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Mosque: Islamic preachers will be trained in German language courses in future (symbol picture)
Photo: Carsten Rehder / picture-alliance / dpa
With up to 30 participants, the first independent course for Islamic preachers in German is to begin in Osnabrück next April.
The two-year training at the Islamkolleg Deutschland is funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science.
The aim of the Islam College is to create an additional offer because imams from abroad often deal with "topics that are not relevant to our living context" in their sermons, said the chairman of the sponsoring association, Esnaf Begic.
The descendants of Muslim immigrants are often unable to fully understand a sermon in their parents' native language.
There would be no state influence on the course content from home or abroad, emphasized the scientific director of the association, Bülent Ucar.
Interested parties with a bachelor's degree in Islamic theology and preachers with practical work experience can apply.
The Ditib does not participate
In the past there had been repeated requests for knowledge of German, especially among Islamic clergymen from abroad.
Around two years ago, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) advocated that Germany should train more Islamic preachers itself.
At the end of 2018, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) called on the Islamic communities in Germany to gradually free themselves from foreign donors and also to largely train preachers themselves.
Behind the project in Osnabrück are the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, the Islamic Community of Bosniaks and the Central Council of Moroccans, among others.
Several large umbrella organizations, however, have not joined.
These include the Turkish Ditib, the largest Islamic organization in Germany.
In recent years, the Ditib has come under fire mainly because of its proximity to the Turkish government and its dependence on the Turkish state religious authority Diyanet.
Diyanet sends imams to Germany for the more than 900 Ditib mosque communities.
In 2017, the Ditib was suspected of being involved in an alleged spy affair.
The investigation was later closed, the organization announced a fresh start.
In that year, Ditib also set up an imam training course in Germany.
Ucar finds it "regrettable" that the big associations like Ditib are not participating in the new training course.
In addition to training, the Islam College also offers training events in which preachers from these associations can also take part.
The FDP member of the Bundestag Benjamin Strasser said that the representatives of the other Islamic associations "can only be advised to accept and support this new offer, because independent imam training can strengthen trust and credibility in the long term."
How much money the project will receive from the Federal Ministry of the Interior will not be known until the end of the budget year, according to a spokesman.
Around one million euros are available per year.
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