“Today, we banned the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, which promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser declared.

The German interior ministry announced on Wednesday that the Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) association and its affiliate organizations have been outlawed due to their purported support of extreme Islamist objectives. In response to a court order, the ministry said in a statement that authorities in eight German states had searched 53 of the organisation's locations early on Wednesday.

The Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, or IZH, was banned on Wednesday due to a substantial amount of evidence gathered from a previous inspection of 55 locations in November, according to the ministry.

"Today, we banned the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, which promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany, stated by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

She further added that "this ban absolutely does not apply to the peaceful practice of the Shiite religion’’.

On Wednesday morning, the IZH was closed to the public and its website was unavailable for comments over the phone.

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