Berlin Pays Islamic Relief €135,000 Yearly Despite Islamism Claims

According to Nius, Berlin authorities are maintaining funding for a Muslim counseling hotline operated by Islamic Relief, even as the federal Foreign Office suspended millions in funding to the controversial charity following scrutiny of its connections to Islamist networks.

The issue first came to light in 2019 when a parliamentary inquiry by the Free Democratic Party forced the federal government to admit that Islamic Relief Deutschland and Islamic Relief Worldwide demonstrate significant personnel connections to the Muslim Brotherhood or affiliated organizations. The Foreign Office subsequently froze its multi-million euro funding program. Last May, the Federal Audit Office reprimanded the Foreign Office for having distributed the money in what it termed a blind flight approach.

The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamist movement founded in Egypt with the stated goal of reshaping state, law and society worldwide according to Sharia principles. The organization employs what observers describe as a long march through institutions, working through mosques, social clubs and welfare organizations to gradually spread its worldview. German security services classify it as unconstitutional and maintain active monitoring of its activities.

Despite these federal concerns, the Berlin Senate maintains annual payments of 135,000 euros to Islamic Relief for a Muslim telephone counseling service called MuTeS. When questioned by Nius, Berlin authorities declined to address specific concerns, instead referring to a three-year-old parliamentary inquiry from the Alternative for Germany party.

In that previous inquiry by Dr. Kristin Brinker and Jeannette Auricht, both AfD representatives, legislators asked whether domestic intelligence services were monitoring Islamic Relief. The Senate’s response then and now remains the same: after careful consideration, authorities have determined the answer to be classified.

Regarding the MuTeS funding specifically, the Senate stated in the earlier inquiry that enhanced reviews found no irregularities in how the funds were used, with expenditures reportedly matching submitted documentation and contracts.

The Muslim Brotherhood threat has gained renewed attention from German security officials. Brandenburg’s domestic intelligence service recently issued warnings about infiltration attempts by the organization and its receipt of public funding.

Brandenburg Interior Minister Dr. Jan Redmann offered a stark assessment of the group’s methods. The Muslim Brotherhood does not attack democracy with open violence but sneaks in through the back door, Redmann explained. The organization exploits the freedoms of the constitutional state to abolish precisely those freedoms and cement its totalitarian, Sharia-shaped vision of society. It engages in social work, pushes into political bodies and deceives civil society and politics, he continued. The goal is to gain acceptance and ultimately tap public funds for its unconstitutional agenda, Redmann warned, adding that municipalities, parties and associations must finally open their eyes and stop naively downplaying these actors.

The discrepancy between federal recognition of Islamic Relief’s problematic connections and continued state-level funding highlights ongoing challenges in German counter-extremism efforts. While the Foreign Office and Federal Audit Office have raised red flags about the organization, regional authorities appear to maintain a different risk assessment.

Berlin officials have provided no timeline for reviewing the MuTeS funding arrangement or conducting fresh assessments of Islamic Relief’s activities and affiliations. The Senate’s refusal to declassify information about potential intelligence monitoring of the organization leaves key questions unanswered about what authorities know regarding the charity’s operations in the German capital.

With information from Nius