“Milestone”, “historic day”, “courageous step” – there were many superlatives at the launch of the Islamkolleg Deutschland (IKD). In fact, imam training is being reformed.
In Osnabrück, 55 students, 19 of them women, are starting their training. The two-year training to become an imam or Islamic chaplain is in German language and is to take place independently of influence from abroad.
“An Islam in, from and for Germany,” says Markus Kerber, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior. IKD Director Prof. Bülent Ucar is certain: “We will be talking about German Muslims in a few years.”
The state is financing the new training with 100 million euros over five years. The theological content of the training is the responsibility of the five member associations, including the Central Council of Muslims. Other Muslim communities, however, do not back the project. “Any form of reservation and reticence will diminish,” hopes Abdeharrim En-Nosse of the Central Council of Moroccans.
For former Federal President Christian Wulff (61), chairman of the board of trustees of the IKD, one thing is certain: “Where Muslims and mosques are integrated into society, Islamophobia decreases.” The imams trained in Osnabrück would make a special contribution.