2024-04-02 14:51:20
Berlin wants to end the model of magnets sent from abroad, especially from Türkiye. For almost three years, the German government has supported the training of “made in Germany” imams, as they are called in the country, clerics who have completed a two-year course in German and claim to share the country’s values. The training takes place in Osnabrück.
First modification: 04/02/2024 – 16:51
2 min
By our correspondent in Berlin, Nathalie Versieux
A small, modern building in the center of Osnabrück. Shelves covered with books, tables, a giant screen. This is where Islamkolleg Deutschland students meet two weekends a month. In two years, they will become magnets.
“Most of them were born here”
Murat Caglayan is in charge of the civic education module at IKD, Germany’s Islamic school: “The majority of Muslims in Germany are people who are in the third generation. That means most of them were born here. The problem is that we still haven’t resolved the issue of having imams who were born here and socialized here. We still have to face this challenge,” he explains.
The library is one of the school’s proudest achievements. Seven modules are taught in Osnabrück. Pedagogy, narration of the Koran, chaplaincy or worship practice. Classes are taught in German. The first class, which graduated last fall, consisted of 26 people.
Ender Cetin, 47, was part of this first promotion. Today, he works as a chaplain at the Berlin Youth Prison. Sometimes he visits the capital’s classrooms together with a rabbi, at the invitation of the teachers: “Sometimes it is like a cry for help. Teachers often feel overwhelmed by the Israel-Palestine issue. Today we talked about the Islamic scarf. Sometimes there is a dynamic in the classroom. The girls tell another ‘you have to wear the headscarf, you are Muslim’. In these cases, it is important for teachers to have a magnet next to them who tells them ‘no, leave it there, she has to decide for herself,’” says Ender.
Remuneration of magnets
Is training in Germany an ideal model? There are still many problems. In particular, the question of the remuneration of religious people. According to Murat Caglayan, “at the moment, all the imams sent from Turkey by Ditib have been trained in Turkey and are paid by the Turkish state. For the others, there are imams who are only in charge of Friday prayers and therefore “They receive very little money.”
Aware of these limitations, the German Government is working with representatives of Muslim communities to establish a remuneration model for imams trained in Germany. Religious could one day receive their salaries from foundations co-financed by the German State.
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