Name: Germany looks to train imams in bid to root out extremism
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Germany looks to train imams in bid to root out extremism

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At Friday prayers, the area around Berlin’s Sehitlik mosque can seem like a forgotten corner of Istanbul. It’s not just the traditional Ottoman mosque, complete with dome, twin minarets&nbsp;and pierced screens, or the fact that many of the older faithful greet each other in Turkish. Even the sermon, as it crackles over the loudspeakers, is in Turkish.But in recent months the new imam has also started to preach in German. It is the first time the Sehitlik, one of Berlin’s biggest mosques, has had an imam who speaks German. But he still comes from Turkey. He had to be recruited from another country because there is no way to train as an imam in Germany.Things are about to change. In April, Osnabrück University is set to open Germany’s first imam training course -&nbsp;a move Prof Rauf Ceylan, a leading Islamic scholar and one of the founders of the project, says is a vital step in combating extremism.“Ninety per cent of imams still come from abroad. They don’t speak German and the German culture is alien to them. Young Muslims want German-speaking imams,” says Prof Ceylan.“The old type of imam was geared to the needs of first generation Muslims immigrants who came to Germany in the sixties. Most third-generation Muslims no longer speak their grandparents’ mother tongue that well.&nbsp;The danger is that they turn to other German-speaking authorities such as Salafists [extremist preachers] ."These Salafist preachers are usually German-speaking and understand how to cast Islam into a popular form. They speak the language of the young and can respond to their needs, while the imams from abroad are unable to understand the young people's world.”When Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, called for a European institute to train imams as a way of fighting extremism in November, he was widely ridiculed.To fight the Ideology of Hatred, we need to setup as soon as possible a European Institute to train imams in Europe. Online messages glorifying terrorism must be quickly removed. There must be no impunity for terrorists and those praising them on internet. — Charles Michel (@eucopresident)But the idea has been gaining currency in European countries for some time. President Emmanuel Macron announced plans for France to start training its own imams and stop importing them from countries like Morocco and Algeria in February.In Germany, the move to start training imams has been led by the Muslim community rather than the government, although the state has agreed to provide funding.It’s not only about fighting extremism. Decades of using imams from abroad has left Germany’s Muslim community reliant on foreign governments. The largest single employer of imams in Germany is Ditib, a Turkish government agency which trains them, pays their salary, and decides when they leave Germany.In recent years German politicians and commentators have begun to raise concerns at the influence this gives Turkey over Germany’s Muslim community — and how benign that influence is.The new course will not be confined to offering traditional imam training in German. While the students will be taught how to conduct prayers, funerals and the like, they will also attend classes on social plurality and be taught about extremism so they can protect young Muslims from it. The course will be open to both Sunni and Shia Muslims — and, strikingly, to both men and women.There is a risk it could be seen as an attempt to impose Western cultural ideas on Islam, but the new course is run by Muslims, and has the endorsement and support of Germany’s Central Council of Muslims.“There is no conservative or liberal Islam,” says Aiman Mazyek, the chairman of the Central Council of Muslims. “Those are political concepts. Islam is a faith, a religion. These questions only arise when you start to politicise Islam.”There was also broad support for the new course among the faithful at Friday prayers at the Sehitlik mosque.“There’s nothing in Islam that says you can’t have women imams,” Metin Biliktu, a young man, said. “It’s better if female imams are for women and male imams for men. But there’s no reason they can’t study.”Yunus Yildiz said he was in favour of the course but added: “There needs to be more than just a course. They need to provide a salary, so it’s possible to make a career as an imam. And I’m not sure they can learn everything in few years. Imams in the Muslim countries have been at Muslim schools their entire childhoods.”Huseyin Solapgir, an older worshipper, was enthusiastic. “That’s really great if they’re doing that,” he said. “I’ve been coming to this mosque since it was built in the nineties. I’ve seen it change. In the beginning it was a really Turkish mosque, just for the Turkish community.&nbsp;“Now there are people from all the Muslim communities. The new imam is great, he speaks German and English. But the younger Muslims, they want something different. A German imam, maybe that’s the next step.”Related TopicsAdvertisementRelated TopicsWe rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.Thank you for your support.Need help?Visit ourpage.Close

At Friday prayers, the area around Berlin’s Sehitlik mosque can seem like a forgotten corner of Istanbul. It’s not just the traditional Ottoman mosque, complete with dome, twin minarets&nbsp;and pierced screens, or the fact that many of the older faithful greet each other in Turkish. Even the sermon, as it crackles over the loudspeakers, is in Turkish.But in recent months the new imam has also started to preach in German. It is the first time the Sehitlik, one of Berlin’s biggest mosques, has had an imam who speaks German. But he still comes from Turkey. He had to be recruited from another...

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Germany looks to train imams in bid to root out extremism

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