Germany’s first Institute of Islamic Theology opens in Hessen

Photo: Twitter @KhurramShahid92

On 17th December the Ahmadiyya Muslim community opened the first & only “Institute of Islamic theology and languages.” in Hessen, Germany.

Students will complete a seven year course in Quranic interpretations, Islamic mysticism, Arabic and German history in the center.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat started construction of the new center three years ago in Riedstadt, located about 45 kilometers south of Frankfurt. The new Islamic institute takes up approximately 7,000 square meters, which include seven classrooms, an auditorium for 100 guests, a dining hall with a kitchen, and a gymnasium. The centre also has a small, livable campus.

Up to 200 young men at a time can be trained here, divided into seven classes. The spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya congregation, Asif Sadiq, says that “it is a seven-year course of study, including internships in mosques and communities – which is long and intense, but this is due to the abundance of the material.”

At the end of the day, imams are theologians at a high level, he explains. Because most students beginning at the institute come fresh out of school and have only lived with their parents up to that point, at the institute they learn some housework and cooking skills alongside their rites and prayers to enable them to live independently.

The graduates are expected to work as a chaplain or social worker in the community or abroad. The Ahmadiyya community is about to form its own theological elite, who are familiar with the local conditions. The Caliph and head of the community Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad arrived specially from the Ahmadiyya headquarters in London for the inaguration.

Only a few days ago the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community opened two new mosques in the city of Pforzheim in Baden-Württemberg and Bruchsal.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is organized into more than 250 local communities all over Germany. In Hessen the community has some 15,000 members.

 

Source: TAZ | German Mission in USA