It would be easy enough to mandate that imams must graduate from the domestic program before being allowed to work in Germany, in the process acquiring a certificate in German language fluency and vetting by the security services to ensure no connection to feeder or jihadi groups.
Twenty-four Moslems from across Germany formally passed their imam training at the country's new Islamkolleg Deutschland in the northwestern city of Osnabruck on Saturday.No doubt subsequent classes will be bigger.
The graduates, who included men and women, received their first certificate of completion after attending a two-year part-time course."This is a historic day," said the chairman of the Islamkolleg's board of trustees, former German President Christian Wulff during a presser.
For the first time, imam aspirants completed their practical training in Germany, in the German language and with academic support, he added.
"This has not happened before, but was long overdue in view of the millions of Moslems in our country," Wulff said, adding that the college was making an important contribution to peacebuilding and integration.
Some 5.5 million Moslems live in Germany — around 6% of the population.
Wulff said the Islamkolleg is now a recognized training center and receives many inquiries, even from abroad.
WHY DID GERMANY CREATE ITS OWN IMAM TRAINING?
Germany announced four years ago that it would create a state-backed training center for Islamic leaders to help reduce the number of imams coming in from abroad, mostly
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
Germany currently has between 2,000 to 2,500 Islamic religious leaders, who tend to come to Germany for four or five years, are often paid by their home countries and know very little about the local culture and custom
Many of the imams are also officials of the
Preparation for absorption into the neo-Ottoman caliphate could be considered a political agenda.
Ankara's influence on the Moslem community has long been a thorny issue, especially since the failed coup against President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...in 2016.
WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
The former German president expressed his confidence that the difficulties graduates may face in finding employment could be resolved in the coming years, especially if jobs in Islamic welfare work, including chaplains, can be created by the state.
The Catholic charity Caritas and its protestant equivalent Diakonie both receive state funding.
Germany's Defense Ministry has spoken favorably about employing Moslem chaplains in the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, in the future.
The chairman of the Central Council of Moslems in Germany, Aiman Mazyek, expressed his delight at the first graduates. But said the state should not be allowed to finance religious personnel, directly or indirectly.
“No, no, certainly not. He who pays the piper calls the tune, and we can’t have the secular German state influencing imams, who properly belong to the Ummah — more specifically who would not, unlike the General Council, be a front for the Turkish right-wing extremist group, the Gray Wolves.”
He said he could imagine job-sharing arrangements for imams who could additionally work as religious teachers at schools. Bulent Ucar, the director of the Islamkolleg Deutschland said would like to see imam training "become mainstream" and said he was confident that job prospects would improve.
