To our readership and supporters:
Regional Minister of Education and Training Silvia Löhrmann (l), Director of the Center for Islamic Theology Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide and Chancellor Prof. Dr. Ursula Nelles (r) Photo: Peter LessmannMünster University, the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU), has been a prominent and successful advocate and driving force of Islamic Theology in Germany. As early as 2004, the WWU started training teachers aspiring to teach Islamic Religious Education at state schools. The German Council of Science and Humanities was instrumental in founding the Center for Islamic Theology (Zentrum für Islamische Theologie – ZIT) at Münster University in October 2011. The winter semester of 2012/2013 saw the launch of the first degree courses for teachers, imams and Islamic theologists. Now it is time to take things one step further and get ready for the future. The project “ZIT 2015” is working towards the construction of a mosque complex, combining academic research and religious practice under one roof. We need your help and support to make this project become reality! Please make a donation! The following pages will tell you more about the project. Prof. Dr. Ursula Nelles Chancellor of the University of Muenster Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide Head of the Center for Islamic Theology
Prof. Dr. Ursula Nelles
Chancellor of the University of Muenster
Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide
Head of the Center for Islamic Theology
We need a mosque!
Broschuere 2015 Prophetic tradition: “Whoever builds a house for the love of Allah, Allah will built for him a mansion in paradise”
Throughout Münster University’s history, Christian students have always had access to university churches. In light of equal rights and opportunities Muslim students should also be provided with a dignified place of worship for their daily prayers.
In order to implement this, we would like to construct a mosque complex forming an integral part of the Center for Islamic Theology. Theoretical research and academic training would be combined with religious practice, preserving and pursuing Muslim scholarly traditions, while students would also have the opportunity to perform their daily prayers as part of a community, practicing their religion. The mosque will be open to all Muslims. The approach of this pioneering project is unique in Europe and a lucrative investment into the future of Muslims in Germany.
The Center for Islamic Theology
The Center for Islamic Theology at Münster University is one of the largest institutions for Islamic theology and Islamic religious education in Germany. The Center’s key objectives are the training of young Muslim researchers and the training of religious education teachers. By addressing topical questions about Islam as a religion, the Center meets the growing societal demand for an independent Islamic theology. Competent academic research on Islam promoting young Muslim researchers makes a vital contribution to the integration and equality of Muslim life in Germany.
A close cooperation with other university departments, such as the Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics", the Center for Religious Studies and the Center for Religion and Modernity, ensures that students can work in a perfect research environment including inter-disciplinary networking. This is further evidence of the Center’s role as center of academic excellence for Islamic studies in Germany.
Islamic Religious Education
At the start of the school year 2012/2012, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia introduced Islamic Religious Education for Muslim students in state schools. The Center for Islam Theology offers training and further training for aspiring religious studies teachers with two main focuses. On the one hand, students are trained in teaching methods, focused on the pupils, as well as classroom managment and the ensuing educational and didactical methods. On the other hand, they learn the necessary skills to teach Islamic topics in a competent manner.
In addition, the Center for Islamic Theology offers the degree course “Islamic Theology”, training Muslim theologian who could for example go on to work as imams in mosques or Islamic institutions. Within the framework of this theological training the students are trained in the classic Islamic disciplines such as ʿulūm al-qurʾān (Science of Qur’an), ʿulūm al-ḥadīṯ (Science of Hadith), fiqh (Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence), ʿaqīda (Doctrines) as well as as-sīra al-nabawiyya (Biography of the Prophet). This creates an opportunity for Germany’s Muslim population to actively practice their religion and pass it on to their children.
Prophetic Tradition: If man dies, his good deeds
will vanish except for three of them: a current investment,
a useful knowledge and a just offspring.