Free Republic

The government has long struggled with foreign involvement when it comes to the education of imams who lead Muslim communities across Germany. Now, a new educational association, with start-up funding from Germany’s interior ministry, is set to launch on November 21. Even though some Muslim organizations have been training imams for their own communities in Germany, the majority of imams working in the country are affiliated with the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB). Among Germany’s nearly 4.5 million Muslims, around 3 million are of Turkish origin. […] DITIB is Germany’s largest Islamic umbrella group, with 900 affiliated mosques. Its...

Three major German Muslim organizations have come together to establish a new umbrella organization to better coordinate and expand assistance to refugees. More than a million asylum seekers arrived in Germany last year. The Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD), Islamic Council of Germany and Islamic Society of Shiite Communities announced the formation of the refugee aid umbrella group in an effort to coordinate and expand services to refugees. “The refugee situation presents all of us Muslims with great challenges. It is important and necessary to pool our forces in order to support newly arriving people in the best...