Teaching Islam in Schools

More than 700,000 Muslim students attend school in Germany, but nowhere does the religious curriculum deal with Islam in the same way as Christianity.

The problem is that most schools rely on their local mosque for guidance, which means there can be large discrepancies in the content and quality of instruction.

That is why German state governments and Muslim organizations alike are looking to create a more standardized approach to teaching Islam.

It is not an easy task, however.

About two-and-a-half million of Germany's Muslims belong to the Sunni denomination of Islam. But the rest are mainly Shiites, Alevis or followers of the south Asian Ahmaddiyya movement.

Broad spectrum

With such a broad spectrum of beliefs among them, Islam expert Michael Kiefer said creating a single combined course would be difficult.

"We've seen in Austria, for example, that the concept of one course for all Muslims is controversial, because the smaller denominations are left out," he said.

That is why authorities in the German state of Baden-Württemberg have decided to offer with two courses: one for Sunni and Shia students, and another for Alevis. So far, it looks like a number of other states will base their systems on this model as well, he said.

The states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Lower Saxony, however, are still looking for ways to create one standard curriculum with the help of various Muslim groups.

Fundamental principles

In Lower Saxony, for example, a number of Muslim organizations have come together to form a "shura," or council, to help authorities define the fundamental principles to be included in courses on Islam.

State education minister Heidemarie Ballasch says the body's recommendations have been put to the test in a pilot project at 21 schools since 2003.

"One of the political goals of the trial is to promote integration instead of parallel social structures," Ballasch said.

"Another is to help school students learn about their Islam and other religions, so that when the time comes, they're in a position to declare their faith," she added.

While most German state education systems limit Islamic instruction to primary school, North Rhine-Westphalia has gone down a different path, offering courses from year 1-10. Last year, more than 130 schools with some 10,000 Muslim students took part in the project.

Thousands have participated

In the capital Berlin, some 4,500 school students have taken part in Islamic studies courses since 2003, while another ten schools recently added material relevant to Alevism to their curricula as well.

"Our co-operation with the Islamic Federation has, by and large, led to a positive expansion of religious education in our schools,” said Hans-Jürgen Pokall of Berlin's education, science and research administration.

"The initial problems we experienced, which had more to do with the way some teachers interacted with the students than the actual content of the courses, have subsided," he said.

Berlin’s Islamic Federation expects that the demand for school teachers with qualifications in Islamic religious instruction will grow as more and more parents request courses for their children. It is also calling for long-term planning to meet the demand.

The University of Münster, for example, was quick to react to the trend and has been training specialist teachers since 2005. Other institutes, such as the University of Osnabrück, are already following suit.