Among Germany’s nearly 4.5 million Muslims, around 3 million are of Turkish origin. Almost 90 percent of imams in Germany are educated outside the country. The majority of them come from Turkey.
The German Islam Conference, convened by Germany’s interior minister since 2006, set a goal last November to address the education and financing of local imams.
The German government believes it is time to increase the Muslim community’s integration into society by reducing foreign financial and institutional influence. It is therefore pushing for an “Islam in, from and for Germany” initiative to find a solution for the very low number of local imams.
When young people born and raised in Germany go to mosques or seek the advice of an imam, “then it would be an advantage if the religious staff in the mosques has a certain experience in German daily life,” said Deputy Interior Minister Markus Kerber.
“Our aim is not to ‘Germanize’ Islam,” said Kerber, who is the official in charge of relations between the German government and the country’s Muslim community. “We want Muslims living here to feel truly at home and accepted and that they enrich our country.”
However, the plan to educate local imams, with some exceptions, hasn’t materialized. Language remains a barrier and the German government is taking action to change this.
The Interior Ministry recently announced that the government is planning to amend Germany’s residency law to require German language knowledge for foreign religious functionaries coming to the country. This requirement was also listed as one of the criteria by the German Defense Ministry, which said this week that Islamic spiritual councilors working for the military would need to be fluent in German and be graduates of a state-recognized university teaching Islamic theology.
Source: DW
