The Legal and Pedagogical Foundations of Islamic Religious Education in Germany: A Documented Academic Presentation of Fahimah Ulfat's Article (2025)

Editorial Introduction

Praise be to Allah. In 2025 the journal Religionspädagogische Beiträge published an article by the German researcher Fahimah Ulfat, professor of Islamic religious education at the University of Tübingen, entitled:

Islamic Religious Education in Germany – An Overview of Origins, Legal Framework, Theological Foundations, Objectives, Teacher Training and Future Perspectives.

The article offers a comprehensive presentation of Islamic religious education in Germany in terms of:

— its historical origins,

— its legal framework,

— its theological and pedagogical foundations,

— its content and challenges,

— the training of its teachers,

— and its future research prospects.

The following text is based on a translated analytical presentation of Ulfat’s article (2025), with some paragraphs reorganised to ease reading in Arabic, while preserving the essential references given in the original, and without introducing extended critical commentary at this stage.

First: The Historical Origins of Islamic Religious Education in Germany

(Origin)

Ulfat (2025) begins by stressing that the origins of Islamic religious education in Germany are closely bound up with the history of migration, especially the recruitment of workers from Turkey in 1961.

In the first phase, it was assumed that the workers would return to their countries, and so no long-term conception was built for a structure of Islamic religious education within the German school system. But as Muslim families settled and the Muslim presence became a permanent element of society, the German states – constitutionally responsible for education – faced a pressing question concerning the structure of religious education.

The researcher points out that since the 1990s there have been political and legal debates about introducing Islamic religious education into state schools. In some states the matter was handled by incorporating it into mother-tongue lessons, or by organising it through the consular representations of the countries of origin (Muckel, 2001).

But these formats were described as inadequate from a didactic standpoint¹, and as not serving the aims of educational integration.

Ulfat (2025) explains that the period up to 2010 saw multiple pilot projects, but they covered only a limited proportion of Muslim pupils (about 3%). Moreover, many teachers at that stage were not academically qualified in theology, but had undergone limited additional training (Ucar, 2010).

The researcher notes that the 2010 recommendation of the German Council of Science and Humanities was a turning point, as it called for the establishment of centres of Islamic theology within German universities. This led to the founding or consolidation of centres at universities such as:

— Universität Tübingen

— Universität Münster

— Universität Osnabrück

— Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main (in cooperation with Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)

— Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

— Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

— Universität Paderborn

According to Ulfat (2025), Islamic religious education is today a relatively well-established academic discipline within the German university system, although it still faces theoretical, political and practical challenges.

Second: The Legal Framework

(Legal Framework)

Ulfat shows that the legal basis of religious education in Germany rests on the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), in particular:

— Article 4 (freedom of religion and conscience)

— Article 7 (the organisation of religious education in schools)

Article 7 provides that religious education (Religionsunterricht) is a regular subject in state schools and is taught “in accordance with the tenets of the religious community concerned”, while general supervision remains with the state (Schweitzer & Ulfat, 2021).

The researcher stresses that the concept of a “religious community” in the German constitutional framework presupposes:

— defined membership,

— clear organisational representation,

— institutional capacity to communicate with the state.

Yet the Muslim community in Germany – as she points out – is marked by national and sectarian plurality, and there is no unified representative body that easily meets the conditions of Article 7(3). For this reason some states resorted to establishing advisory boards that include Muslim representatives and academic experts (Engin, 2014).

Ulfat cites Janssen (2023) to the effect that many states still rely on mixed or transitional models, and do not apply the model of confessional religious education in its complete form as in Christian religious education.

Third: The Anthropological and Theological Foundations of Religious Education

(What is understood by religious education?)

Ulfat moves on to present the theological foundations on which the conception of Islamic religious education rests.

1. The Concept of Fitrah

The researcher points out that the concept of fitrah represents a central anthropological starting point in Islamic thought. She relies on the verse (al-Rum 30:30) and on the Prophetic hadith about the human being being born upon the fitrah.

She reviews what is found in classical Islamic literature, stressing that fitrah is understood as an original human disposition to turn towards Allah (Hoover, 2016).

But she stresses at the same time – relying on Behr (2014) – that this disposition needs education, guidance and conscious choice, which makes education an essential element in activating latent religious potential.

2. Tazkiyah and Education

Ulfat refers to the concept of tazkiyah (tazkīya), relying on interpretations drawn from the verses of Surat al-Shams (7–10) as presented by Chittick (2007), and on the educational conception of al-Ghazali (Alavi, 2007).

According to this presentation, education in the Islamic perspective is understood as:

— a process of acquiring rational and spiritual knowledge,

— a means of elevating moral awareness,

— and a path to righteous action.

3. Self-Formation and Religious Independence

Ulfat (2025) highlights the concept of “self-formation” (Selbstbildung), and holds that religious education should enable the learner to:

— take a conscious personal stance towards faith,

— bear religious responsibility for himself,

— develop critical awareness in a pluralistic context.

In an organising, summarising formulation, it may be said that the trend the researcher presents reflects a shift from a model focused on transmitting religious knowledge to a model focused on building religious independence (religious self-determination), although the author herself does not use the binary of “indoctrination” in this direct form.

Fourth: Content and Challenges

(Content and Challenges)

Ulfat states that the curricula deal with topics such as:

— the human being, faith and ethics,

— the Qur’an and the sources,

— Allah and creation,

— the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ,

— society and history,

— other religions.

She notes that the didactic orientation focuses on critical thinking and independence.

The researcher devotes space to the reality of Muslim pupils in Germany, pointing to challenges such as:

— tension between family culture and wider society (Ulfat, 2022),

— experiences of discrimination (El-Mafaalani et al., 2017; Willems, 2020),

— problems of identity.

Ulfat holds that religious education can play a role in accompanying pupils through these challenges.

Fifth: Teacher Training and Research Challenges

(Islamic Religious Pedagogy between Academic Rigor and Professional Training)

Ulfat explains that Islamic religious education is a relatively recent discipline, although it draws inspiration from classical Islamic educational traditions (Günther, 2006; 2016; 2020).

She notes that teachers are currently trained at seven universities and four colleges of education (according to Ulfat, 2025).

She reports the results of empirical studies indicating that the level of critical reflection on personal beliefs among some religious education teachers is not as high as expected (Zimmer, Ceylan & Stein, 2017; Tuna, 2019; Kamcili-Yildiz, 2021).

Sixth: Research and Future Prospects

(Research and Future)

Ulfat stresses that the debate on Islamic religious education has long been preoccupied with institutional aspects more than with actual content.

She holds that the future requires:

— developing empirical educational research,

— scientifically evaluating curricula (Abdel-Rahman, 2022),

— developing competence-based teaching models (Topalović, 2024).

The researcher concludes that Islamic religious education, if built on sound scientific and pedagogical foundations, can contribute to:

— strengthening religious independence,

— supporting a pluralistic society,

— preventing religious discourse from turning into an isolationist discourse.

Editorial Conclusion

This documented academic presentation of Ulfat’s article (2025) has ended. It has taken care to present the ideas of the text as they appear in its referential structure, preserving the essential references, and without introducing extended critical commentary.

The next article in this series will move on to analysing the conceptual structure that governs this conception, in particular:

— the centrality of the concept of religious independence,

— the competence model (Kompetenzorientierung),

— and the shift of religious authority from the traditional juristic framework to the modern pedagogical framework².

And Allah is the Granter of success.

All parts of Islamic Religious Education in Germany