A court in the Bavarian capital Munich will start hearings on Thilo Sarrazin’s lawsuit against publishing group Random House, which decided not to release his new work that is critical of Islam, on July 16.
Bild reported in an article entitled Publisher stops Sarrazin’s Attack on Islam, the prominent 73-year-old Social Democratic German politician and former member of the executive board of the Federal Bank, signed a contract with Random House in November 2016 to publish his book under the working title Hostile Takeover: How Islam Hampers Progress and Threatens Society. The manuscript was sent to the publisher in February, while the release was reportedly planned for the end of August.
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Commenting to the media, the publishing house stated that they have no intention to prevent the release of Sarrazin’s book.
"So far, we will not comment on the content of the previous reports, but make it clear that the publisher does not want to ‘stop’ the unannounced book by Thilo Sarrazin or make his publication difficult or prevent it. The author is free to publish his book at any time with another publisher," the statement to the Die Welt reads.
Despite the cancellation, Sarrazin’s work will still come out in late August, published by the Finanzbuch Verlag, which generally specializes in business literature, but have high expectations for the new release.
"In his new book, eight years after his bestseller Germany Is Abolishing Itself, Thilo Sarrazin deals fundamentally with questions of Islam and the consequences of the immigration of Muslims to Germany and Europe," their statement reads.
According to the publisher's presentation, the book hits sensitive spots of collision between Islamic values and the democratic pillars free societies, warning that Europe’s liberal social order is in serious danger.
In his new book, Sarrazin states that the teachings of the Quran have prepared "a spiritual prison for the peoples and societies of the Islamic world, from which they apparently find it difficult to liberate themselves. This ranges from the extensive lack of democratic structures and limited freedom of religion to low educational achievement and a great distance from science."
He also calls on Germany to brace itself and act, because the proportion of Muslims in Germany and Europe is continuing to grow as a result of immigration and persistently high birth rates.
This brings up the thesis of his 2010 book Germany Is Abolishing Itself, which triggered controversy almost 8 years ago and was, as it happens, released by Random House’s affiliated German publishing house (DVA). Following public uproar, Sarrazin had to resign from his post at the Federal bank.