Seyran Ateş (born 20 April 1963) is a
German lawyer and a
Muslim feminist. She founded the
Ibn Ruschd-Goethe mosque in 2017, as Germany's first
liberal place of worship for Muslims. Ateş is best known for challenging conventional ideas in Islamic teaching by opening a mosque in Berlin which breaks with traditionalist precepts of what being a Muslim means.
["Islam needs a sexual revolution"]
interview in '' Der Spiegel'', October 13, 2009. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
Early life
Ateş was born in
Istanbul, Turkey
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_in ...
, of a Turkish mother and a
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
father. Her family moved to
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
when she was six years old, during the period of the 1961-1973 West-German recruitment agreement with Turkey (see:
Anwerbeabkommen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Türkei
). During these 12 years 867,000 Turkish citizens came to West-Germany, of whom 367,000 remained in the country (see:
Turks in Germany
Turks in Germany, also referred to as German Turks and Turkish Germans (german: Türken in Deutschland/Deutschtürken; tr, Almanya'da yaşayan Türkler/Almanya Türkleri), are ethnic Turkish people living in Germany. These terms are also used t ...
). As she matured Ateş felt increasingly at odds with the rigid expectations within her family. At the age of 17 she left home to avoid an
arranged marriage. Ateş excelled at school, and went on to study law at the
Free University of Berlin
The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
.
Career
While working at a women's centre in 1984, she was shot in the neck by a Turkish nationalist ("his exact motives unclear" even a generation later, according to the ''New York Times''). The client she was counseling was killed by the attacker, and Ateş, during her long recuperation, decided to devote herself even more to helping Turkish-background women achieve their rights in Germany.
She has practiced law since 1997, specializing in
criminal law and
family law
Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.
Overview
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:
* Marriage ...
.
Her views, highly critical of an immigrant Muslim society that is often more conservative than
its counterpart in Turkey, have put her at risk. Her German-language book, ''Islam needs a sexual revolution'', was scheduled for publication in Germany in 2009.
[ In an interview in January 2008 on ]National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, Ateş stated that she was in hiding, and would not be working on Muslim women's behalf publicly (including in court), due to the threats against her. In one particular incident, she and her client were attacked by a woman's husband in a German courthouse in front of onlookers who did nothing.
Ateş opened the Ibn Ruschd-Goethe mosque in 2017, located in a church. It is the only liberal mosque in Germany, that is, one where men and women pray together, and women can take the role of imam leading a prayer. The Turkish religious authority and the Egyptian Fatwa Council at the Al-Azhar University have condemned her project, and she has received death threats.
Honours
In 2005, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
as part of the project 1000 peacewomen.
In March 2007 Ates was awarded a prize for defense of human rights by her alma mater.
Selected works
*"Bei Trennung: Tod", in: Robertson-von Trotha, Caroline Y.
Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha (born 22 February 1951 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish sociologist and cultural scientist, working in Germany.
Biography and career
After the unexpected death of her father Robertson-von Trotha left Oba ...
(ed.): ''Tod und Sterben in der Gegenwartsgesellschaft. Eine interdisziplinäre Auseinandersetzung'' (= Kulturwissenschaft interdisziplinär/Interdisciplinary Studies on Culture and Society, Vol. 3), Baden-Baden 2008
*''Große Reise ins Feuer: Die Geschichte einer deutschen Türkin'', Reinbek bei Hamburg 2006
*"Individualität: Ich sein oder Ich haben?", in: ''Flensburger Hefte'', Nr. 87, Flensburg 2005
References
External links
*
Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque
*Documentary
Seyran Ateş: Sex, Revolution and Islam
'
*
Obsessed with Virginity – Female sexuality among western Muslims
', a Deutsche Welle documentary which contains several interviews with Ateş concerning her life and work. (English with subtitles, 2017)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ates, Seyran
1963 births
Living people
Female Islamic religious leaders
Free University of Berlin alumni
German feminists
German women lawyers
German people of Turkish descent
German people of Kurdish descent
German women activists
German women writers
Islam and women
Islamic feminism
Muslim activists
Muslim reformers
Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin
Proponents of Islamic feminism
Turkish emigrants to Germany
Turkish feminists
Jurists from Berlin
Women clergy
20th-century German lawyers
21st-century German lawyers