After his Instagram post about the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, national soccer player Antonio Rüdiger publicly commented on the heated discussion about it for the first time. He is quoted as saying that he will not allow himself to be “insulted and denigrated as an Islamist.” Picture.
In a photo he shared on March 11, Rüdiger can be seen wearing Muslim prayer clothing. He points upwards with his index finger. The gesture is the so-called “Tawheed finger”, a sign that is intended to symbolize the unity and uniqueness of God.
It is often used during the Islamic profession of faith. However, this symbol was and is also misused by Islamists. Terrorists from the so-called Islamic State showed the gesture in photos; according to the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Salafists derive from the “Tauhid principle” that God is the only sovereign and that democracy is therefore “un-Islamic”.
Last week a debate arose around Rüdiger’s picture, at the center of which was the former Picture-Editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt is now at the Nius portal. Reichelt spread the picture on the X platform and wrote: “Islamism in the German starting eleven.” He interpreted the gesture as a greeting from the terrorist gang.
Rüdiger now explained in writing: “The gesture is widespread among Muslims all over the world and has only been classified as unproblematic by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in the last few days.” In recent days, the photo has been “used by individuals to make unfounded accusations,” the professional wrote. “Violence and terrorism are absolutely unacceptable. I stand for peace and tolerance,” wrote Rüdiger. “Respect and tolerance are fundamental principles that we all represent in our family.” But he also recognizes “that due to insufficient attention, I gave third parties the chance to deliberately misinterpret my posting in order to divide and polarize.”
Rüdiger and the DFB reacted on Monday, although not publicly: Both filed criminal charges against Reichelt, Rüdiger for defamation, inflammatory insults and incitement, and the DFB reported the incident to the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) of the Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor’s Office. The SZ told Reichelt that the display was an “intimidation method,” and he stuck to his statement that the finger gesture was “undisputedly” the so-called “IS greeting.”