The function of imam is often considered the most effective entry point to organise Muslim communities, as Prof. Welmoet Boender, from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, points out in a recent article in the journal Religions. In Europe, imams are often considered a potential bridge builders between Muslim communities and secular-majority societies… if they possess the…
News Agencies – September 7, 2012 A dedicated training institute for imams will be opened in Strasbourg as part of an agreement between France and Turkey. From January 2013, the “Free Faculty of Islamic Theology” will offer training courses for 30 French students, including women. The project, the first of its kind in France,…
14 October 2010 The first course launched by Al-Azhar University in collaboration with the University of Cambridge has come to an end. Al-Azhar University in Cairo offered British Muslims studying at the Prince Alwaleed Centre of Islamic Studies in Cambridge the chance to attend its Imam training. The course was especially designed for young British…
Educating Islamic theologians – schoolteachers and imams – at German universities has caused a lot of discussion in the past. Now the Wissenschaftsrat (German Council of Science and Humanities) has proposed a concept to grant both universities and Muslim associations a say in the education, but it is still likely to stir controversy. So far,…
Imams are sometimes stereotyped as agents of division or radicalization. But a new Germany-wide training program aims to exploit their potential to be forces for integration. Fifteen imams started coursework in mid-December as part of “Imams for Integration,” a four-month program designed to make them fluent in German culture as well as language. Most of…
