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Interior Minister Seehofer wants to end the foreign influence on German mosques. Muslim communities should take over the financing and training of imams themselves, he writes in a guest article.
Wednesday begins the fourth edition of the German conference on Islam chaired by the Federal Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer. In a contribution to the "Frankfurter Allgemeine", he set as a main goal the cessation of foreign influence on mosques in Germany.
It is concerned "to replace the foreign influence by not only occupying themselves with the organization and financing of their communities, but also to adapt the training of imams to their needs", he writes. Mosques must be organized in such a way as to "meet the requirements of religious constitutional law in matters of cooperation with the state".
Another key question was how to reconcile the Muslim faith and "beliefs and customs" in everyday life with German culture and society. German Muslims are also called upon to clarify issues of value between themselves and Muslim immigrants who arrived in Germany in 2015 and 2016.
Central Council of Muslims for German Imams
Unlike churches, Muslim communities in Germany are generally not recognized as public enterprises, which allows them to collect taxes. Lack of financial resources often offsets them with remittances from abroad.
Due to the changing political situation in Turkey and the debate on Ditib mosque in Cologne, many people believe that the influence of foreign countries through funds and sending Imams are crucial.
The wish of the German imams is also supported by the badociations: "In the medium and long term, I do not want more imams from abroad," said the president of the Central Council of Muslims, Aiman Mayzek.
He suggested a "dual model" as a transitional rule: religion teachers should provide 50% of Islamic religious instruction in a school, the remaining 50% in a community working as imams. Funding should be separate.
In recent years, Islamic theologians have been trained in German universities, but their employment as imams has often failed due to lack of practical training. Mayzek argued for a Christian-pastoral-style training: "We need strict and binding standards," he said.
Opening speech of the conference
The German Conference on Islam was founded in 2006 by the then Minister of the Interior, Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU). It should serve as a forum for a dialogue between the state and Muslims in Germany.
Seehofer has invited representatives of Islamic badociations and Muslim individuals to the fourth edition of the conference, which begins Wednesday. He will open the event with a keynote address.
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