5-11-2025
DW: Interior Minister Bans Islamist Group Calling for "Caliphate" in Germany
The German Interior Ministry announced a ban on the "Muslim Interaktiv" group, accusing it of being anti-constitutional and inciting hatred against Israel and women. The raids included locations in Hamburg, amid warnings of its impact on young people through social media.
The German Interior Ministry banned the Islamist group "Muslim Interaktiv" Muslim Interaktiv today, Wednesday (November 5, 2025), stating that this group is hostile to the constitutional order and the idea of understanding between peoples.
It stated that raids took place on Wednesday morning at seven locations in the city of Hamburg in this context. The group will also be dissolved and its funds confiscated.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (of the Christian Social Union) said that "Whoever aggressively demands the establishment of a caliphate in our streets, and incites in an intolerable manner against the state of Israel and the Jews, and despises the rights of women and minorities, we will confront him with the full severity of the rule of law."
The ministry said in a statement that the "Muslim Interaktiv" group rejects the principles of democracy and the rule of law, which reflects an anti-constitutional position, adding that the organization "violates the principle of understanding between peoples by denying the right of Israel to exist. Accordingly, it will be dissolved and its assets confiscated."
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said, "Whoever aggressively demands the establishment of a caliphate in our streets, we will confront him with the full severity of the rule of law."
"Targeting the youth"
The group primarily targets young people and has a wide spread on social media, with its account on the TikTok platform having more than 18,700 followers and about 389,000 likes.
The clips, which have been viewed thousands of times, feature young Islamic preachers promoting their ideas. On Instagram, the account is followed by about 10,000 people, and the group also has a channel on YouTube with about 19,100 subscribers.
But despite the modern and liberal appearance that the group tries to show on social media channels, its internal structure remains obscure and non-transparent, according to the German website Tagesschau.
Those in charge of producing videos and publications work secretly, and it is often not known who the people behind the camera are or who actually manages the activity.
Investigations against two other Islamic associations
The German website quotes one of the investigators as saying that the "Muslim Interaktiv group always succeeds in linking themselves to current issues in a remarkably interesting way."
He adds that "An example of this: As soon as the discussion began in Germany about the statement of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz regarding the image of the city, the group rushed to address the issue from its own perspective, saying that those who are angry about the image of the city here should first look at the image of the city in the Gaza Strip."
According to Tagesschau, the ideological goal of the group is to establish the caliphate, i.e. a global Islamic government with absolute authority. "Muslim Interaktiv" is intellectually linked to the organization of a doctrinal nature, "Hizb ut-Tahrir," whose activities have been banned in Germany since 2003 and has been fighting for the establishment of the caliphate since the 1950s.
"Hizb ut-Tahrir"
The ministry added that there are ongoing investigations against two other Islamic associations, namely "Generation Islam" and "Realität Islam", where it is strongly suspected that they are achieving "the same reasons that led to the ban on the Muslim Interaktiv association or that they constitute subordinate organizations affiliated with it.
As part of the investigations, authorities were ordered to carry out raids on twelve locations in the states of Berlin and Hesse.
According to the data, the investigations aim to collect information on "all aspects related to the content, organization, individuals and financing of these two organizations." The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (domestic intelligence) believes that the three organizations are ideologically linked to the "Hizb ut-Tahrir" group.
The leaders of the three organizations call for a lifestyle based on a traditional perception of Islam, and call for distancing themselves from the wider society. They also warn against what they describe as state attempts to impose integration, and portray Muslims as "an oppressed minority."
The three organizations are not classified within the jihadist spectrum, which means that the elements belonging to them do not use violence or terrorism to achieve their political goals, unlike extremist organizations such as Al-Qaeda or ISIS.
Source: DW
