Germany s Encounter With Islam - Legal and Theological Issues -

Today in Germany, Muslim communities have the right to build their own places of worship, to train their own ministers of religion and to organize religious education in schools. Muslim workers have the right to paid holidays during their religious festivals and to participate in the Friday prayers. A series of legal rulings generally allow the traditional ritual slaughter of animals on important Feast days and they may organise their religious life according to the prescriptions of the Quran. Some points of conflict between the state and the Islamic communities remain unresolved. One issue is the question of whether Muslim women and girls should be allowed to wear an Islamic headscarf as a religious symbol in public institutions such as state-run schools. Another fragile issue which is the focus of many discussions is the integration of Muslim children into the ordinary daily life of a school - in practice, into the ordinary life of Germany. Some Muslim parents believe they have a duty to shield their children from what they view as the malign influences of modern society and try to stop their children from participating in some obligatory curricular activities, including sport. German courts make an enormous effort to understand the principles of the new religion they are confronted with and to apply the principle of non-discrimination and parity to it. On the other hand it also expects Muslims to make an effort to integrate in the new society in which they have chosen to live and to show openness towards it. In Germany, freedom of religion means not only freedom to practise a certain religion but also the freedom not to practice any religion at all.