Imams at more than 2,000 mosques took part in the event organised
by Germany's four main Muslim groups, with government ministers,
lawmakers and city mayors joining in.
Vigils and peace rallies were held after traditional Friday noon prayers in a number of German cities including Berlin, Hamburg, Mölln, Bielefeld, Oldenburg, Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart.
In Berlin around 1,000 Muslims took part in a public prayer on the
street outside the Mevlana mosque in Kreuzberg which was damaged in an arson attack in August.
"We must stand united as a society when there are hate crimes,
whether against churches, mosques, synagogues or other places of
worship," said Ali Kizilkaya, spokesman of the Coordination Council of
Muslims.
Aiman Mazyek, chairman of the Central
Council of Muslims, said Germany's Muslims wanted to take a clear stand
against Islamic State (IS) group fighting in Iraq and Syria, and other
jihadist movements.
"These are terrorists and
murderers who drag Islam into the dirt and bring hatred and suffering to
the people, including to their own fellow Muslims, in Syria, in Iraq
and elsewhere," he wrote in the top-selling Bild newspaper.
"We want to make clear that the majority of Muslims in this country
and around the world think and act differently. Islam is a peaceful
religion."
Germany's interior minister
Thomas de Maizière supported the day of action by visiting a mosque in
Hanover on Friday afternoon.
The day of protest follows a rally against anti-Semitism in Berlin
last Sunday in which Jewish leaders and German politicians led by
Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned a recent spate of slurs and attacks
against Jews.
Tempers flared at a series of
pro-Palestinian demonstrations in July, during Israel's assault on Gaza,
as some protesters chanted that Jews should be "gassed" and
"slaughtered".
Muslims say they have also been the
target of hate speech and vandalism of their houses of worship amid
rising public fear of Islamist militancy, and of the role of European
jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq.
German
security services say some 400 German citizens have joined jihadists in
Syria and Iraq, of whom about 130 have since come home, while
German nationals have also fought with Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked
al-Shabaab.
This month the appearance of
self-styled "Sharia police" vigilantes in the western city of Wuppertal
sparked outrage in Germany.
Mazyek said at a press
conference on Tuesday that a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment means that
"we have exhausting and difficult times behind and presumably also ahead
of us".
He said there had been five arson and other attacks on mosques in the past three weeks.
Three charged over Isis propaganda
On Friday prosecutors brought charges against three Germans accused of
sending money and camera equipment to help the jihadist group Islamic
State make propaganda videos.
The accused were
identified only as Karolina M., 25, who has been in pre-trial detention
since March, as well as Jennifer Vincenza M. and Ahmed-Sadiq M., both
22, who have not been detained.
Karolina M., a German-Polish dual citizen, is married under Islamic law to an Isis militant in Syria, prosecutors said.
"For the production of Isis propaganda videos she sent him, through middle men, cameras and accessories worth €1,100 in October 2013," they said.
"Shortly after, she travelled to Syria and handed the IS member three more cameras and more than €5,000 in cash."
The prosecutors said she returned to Germany and later sent him another €6,000 in six tranches, including more than €2,000 that the other two defendants had collected.
The three are charged with supporting a foreign terrorist organisation.
Karolina M., a German-Polish dual citizen, is married under Islamic law to an Isis militant in Syria, prosecutors said.
"For the production of Isis propaganda videos she sent him, through middle men, cameras and accessories worth €1,100 in October 2013," they said.
"Shortly after, she travelled to Syria and handed the IS member three more cameras and more than €5,000 in cash."
The prosecutors said she returned to Germany and later sent him another €6,000 in six tranches, including more than €2,000 that the other two defendants had collected.
The three are charged with supporting a foreign terrorist organisation.
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