A recently published study by the University of Münster has uncovered fundamentalist and anti-Jewish tendencies among many prospective Islamic theologians and religious education teachers. The study, conducted by Abdulkerim Şenel and Sarah Demmrich, is the first nationwide survey of its kind and questioned 252 students at eleven universities about their value orientations and religious views.
The results show a worrying familiarity with organisations such as the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion and the Islamic Community Millî Görüş. In addition, many respondents expressed anti-Semitic attitudes, with 37.3 per cent even considering Jews to be enemies.
The study also sheds light on views on gender, politics and violence in the name of Islam, which are supported by a significant proportion of respondents. Looking to the future, it is pointed out that these students will soon be working as teachers and thus have an influence on the religious education of children. It is emphasised that the increasing spread of such views at universities could pose a danger by supporting state-funded propaganda for Islamism.
The results of the study raise questions about integration and the role of religious education and emphasise the urgency of taking a closer look at the training of prospective religious education teachers.