Abdel-Hakim Ourghi is one of the pioneers in the training of Islamic teachers. For ten years he has been teaching Islamic theology and religious education at the University of Education (PH) in Freiburg and has also written a work on Islamic religious education. But then things took a turn for the worse: “Today I am faced with the threat of losing my teaching licence,” Ourghi recently wrote on his Facebook page.
At the end of 2020, the Sunni School Council Foundation had approached him: He should apply for an Islamic teaching licence, an Idschaza. While the churches are acknowledged as corporations under public law, there is no Sunni or Shiite acknowledged religious community in Baden-Württemberg so far. Therefore, on August 1, 2019, the Baden-Württemberg state government established the Sunni School Council Foundation as a legal instrument. It is to be responsible for and organise Islamic religious education, approve the educational plans, authorise religious books and decide on the authorisation to teach for teachers and university lecturers.
The doctor of Islamic Studies submitted the required documents. On May 14, the foundation sent a rejection letter, saying that the academic achievements were “not recognised in the sense of the Ijaza regulations”. According to these, one needs proof of a successfully completed teaching degree in Islamic theology/religious education or an “equivalent degree” and, if applicable, further training with similar competences.
“Many other university lecturers in the training of Islamic religious teachers, like me, have not completed a teaching degree, because at that time there was simply no Islamic religious education in Germany,” says Ourghi. Therefore, the question for him is whether his lack of qualifications is the real reason for his rejection of the ijaza.
The lecturer and book author based in Freiburg, who is known throughout Germany for his liberal understanding of Islam and his regular criticism of the Islamic associations, is not the only one affected: the holder of the position of Islamic theology in Weingarten (Ravensburg district), Abdel-Hafiez Massud, Arabist, PhD in Islamic studies and habilitated teacher, also got a rejection notice. According to the university of education, it was “unfortunately not possible to reach an agreement with the Sunni school board” for the current candidate.
In both cases, these are still “ongoing procedures”, as Amin Rochdi, managing director of the Sunni School Council Foundation emphasises to the Evangelical Press Service (epd), about which he does not want to make any statements. Nevertheless, it can already be read on the foundation’s homepage under the heading “FAQ on the IRU” that the training at the Weingarten and Freiburg University of Education is currently not accepted by the foundation. “Graduates will probably have to undergo an interview at the Foundation before being admitted to the university preparatory programme.” This sentence is a ” blackmail towards his students”, Ourghi criticises and has caused great uncertainty among them because they now see their professional future at risk if you continue to stay in Freiburg with him as a lecturer.
Since it takes an Islamic teaching licence, Julia Dröber, junior professor at the University of Education in Ludwigsburg in the department of Islamic Theology/Religious Education, as a non-Muslim, also has no chance of having her temporary position, which is due to expire in the next few months, made permanent. The Shiite teacher Eloha Muzafferiy from Freiburg also had to quit this school year after six years of successful Islamic teaching at primary schools because her teaching licence was revoked.
When asked whether there had been any objections by the state to the rejection of the teaching authorisations, the Ministry of Culture refers to its duty of neutrality. According to the Freiburg researcher, the Ministry of Culture’s adherence to neutrality is a bogus argument, as the Foundation is de facto a state authority and by no means neutral. In addition, there is a legitimacy problem with the foundation: it claims to represent Sunni Islam and to have a say in its future by granting teaching authorisations, but only two associations are represented in it – the Turkish Association of Islamic Cultural Centres (VIKZ) and the Islamic Community of Bosniaks, which together make up only about 40 of the approximately 500 communities in Baden-Württemberg.
Ourghi announced that he would exhaust all legal possibilities in order to hopefully obtain a teaching permit after all. “It is not only about my future as a scientist, but also about the possibility of manifesting a liberal understanding of Islam in the educational institutions of the republic,” he posted to his more than 2,000 subscribers on Facebook. (1422/18.06.2021)
https://www.epd.de/regional/suedwest/schwerpunkt/kirche/sortiert-landesstiftung-islamlehrer-aus