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Minister Faeser at the German Islam Conference: "Stepwise reduce the state posting of imams to Germany"
Photo: Wolfgang Kumm / dpa
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) wants to promote the training of Islamic preachers in Germany.
The aim is to "gradually reduce the state posting of imams to Germany with the aim of ending them," said Faeser at the German Islam Conference (DIK) in Berlin.
Her ministry is already in contact with the Turkish religious authority.
German-speaking imams, who are also familiar with the reality of life in Germany, are also in the interests of the communities, said Faeser.
The Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion (Ditib) is now training some of its staff at its own center in the Eifel.
Ditib is the nationwide umbrella organization for hundreds of Islamic associations in Germany and reports to the Turkish religious authorities.
The Islamkolleg Deutschland was founded at the end of 2019 as a facility for practical Islamic theological training in Osnabrück.
Here, too, German-speaking imams and other religious support staff are to be trained – independently of the association.
The training of imams in Germany has already been a focus of the DIK in recent years under the then Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (CSU).
Study on Islamophobia
Another goal of Faeser is to combat Muslim hostility in Germany.
To this end, the federal government has commissioned a large study that focuses on the situation of those affected.
The first results are expected next summer.
The spokesman for the Muslim Coordination Council, Eyup Kalyon, said he had not personally experienced any hostility towards Muslims.
Above all, Muslim women who wear a headscarf often reported "experiences of exclusion".
Ever since the Islam Conference was set up in 2006, there have been constant arguments about who should represent the interests of Muslims there – the conservative umbrella organizations, liberal mosque communities or even secular Muslims.
Islamic associations had repeatedly criticized that the DIK focused too much on security issues and radical Islamism.
In a guest article in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine" on Wednesday, Union politicians and scientists, among others, urged that Islamism also be addressed within the framework of the DIK.
Faeser, on the other hand, reiterated the decision made in the past to largely ignore security issues.
Muslims should not be placed under general suspicion of security.
"The Islam Conference is not a security conference," said the minister.
fek/dpa/AFP
