Why do so many Muslim and Turkish boys fail at school? Why are so many Muslims locked up in German jails? Are social discrimination and lack of educational opportunities the only causes? Or do the Turkish/Muslim education and the archaic tribal culture of a growing parallel universe also play a role? In her book Die fremde Braut – which sold more than 75,000 copies and remained in the bestseller lists for months – Necla Kelek sparked a heated debate about arranged marriages and the failure of Turkish immigrants to integrate into German society. Now she turns her attention to the other half of Turkish/Muslim society: to fathers who determine family life, sons who let their mothers decide who they will marry, and brothers who control and punish their sisters – to the extreme of carrying out »honour killings«, like that of the young Turkish girl Hatan Sürücü. Looking at the biographies of Muslim men – from murderer to prayer leader – Necla Kelek examines the Turkish-Muslim education, a system supposedly based on honour, disgrace and respect but in reality built upon obedience and violence. She describes the typical socialisation of Turkish boys – from the cradle and circumcision to fatherhood and paternal duties. The author vehemently criticises the unwillingness of many Muslims to integrate into society. Their representatives often interpret dialogue with the Germans to be an invitation to convert them to Islam. She demands a ban on the Shar’ia, the law on retaliation, which denies women equal rights, and appeals to lawyers, teachers and politicians not to become accomplices to such scandalous discrimination.
