First Islamic theological faculty opened at German university in Münster

The first Islamic theological faculty at a German university was opened with a ceremony in Münster. Founding dean Mouhanad Khorchide aims to create an Islamic theology “in and for Europe”. “We must not confuse the proclamation of absolute truths with the rational reflection of faith,” said the religious educator at the ceremony on Thursday evening in Münster. A faculty is not a pulpit.

“This faculty needs full academic freedom, free from any tutelage by the state, by associations or by the pressure of expectations from its own community,” said Khorchide. This freedom is deeply Islamic. He called for saying goodbye to apologetics and victim discourse. Islam has much to give, he said, pointing to the “rich ethics of mercy.”

When his book “Islam is Mercy” was published in 2012, Khorchide was sometimes heavily criticized by Islamic associations for his reform theological approach. The Center for Islamic Theology in Münster, which he headed and which has now become a faculty, had only just been founded. The controversy had a lot to do with the question of who has the authority to interpret Islam in Germany.

There has been an advisory board with representatives from Islamic associations in Münster since 2016, but skepticism about the teachings there is often still widespread in associations. Khorchide addressed the Muslim associations at the opening ceremony: It hurts him that the Münster associations have hardly taken part in their own training and further education programs to date. In many places he misses the will to “finally build an Islam that comes from Germany and is there for Germany.”

North Rhine-Westphalia's State Secretary for Science Gonca Türkeli-Dehnert emphasized that the state had supported the founding of the faculty from the beginning. “Islamic theology should have a permanent place in our university and academic landscape.” Islamic theology was integrated into a socio-political context from the beginning, she said, citing discussions about the composition of the advisory boards and also “the great integration policy expectations of politics and society”.

The advisory board of the Münster faculty includes two representatives each from the Turkish Mosque Association DITIB, the Islamic Council and the Central Council of Muslims. Advisory councils are a makeshift construct because Islam in Germany is not as organized as the Christian churches. There is not one association that can represent all Muslims, but rather many different ones. From a constitutional perspective, however, a religious community must be involved if theology is taught as a confessional science at a state university.

The Münster advisory board chairman Kemalettin Oruç from DITIB said at the ceremony that the faculty should combine scientific quality, religious credibility and social responsibility. Freedom of expression and academic freedom, methodological rigor and openness to different justified positions are indispensable for this. But he also referred to the experiences of believers and warned against contrasting “the supposedly liberal university” with the “supposedly conservative communities.” That would not do justice to the diversity of theological thought, believers or science. From Oruç's perspective, the mission of the advisory board is to build bridges to the religious communities. “We need an Islamic theology that is at home in Germany,” said Oruç. “However, being at home does not mean uprooting.”

University Rector Johannes Wessels spoke of the “completion of a very long journey” and particularly thanked the advisory board, which had supported the project for a very long time. There were complicated discussions, but in the end they resulted in everyone being convinced of the result. Wessels emphasized the independence of the new department, in which eight professors will teach Islamic theology and religious education from the winter semester of 2026/27. Islamic theology can now further develop its research profile and range of courses, be responsible for study programs and examinations and carry out doctorates and habilitations itself.

In his keynote speech, the sociologist and social philosopher Hans Joas described the founding of the faculty as a historic event for the perception of Islam in German society and culture, for interreligious dialogue and for “the cause of moral universalism”. Münster Bishop Heiner Wilmer, who is also chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, emphasized that Islamic theology belongs in the academic debate. Probably in keeping with Khorchide's spirit, he affirmed that serious theology should not be limited to an “internal religious discourse”. And Adelheid Ruck-Schröder, President of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, recalled that the Evangelical Theological Faculty was only created long after the university was founded, namely in 1914 - and she welcomed the fact that Islam was now being given its own academic voice.

According to University Rector Wessels, the faculty will be located on a new campus for theology and religion-related studies. “A hotspot for interreligious discourse will be created here,” said Wessels. The words of the Hamburg Rabbi Gábor Lengyel, who emphasized his personal connection to Khorchide, fit in well with this. “Brotherhood does not mean giving up our differences,” he said. Perhaps this is precisely one of the most important tasks of theology today: to bring together the ability to differentiate with the ability to connect.