Excerpt:
The Humboldt University of Berlin (HU) announced on Monday its plans to open an Islamic theology institute.
With its new course program, the institute will join five other universities in Germany teaching Islamic theology.
According to HU President Sabine Kunst: "We are currently beginning the process of establishing an institute for Islamic theology. Nothing more and also nothing less."
In response to the assessment by the Catholic News Agency (KNA) that the program was designed to thwart fundamentalist tendencies, HU's spokesperson Hans-Christoph Keller said the university would not comment on speculation by news agencies. Keller said the goal of the course program "is to impart academic foundations in Islamic theology for training imams and to qualify students for a school teaching post."