once related, “A person is either your sibling in faith, or your equal in humanity”24. Therefore, whether as Muslims, Christians, Jews, or as people of another faith or of no faith at all, we all can learn from and teach each other. Particularly in times of adversity and trial, it is our standing together, reconciling our differences, and apologizing for our mistakes that allow us to be harbingers of justice, truth, and tolerance. In this way, we can draw on the models of Imam Abdullah, Father Georg, and Joachim, who there for Hugo Marcus against all odds, united in our conviction to uphold the standards we respectively believe our faiths hold us to. As the imam who succeeded Abdullah after his departure, Dr. Ahmed Galwash, stated in closing one of the final sermons given in the mosque during World War II, may “‘the God of all people and nations’ fill the hearts of all people ‘with respect toward one another so that peace and well-being for all will yet remain on earth’”25.
“For each (religious tradition/community of belief) is a direction toward which it faces. So strive together towards all that is good. Wherever you may be, God will bring you forth all together. Indeed, God is Most Able to do all things”26.
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Usama Malik is the resident chaplain for Muslim Space, serving Muslims and others within the carceral system, higher education, and the wider community.
22. Marc David Baer, „Muslim Encounters with Nazism and the Holocaust: The Ahmadi of Berlin and Jewish Convert to Islam Hugo Marcus,” The American Historical Review 120, no. 1 (January 2015): pg. 140-171.
23. Qur’an 5:32
24. Nahjul Balagha, 53.
25. Marc David Baer, „Muslim Encounters with Nazism and the Holocaust: The Ahmadi of Berlin and Jewish Convert to Islam Hugo Marcus,” The American Historical Review 120, no. 1 (January 2015): pg. 140-171.
26. Qur’an 2:148.
21
Beyond the establishment of an ecumenical community, we should also recognize Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah himself and his friendship with Hugo Marcus. As the imam and leader of a minority religious institution and a community that was on the margins of German life, we can see that Imam Abdullah initially reacted in a way common across other religious communities. He made overtures to the Nazi authorities, even when the situation began to deteriorate for many at the mosque, including Hugo Marcus. We can make a variety of excuses for Abdullah: what he did was a survival strategy amidst increasing scrutiny and surveillance, doing what was best for the community as a whole. We can also look down from our position and say that he could and should have done more. Both can be true. These decisions, however, did not ultimately define who Abdullah was or who he chose to become when it mattered most. At a time when the Nazis ramped up their persecution of Jews, he stood by Hugo Marcus.
He did this even as his mosque faced animosity from other Muslims, an issue that continues for both the Ahmadiyya and other Muslim minority groups today. The inherent othering within the wider Muslim community, particularly among more fundamentalist Sunni groups and schools of thought are sometimes weaponized, particularly in countries such as Pakistan, where groups like Shia, Ismailis, and Ahmadis are sometimes considered “non-Muslims.” In many religious communities in countries like the United States, there remains a distrust and a willingness to other groups based in deep-seated misunderstandings. The example of the Muslim community in Berlin at the height of these tensions should serve as a cautionary tale for all faiths. We must see that fear, mistrust, and hatred of the religious “other” can lead not only to compromising and contradicting core beliefs but can also harm and bring trauma for generations to come. Let us heed their lesson now to avoid going down such a path.
We do not know what may have caused a shift for Abdullah. Whether it was the normalization of violent pogroms against Jewish people, their property, and their synagogues, or the imprisonment of a Jewish friend whom he had come to know as a brother in faith, he felt compelled to journey 40 kilometers from Wilmersdorf to Oranienburg with a Catholic priest and Protestant to protest in the name of truth and justice. Yet, the freedom of his friend was not sufficient. Abdullah went a step further to do his due diligence based on his religious principles. He ensured Marcus would have a safe place to flee to, given the deteriorating conditions in Germany. Eventually, Marcus did escape. Shortly afterward, Abdullah himself was forced to return to the UK.
What matters above all, however, is that he made his choice and helped his friend. As Baer astutely writes, “When it mattered most […] even as their accommodation to Nazi ideology helped contribute to the antisemitic atmosphere in Berlin, they ultimately frustrated the Nazis’ attempt to annihilate the Jews of Europe, if only by saving one life”22. The Qur’an teaches that “whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity”23. Abdullah knew these words and acted on them.
The stories and experiences of Hugo Marcus, his interfaith liberation coalition, the Berlin Mosque, and the wider community serve as timely examples for the diverse, interconnected world we live in today. They challenge us to go beyond our comfort zones, to honor one another for our humanity, to reconcile our shortcomings, and to know that ultimately, we are accountable for the decisions we make. As the fourth Caliph of Islam, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, once related, “A person is either your sibling in faith, or your equal in humanity”24. Therefore, whether as Muslims, Christians, Jews, or as people of another faith or of no faith at all, we all can learn from and teach each other. Particularly in times of adversity and trial, it is our standing together, reconciling our differences, and apologizing for our mistakes that allow us to be harbingers of justice, truth, and tolerance. In this way, we can draw on the models of Imam Abdullah, Father Georg, and Joachim, who there for Hugo Marcus against all odds, united in our conviction to uphold the standards we respectively believe our faiths hold us to. As the imam who succeeded Abdullah after his departure, Dr. Ahmed Galwash, stated in closing one of the final sermons given in the mosque during World War II, may “‘the God of all people and nations’ fill the hearts of all people ‘with respect toward one another so that peace and well-being for all will yet remain on earth’”25.
“For each (religious tradition/community of belief) is a direction toward which it faces. So strive together towards all that is good. Wherever you may be, God will bring you forth all together. Indeed, God is Most Able to do all things”26.
=====
Usama Malik is the resident chaplain for Muslim Space, serving Muslims and others within the carceral system, higher education, and the wider community.
Stolpersteine or stumbling stones,27 give us a moment to pause, reflect, and consider what could have been the fate of Hugo Marcus, had he not had the faith community and interfaith connections that helped gain his freedom from a concentration camp, ultimately enabling him to emigrate safely from Germany. The Stolpersteine below for individuals sharing Marcus’ name give a harrowing reminder of the fate that could have befallen him, including deportation and/or murder. Photo Credit: Top Right—Alfons Tewes, November 2019; (Top Left)—Laureen Walter and Gamze Hasibe Göksu, May 2021; (Bottom)—Wikimedia user Hinnerk11, February 2010.