(AFP) Germany has launched a state-backed training centre for imams to help reduce the number of Islamic leaders coming in from abroad, but the initiative has been shunned by leading Turkish groups.
Around 40 aspiring religious leaders attended their first classes at the German College of Islam in the north-western city of Osnabrueck on Monday, with the official inauguration on Tuesday.
The centre’s two-year imam training programme will be taught with the help of some 12,000 books imported from Egypt.
Open to holders of a bachelor’s degree in Islamic theology or an equivalent diploma, it offers practical teaching in the recitation of verses from the Koran, preaching techniques, worship practices and politics.
