13 August 2010
Calls for an Islamic theology in Germany are growing ever louder. But
the challenge that this represents is underestimated not only by
politics, but also by Christian theologians and cultural scholars,
writes theologian Klaus von Stosch. Ever since the German Science
Council published its recommendations for “Islamic Studies” at German
universities, the desire to see a German Islamic theology appears to
have become a common cause for all the major political parties in our
country. Islamic theology and its attendant infrastructure for the
education of Islamic religious teachers and imams is apparently viewed
by many as the magic formula for the integration of Muslims living in
Germany.
But the institutions are not necessarily prepared for this major
project. The author claims that it will not be easy for German
universities to overcome the challenges. They will only succeed if a
competition of various academic institutions can be organised in the
medium-term, thereby allowing for the possibility of trying out a number
of different models. In this context attention must be paid in the first
instance to the promotion of young blood in the field of Islamic
theology, because at present there are virtually no eligible
German-speaking Islamic theologians for the study field to be established.
