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TikTok: These are short, sometimes silly dances, harmless pranks and strange scenes from everyday life. At least that is the impression that a large part of society has of the app. But a lot more has been happening there for a long time.
Because in the short videos, young people can now get simple answers to a wide variety of questions in the areas of politics, society and religion.
“What is Sharia? Sharia is the Islamic legal system. And Sharia – that’s what Islamic legal scholars also deal with. So: These are the rules in Islam.”
Ibrahim El Azzazi is one of numerous preachers who talk about Islam on TikTok. The concept is simple: show young people who are looking for answers and a meaning in life the path to Islam. More precisely: to a conservative Islam that is the only right one for them.
“A woman’s strength lies in her weakness. That means: If she is weak, delicate, feminine, then that is her strength. That’s how she gets what she wants. And the same for the man: he should also have a certain masculinity and maintain courage and strength and so on. The Prophet, as you know, cursed those of women who are like men and those of men who are like women. And that’s why we simply say that everyone has their clear role and everyone simply shouldn’t try to be something he’s not.”
El Azzazi is being monitored by the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution and is classified by the authorities as a Salafist. His videos offer a “low-threshold introduction to Salafist ways of thinking,” wrote the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in a report from 2022. As an approachable “Muslim next door,” he conveys his views. And also sprinkles in answers to curious questions.
“Amarship 123 wants to know: Is it allowed to play football in a mosque?”
“Playing football in a mosque? If you don’t damage anything and don’t disturb people praying or reading the Koran or anyone else, then it’s not a problem.”
Ibrahim El Azzazi is not the only such preacher on TikTok. Men like Abul Baraa and Pierre Vogel follow a similar pattern and are therefore also observed. “The shortening of the time and content of the topics and explanations has the potential consequence that central aspects of faith are only conveyed superficially, competing or divergent perspectives are concealed and Salafist enemy images are conveyed,” warns the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, whose statements suggest that young people could be influenced by the TikTok Preachers are being radicalized without really realizing it. Because if you look behind the everyday questions that often seem harmless, you will gain insights into the views of the supposedly harmless preachers.
“Sometimes there are people here who are ashamed to say that they are Muslim. They no longer say in public: I am Muslim. You see women who go half-naked just so they don’t stand out among the Kuffar women. And then? What is the next step? That you leave your religion? Do you want for the few years you have lived here… And what kind of life is that? A degraded life. That you give to those who have no guidance… That you follow them in their customs, in their traditions, in their wrong, false ideas… And in the end you lose paradise for it.”
Radicalization on TikTok doesn’t just take place in the area of religion. Political and social groups, especially from the right-wing spectrum, also use the app’s channels to exert influence on young people. TikTok is so firmly anchored in their everyday lives that they often view content without much critical reflection. The large number of videos and channels also makes it difficult for the authorities to keep an overview.
Getting problematic content blocked is difficult anyway. TikTok is a Chinese app that has long been criticized for problems with data protection and child protection. A new EU regulation is intended to make it easier to quickly delete hate speech and false information.
