Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figure and Tables
- Preface
- 1 Explaining the Accommodation of Muslim Religious Practices in Western Europe
- 2 Britain: Establishment Religion and Islamic Schools
- 3 France: Laïcité and the Ḥijāb
- 4 Germany: Multiple Establishment and Public Corporation Status
- 5 Public Attitudes toward State Accommodation of Muslims' Religious Practices
- 6 Integration and Muslim Practice
- Appendix: Survey Characteristics
- Glossary of Non-English Terms
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Germany: Multiple Establishment and Public Corporation Status
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figure and Tables
- Preface
- 1 Explaining the Accommodation of Muslim Religious Practices in Western Europe
- 2 Britain: Establishment Religion and Islamic Schools
- 3 France: Laïcité and the Ḥijāb
- 4 Germany: Multiple Establishment and Public Corporation Status
- 5 Public Attitudes toward State Accommodation of Muslims' Religious Practices
- 6 Integration and Muslim Practice
- Appendix: Survey Characteristics
- Glossary of Non-English Terms
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In the past, religious instruction was provided by the Protestant and Catholic churches. Then Muslims came in and said, “Hey, if they can have it, why can't we have it as well?” The question is not if, but the question is how.
Halima Krausen (2001), German Muslim convert and theologianOne of the greatest difficulties for Islam in Germany is that [Muslim] organizations … have not been viewed as representative. For this reason, recognition as a public corporation has thus far not been granted…. It is nonetheless important that the Islamic religious community, to which so many people in our country belong, obtain a respected position in society.
Official statement of the German Evangelische churches (VELKD and EKD 2001:133)I see that Islam can represent an enrichment for social life. I think it could represent an even greater enrichment if people approached it with a more open mind…. People just want to have their prejudices confirmed. No one is ready, really to listen or in any way to think a little differently…. Especially on the topic “Women and Islam,” Islam is reduced to the ḥijāb, polygamy, and inheritance law.
Maryam, a thirty-seven-year-old German convert to Islam (Biehl and Kabak 1999:108)our third country, Germany, represents a middle ground between Britain's relatively generous accommodation of Muslims' religious practices and France's much greater reluctance to make room for Islam.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany , pp. 98 - 129Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004