Islamic theology at German universities: successes and limitations of an unprecedented experiment

For many decades after the arrival of Muslim ‘guest workers’ from Turkey, Morocco, and other Muslim-majority countries, German authorities were happy to outsource the provision of religious services to Imams and preachers sent by the Muslim immigrants’ countries of origin. Since the Muslim workforce would ultimately return home, it was unnecessary and even counterproductive to…

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Pilot Training for Imams at the University of Osnabrueck Completed

04.07.2011 The University of Osnabrueck, which implemented the first programme at German universities to train imams in October 2010, celebrated the 30 participants’ successful completion of the two-semester course last week. The key agenda of the course is to train imams in Germany (who are predominantly from Turkey) in the German language as well as…

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Imam Education at German Universities: A Public Task?

21 April 2001 From the new academic year, three German universities will offer courses to train imams. It is a novelty in Germany, if not Europe, and aims at integrating Islam into society via secular state institutions. The German Science Council had initially proposed this plan, and it was highly welcomed by the media and…

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Criticism of Islam by German Church Official Angers Muslims

The chairman of the Protestant Church Nikolaus Schneider has criticised Islam in Germany, stating that Islam appeared “in our society unimpressed by Enlightenment and criticism of religion”. The Central Council of Muslims strongly disapproved of the remark. General Secretary Nurhan Soykan said that no one had the right to criticise a religion and to evaluate…

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Islamic theology in Germany poses great challenges to universities

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…

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