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The program is an opportunity for German students to learn more about Islam
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By
El-Sayed M. Amin, IOL Staff
THURINGIA,
Germany, July 20 (IslamOnline.net) – The German University of Erfurt
opened Monday, July 20, its International Alumni Summer School
"Muslims in the West" for the third consecutive year in this
German state.
The
12-day event brings together 25 Muslim participants from Turkey,
India, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, South Africa, Iran and Malaysia
alongside 15 German students from different universities.
The
summer program has been initiated and funded by the German-Academic
Exchange Service (DAAD) to promote
tolerance and acceptance of the other.
It
primarily focuses on cultural encounters between Muslims and the West
and the integration of Muslims into their respective western
societies.
The
participants are divided into groups where every two make a
presentation on one of the topics discussed in the event.
Exploring
Islam
Albrecht
Fuess, professor of Islamic Studies in Erfurt, said the program is an
ample opportunity for German students to get closer to their Muslim
peers.
German
students said they have decided to join the summer program to learn
more about Islam and explore its true essence.
"The
reason why I take part is that after September 11, there has been a
defaced form of Islam. This created in me an incentive to learn more
about Islam," Sebastian Horndasch told IslamOnline.net.
"I
really think that both sides are like fighting against each other.
Right now, it is time to know each other."
Imke
A. Westermann, another student of Islamic studies in Erfurt, added:
"We can prove that people can cope with each other regardless of
religious affiliations – conflicts are created.
"The
term Shari`ah which casts fear in the hearts of many Westerners needs
to be explained and we could stop stereotyping".
Erfurt
University serves 4000 students coming from different parts of
Germany. It was reopened 1994 after its closure in the beginnings of
the nineteenth century.
There
are some 3.4 million Muslims in Germany, including 220,000 in Berlin
alone.
An
estimated two thirds of them are of Turkish origin.
A
few hours after his election, Horst Kohler, the new German President,
confirmed the importance of holding dialogue
with Islam and Muslims,
not to let them feel "a crusade is launched against them."
His
predecessor, Johannes Rau, said Sunday, December 28, Muslims in
Germany, estimated at about 3.4 million, including 220,000 in Berlin, should
not be treated as
second-class citizens.
The
statements came two days after a survey conducted by University of
Bielefeld’s Institute for Interdisciplinary Research showed that
Islamophobia was on
the rise in Germany.
The
issue of the Muslim women's right to wear hijab has proven
controversial in the country.
German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder voiced on December 21 his opposition to
public servants wearing hijab, but said he was
not against students
wearing them in schools.
Seven
German states have backed a
legislation barring
hijab at a recent meeting of 16 regional ministers for culture,
education and religious affairs in the western German city of
Darmstadt while eight opposed such laws.
In
September, Germany's highest court ruled
that the government
of Baden-Wuerttemberg was wrong to forbid a Muslim female teacher from
wearing her hijab in the classroom.
