Islamic Centre Hamburg, Leading Shia Center in Europe
It was registered in Germany by Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein Beheshti on February 8, 1966.
Such great Muslim scholars as Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Mohaqeqi, Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari, Mohammad Moqaddam, Mohammad Baqer Ansari, Seyed Reza Hosseininasab, Ayatollah Seyed Abbas Qaemmaqami, and Ayatollah Reza Ramezani serving as its directors over the years, the center has carried out valuable activities in promotion of Islam in Germany and other European countries.
In fact, the Islamic Centre Hamburg has been the leading Shia center in entire Europe in the past half a century.
Ayatollah Qaemmaqami, who was the center’s director from January 2004 to May 2009 in an interview with IQNA discussed the activities and achievements of the center.
He has also served as the president of the Islamic European Union of Shia clerics (IEUS) (since 2006) and the president of the Islamic Community of Shia Communities in Germany (IGS).
He has written over 100 books and articles on different Islamic jurisprudential, legal, and philosophical fields.
Ayatollah Qaemmaqami described the Islamic Centre Hamburg as the center of Shia Islam in Europe.
He said efforts have been made at the center to consider Europeans and non-Muslims as the main addressee of its religious and cultural activities.
"Given the history of its activities, the Islamic Centre Hamburg is now more than a Shia and Islamic center and has become an interfaith institute.”
He said it has been in contact with German cultural, religious and scholarly institutions and organized activities like mosque open houses, interfaith dialogues, and cultural and scientific seminars.
The center has also been a founding member of the Islamic European Union of Shia clerics (IEUS) (since 2006) and the president of the Islamic Community of Shia Communities in Germany (IGS) and has played a major role in unity among Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe, the scholar said.
He also underlined that the center has put "dialogue for understanding” on top of its agenda instead of "dialogue for the sake of dialogue’.
