Recent government actions (including an Austrian law restricting German translations of the Qur’an, a German circumcision ban, a French headscarf ban, and a Swiss aminaret ban) are restricting Muslims’ religious freedom in western Europe. Please join us on Cornerstone  as diverse commentators explore the obstacles that European Muslim communities face and what these challenges mean for the future of religious freedom. 

By: Religious Freedom Project Staff

Kuebra Guemuesay, the first hijabi columnist in Germany, will be a panelist at the Muslim Minorities and Religious Freedom event on December 15. As a journalist and a blogger, she writes for major German newspapers and magazines such as Die Zeit andDie Tageszeitung. Her blog, entitled “ein fremdwoerterbuch” (A Foreign Language Dictionary), discusses topics such as Islam, racism, social media, and feminism. On her blog, she has written articles on topics such as Islam and gender equality and Muslims and modern public image.

Also a public speaker, Guemuesay has spoken at conferences and on television and the radio. In her TEDxOxbridge Talk on “The Power of Stories ,” she explains how shared stories permit people to step outside of their comfort zones, looking past their prejudices and seeing the humanity in each other. She shares her experiences as a minority in Germany in an attempt to expose people to different traditions and ideas and to foster conversation and understanding across different social, ethnic, and religious groups. 

Please watch Guemuesay’s talk  to hear her view on what it’s like being a Muslim minority in Germany and her thoughts on how Europe’s Muslim relations can be improved.

This piece was originally authored on December 3, 2014 for the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.