It hasn’t been easy. But on Thursday evening, after another session of the two-year-old Islam Conference led by German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, government representatives and Muslim leaders announced an agreement to work toward introducing Islam instruction in German schools. Furthermore, Schäuble expressed his support for the building of new mosques and the group likewise urged German states to change rules in order to allow Muslim burials.
“We have agreed that this should be the way forward,” Schäuble told reporters after the conference. “We are moving ahead step by step.”
Still, the parties to the conference were hesitant to play up the announcement due to the difficult negotiations and at times deep divisions that have characterized the ongoing conference. On the one hand, Schäuble’s Christian Democrats have at times made their distaste for widespread immigration clear, with Roland Koch’s recent re-election campaign in Hesse veering decidedly toward xenophobia. The recent fire in Ludwigshafen, in which nine people of Turkish background died, likewise increased tensions with Germany’s immigrant community.
On the other, however, is a German Muslim community that has for years had difficulties uniting behind a single representative. Indeed, the weeks prior to Thursday’s meeting were full of disagreement and recriminations as Germany’s conservative Muslims fought it out with representatives of the secular Muslim community over the wording of a document declaring their allegiance to the German constitution.
And the divisions among Germany’s Muslims may make it difficult to ultimately introduce Islam instruction, although a number of states already have Islam instruction in schools. In order to expand those offerings country-wide, Schäuble has emphasized the importance of having a Muslim representative in each state to which governments can turn. The Muslim Coordinating Council (KRM), which consists of four Muslim federations, hopes to be that voice -- but still only represents around 20 percent of Germany’s Muslims.
More moderate Muslims accuse the KRM of espousing an extremely pious version of Islam. Necla Kelek, who represents a group of secular Muslims, was not shy about blasting the KRM on Thursday. “Social reality looks like this: already in kindergarten, little girls have to wear headscarves and we also have Shariah courts,” Kelek said. She also accused KRM spokesman Bekir Alboga of hypocrisy, calling his voiced support of women’s rights “hot air.”
In short, there remains a lot to do before German schoolchildren have the option of taking classes in the Muslim religion. At present, schools offer instruction in Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism, with non-religious children or those of other faiths having the option of attending ethics classes instead. Before Islam can be added, German politicians intimated that the Muslim groups have to increase their cooperation. Commenting on the tense nature of the Thursday summit and the accusations leveled by both Muslim camps against one another, Schäuble said such a tone was “anything but helpful.”
German commentators on Friday turn their attention toward the Islam Conference.
The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday writes:
“One should be quite pleased with what is going on in Berlin: Germans and Turks are arguing with each other, as are Muslims and Christians, and conservative Muslims with secular Muslims. No longer is it ignored when someone claims that men and women have the same constitutional rights but nevertheless has a problem with Turkish girls attending swimming lessons.”
“It is the Islam Conference brought into being by Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble that triggered this debate. It is a liberating argument -- one that finally confronts the problems that exist…. That’s why the debate needs to contine.”
The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung is skeptical of the Islam Conference on Friday:
“Despite disagreements among the Muslim participants in the Islam Conference, the paper writes, “it still makes sense for the dialogue to continue. Such a recognition of Islam as a self-evident part of German society is overdue. So is an agreement on how Muslim integration should look in everyday life.”
“But one still should not expect binding, practical solutions from the conference. Not only will it take time to build trust after decades spent ignoring Germany’s Muslims. But imposing Islam instruction in German schools will be difficult due to the fact that state governments are responsible for education. The conference will likewise be unable to provide a single point of contact within the Muslim community, one that the German state would so like to have. The conservative groups only represent a small portion of Muslims in Germany and the secular Muslims usually represent only themselves. It is unlikely that they will come together to speak with a single voice.”
Center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Friday runs a guest commentary by Faruk Sen, the Director of the Center for Studies on Turkey in the western German city of Essen:
“Germany’s shortcomings when it comes to integrating its immigrant population have a lot to do with the country’s sense of self. The German identity has always been defined in ethnic-cultural terms. Indeed, that identity was anchored in Germany’s citizenship laws until 2000 when the principle of place-of-birth was introduced. Germany’s politics and population, however, remain markedly skeptical of the idea of a multi-cultural society in which people from a variety of backgrounds make themselves at home.”
“Given the current debate over integration, German politicians should re-evaluate their concept of integrating immigrants and should introduce further legal anchors when it comes to their equal treatment. Such measures don’t just advance integration by helping immigrants become part of society, but they also have strong symbolic effects by underlining immigrants’ belonging in German society.”