National soccer player Antonio Rüdiger and the German Football Association (DFB) are taking legal action against journalist Julian Reichelt. Rüdiger feels denigrated and slandered by Reichelt’s criticism of a photo at the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which he himself published. The Real Madrid professional footballer therefore filed a criminal complaint with the Berlin public prosecutor’s office. The association reported the matter to the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) of the Frankfurt/Main Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Rüdiger’s management and the DFB confirmed the advertisements. This is about insult or slander, inflammatory insult and sedition. Rüdiger himself did not want to comment on the matter.
In his post on March 11, the practicing Muslim Rüdiger posted a photo of himself in a white robe on a prayer mat. The index finger of his right hand points to the sky. “May the Almighty accept our fasting and our prayers,” wrote Rüdiger as a greeting to Ramadan.
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In Reichelt’s opinion, Rüdiger showed an Islamist gesture by raising his index finger. After the advertisements became known, Reichelt accused Rüdiger and the DFB of “intimidation methods”.
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The gesture that Rüdiger shows in the picture is the so-called Tauhid finger. This was once a symbol of traditional Muslims used during prayer. Even today, many practicing Muslims still use this gesture. However, it has now also been taken over by extremists and terrorists. Anis Amri, the attacker from Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz, showed something like this greeting. The Tawhid finger is controversial among experts, but is generally not considered an extremist symbol.
Interior Ministry: “This depends on the individual case consideration”
Rüdiger’s lawyers told Bild with that he was “as a convinced believer, a peace-loving person” who rejected any kind of violence. To interpret the gesture as an “Islamist greeting” is “wrong, shortened and deliberately polarizing.” It is the tawheed gesture, which essentially means: “There is no god but Allah.”
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The Federal Ministry of the Interior also announced, according to the Bild from his point of view, the raised finger should be understood “as a confession of faith and should therefore be classified as unproblematic with regard to public safety”. This applies regardless of the fact that Islamist groups have appropriated this symbol and misused it for their own purposes. In certain contexts, pointing the finger could be seen as a sign of Salafist or Islamist radicalization if actors consciously use this ambiguity. “This depends on the individual case consideration,” said the ministry.
National soccer player Antonio Rüdiger and the German Football Association (DFB) are taking legal action against journalist Julian Reichelt. Rüdiger feels denigrated and slandered by Reichelt’s criticism of a photo at the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which he himself published. The Real Madrid professional footballer therefore filed a criminal complaint with the Berlin public prosecutor’s office. The association reported the matter to the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) of the Frankfurt/Main Public Prosecutor’s Office.
