Die Wahre Religion (DWR, in English "The True Religion") is an Islamist Salafi organisation based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

that was founded in 2005 by Palestinian-born German Salafist Ibrahim Abou-Nagie. The organization is thought to have had around 500 active members. Die wahre Religion takes part in

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

distribution campaigns. The declared goal of the campaign under the name ''Lies!'' (meaning Read! in German) is to provide a Quran translation to every household in Germany. According to the founder, around 3.5 million copies were distributed by mid-2016. The organization was successfully banned in November 2016 by the German government following its proven recruitment of

jihadists Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

to fight in Syria and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

for the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

, also known as ISIS.

Ibrahim Abou-Nagie

Die wahre Religion's founder is Gaza-born Palestinian Ibrahim Abou-Nagie (in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

إبراهيم أبو ناجي), an immigrant

Salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...

preacher. He arrived in Germany in 1982 as an 18-year-old and claims to have run successful businesses, although those claims have not been substantiated. He became a German citizen in 1984. He describes a religious awakening in 2003 after which he became a preacher. Abou-Nagie promoted the idea of distributing Qurans to German passers-by. Abou-Nagie has been known to German security officials since 2005, the year he created a website described by officials as spreading extremist propaganda. Abou-Nagie was alleged to have openly preached against democracy and other Western values, in a video proclaiming "Democracy is against Islam. And it is the opposite of Islam." He also opined that "If someone is married and commits adultery, he must be stoned." Abou Nagie has also said that homosexuals must be executed in order to "protect Muslims," and proclaimed that "disbelievers" will burn in hell. An attempt to prosecute Abou-Nagie on charges of incitement of religious hatred failed in 2012.

Quran distribution campaign

The group's most well-known activity is a campaign of distributing Qurans published in German in

and also in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and German-speaking areas in Switzerland. The campaign is known in German as ''Lies!'' (German for Read!) and is active in several countries including the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

under the general Arabic language name Iqraa! (اقرأ in Arabic). The word is derived from اقرأ باسم ربّك الّذي خلق (pronounced ''Iqraa' bismi rabbika allathi khalaq'', meaning Read in the name of your God that created).

November 2016 raids and ban

The arrest on 8 November 2016 of

Abu Walaa Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah Abdullah (born 1984), better known as Abu Walaa, is an Islamic preacher based in Hildesheim, Germany. In 2016 he was arrested for supporting terrorism. Biography Born in al-Tamim, Iraq, he immigrated to Germany in 2001 ...

, a 32 year old Iraqi-born

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the L ...

-based Salafi preacher, heralded a nationwide police crack down in Germany the following week on Islamist organizations including Die Wahre Religion. Beginning on November 15, 2016, German authorities conducted raids on 190 locations across the nation, thought to be linked to extremism. The police raids spanned ten cities and regions, including Die Wahre Religion offices in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Bremen,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

and

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

. securing material used in the promotion of "violent jihad," According to German government sources, 140 of Die Wahre Religion members are known to have traveled to Iraq or Syria to fight for

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

. Ibrahim Abou-Nagie, the founder of the organization was out of the country at the time of the raids. DWR was banned by German authorities in November 2016. The Koran translation used by the group has been described as a "particularly hardline interpretation," while the group itself, in response to being banned, claimed that this meant the Koran had been banned in Germany. The group continues to be active in the UK and abroad after being banned in Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wahre Religion 2005 establishments in Germany Islamic terrorism in Germany Islamic organisations based in Germany Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Germany Factions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Islamist groups Jihadist groups Salafi Islamist groups Police raids on Islamists Organizations based in Europe designated as terrorist