The 3.3 million Muslims in Germany constitute roughly 4% of the population and come from some 40 different countries. By far the largest group of Muslims, 2.6 million people, come from Turkey; they are followed by Moroccans, Afghans and Iranians. Approximately 800,000 Muslims hold German citizenship. Germany has roughly 3,000 mosques and places of worship for Muslims.
The vast majority of Muslims are well-integrated into the life of German society. Nevertheless, problems do sometimes arise – for example, when Muslim children, usually girls, are excluded from swimming or sex education lessons or are not allowed to take part in school trips with the rest of their class. It was also to counter the development of so-called “parallel societies” that Federal Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble established the German Islamic Conference (DIK) in 2006. So far this body has met three times and is intended to help improve dialogue and integration.
One outcome of the first Islamic Conference was the foundation of the Coordinating Council of Muslims (KRM), an association of the four largest Islamic organizations in Germany. Nonetheless, the KRM is not a central umbrella organization; it only represents roughly 9% of the Muslims in Germany. At the most recent Islamic Conference, in March 2008, recommendations were made by all participants on the integration of Muslims into German society – for example, through the introduction of Islamic religious education in the German language.
Until now, Islamic studies has only been taught in schools in some Länder. It is not considered “regular religious instruction” under the terms of the Basic Law, but takes place under the sole responsibility of the Länder. One hurdle to the introduction of regular Islamic religious education is the fact that the Islamic side does not have a single body representing all the Muslims in Germany, there is no unified religious community with a clear membership and a clear commitment to the German constitution. The fact that it is not really so difficult to arrange religious education has been demonstrated by the clearly structured Alevi religious community, to which some 500,000 people belong in Germany. Alevi religious education is being offered as “regular religious instruction” in three German Länder from the 2008/2009 school year.
In recent years, four chairs of Islamic theology have been established in Germany, where theologists and teachers of Islamic religion can study. This is also where it is planned to determine appropriate didactics for Islamic religious education. The first German school book for Islamic studies, which has initially been approved for use in four Länder, was published in September 2008.
