(Deutsche Welle) “Let’s see who is going to win in the end, shall we?” social worker Saloua Mohammed says. “They won’t get my youths that easily.”
“They” are radical Salafists: ultraconservative Muslims who interpret the Quran literally, live their faith the way it was common during the times of the prophet Muhammad and are looking for new followers. And this — the recruitment of young people into Salafism — is exactly what Mohammed wants to prevent.
Mohammed fights for each and every one of “her” children. She is a faithful Muslim herself, wearing a headscarf in public. She prays in the mosque, but sometimes walks into Cologne Cathedral to find peace. Mohammed comes from a liberal-leaning Moroccan family in which religion was discussed and tolerance taught. That, she says, provided her with arguments and a kind of intellectual protective armor. She has good use for both.
