Sunday, July 16, 2023

Do German Public schools teach Muslim students about Islam? is it a compulsory or elective subject?

 Yes, German public schools teach Islam to Muslim students. According to official statistics from Germany's 16 state education ministries, around 55,000 pupils at 800 public schools across Germany receive Islam religion lessons.

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 However, only 4% of the country's estimated 700,000 Muslim pupils receive religious instruction in German, so there is a need for more teachers of Islam
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In Germany, it is mandatory to participate in one religious or ethical subject, but students are free to choose which of several variants they partake in
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 Religious education is the only school subject mentioned in the German Basic Law (constitution) and is a mandatory subject given by religious communities at public schools in almost all German federal states, except in Berlin, Brandenburg, and Bremen
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While religion as taught in public high schools and supported by Germany's Basic Law is generally targeted at specific denominations, some German politicians are pushing for an expansion of Islam classes in public schools as a way to encourage the cultural integration of Muslim students and to promote an interpretation of Islam that highlights German values
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In addition to teaching Muslim students about their religion, some advocates of Islam classes in public schools envision them as a way to "immunize" Muslim students from fundamentalism and radicalization that might lead to violence
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In conclusion, Islam is taught in German public schools to Muslim students, but it is not a compulsory subject for all students.

Citations:
[1] https://www.areweeurope.com/stories/islam-finds-home-in-germany-isabelle-de-pommereau/
[2] https://www.quora.com/In-Germany-Islam-and-the-Koran-are-an-elective-in-high-school-are-Christianity-and-the-Bible-also-an-elective
[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/german-public-schools-are-teaching-islam-to-help-young-muslims-feel-like-they-belong/2018/11/01/1811bc3a-d796-11e8-9559-712cbf726d1c_story.html
[4] https://europeanacademyofreligionandsociety.com/news/coping-with-diversity-in-religious-education-in-germany/
[5] https://www.dw.com/en/study-german-schools-need-more-islamic-religion-classes/a-43599147
[6] https://www.dw.com/en/learning-about-mohammed-and-the-koran-in-german/a-951526
[7] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-islam-muslims-rightwing-extremism-afd-merkel-a8616886.html
[8] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/german-law-journal/article/religious-education-in-germany-in-light-of-religious-diversity-constitutional-requirements-for-religious-education/DA53CF0E68B465C7FD4E027BAD3887AF
[9] https://csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0120/Why-German-public-schools-now-teach-Islam
[10] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/german-law-journal/article/new-politics-of-religious-education-in-the-united-states-and-germany/92E6728421DEA463A5AE8DBCAA0C10D6
[11] https://www.trtworld.com/life/discrimination-of-muslim-students-in-german-schools-continues-rights-group-63311
[12] https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/study/all-subjects/islamic-and-middle-eastern-studies/islamic-and-middle-eastern-studies-bachelor-75
[13] https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/world/europe/germany-adds-lessons-in-islam-to-better-blend-its-melting-pot.html
[14] https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/663201.html
[15] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-31696-9_4
[16] https://en.qantara.de/content/islamic-religion-classes-in-german-schools-who-decides

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