Even the worst haters can change
Ibrahim has been caring for a group of Syrian refugees in his home out of his own pocket for the last two years. But, in 2009 he was a deputy to the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) which is well known for its xenophobic anti-refugee stance.
Now known as Ibrahim, 75-year-old Werner Klawun converted to Islam in 2014, and since then he has become one of Germany’s biggest supporters of refugees fleeing the conflict in the Middle East.
When Ibrahim converted to Islam, his wife took the children and left home. He has been hosting four Syrian refugees, between the ages of 18 and 30, since then.
During a recent interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper, he said that he decided to become a Muslim after reading Islamic literature, studying the Qur’an, and reading the works of German writer and statesman Wolfgang von Goethe in praise of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
“Us, Europeans, with all our concepts could not reach what Muhammad has reached, and no one will be able to precede him. I have looked in the history of humanity for an example and found that it was Muhammad, as the truth must be revealed. Indeed, Muhammad succeeded to subdue the entire world to monotheism,” reads a translation of one of Goethe’s texts.
Ibrahim says his conversion completely altered his ideas and thoughts in a way that simply cutting ties with the NPD was not enough to bring about change, so he started to help refugees.
The NPD was founded in 1964 as a successor to the German Reich Party. It is usually described as a neo-Nazi organization and has also been referred to as “the most significant neo-Nazi party to emerge after 1945.”
Europe is facing its worst refugee crisis since the end of World War II as vast numbers of asylum-seekers fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East try to gain access to the continent.
In January 2016, official statistics showed that Germany had received 476,649 new refugees. With a population of over 80 million people, the west European country registered some 1.1 million refugees between January and December 2015 and expects another 2.5 million to arrive by the end of 2020.
