Disciplining the ‘Muslim Subject’: The Role of Security Agencies in Establishing Islamic Theology within the State&apos;s Academia

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Disciplining the ‘Muslim Subject’: The Role of Security Agencies in Establishing Islamic Theology within the State's Academia

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Author(s): Dr. Farid Hafez

Publication date (Print): Fall 2014

Journal: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Islamic Studies, Germany, Islamophobia, securitization, discipline, subject

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Abstract

The following article discusses the establishment of centers of Islamic Studies (Islamische Theologie) in Germany. While many authors have discussed different theories which shape the accommodation of Islam in Western European nation states, I suggest that the security dispositif (Foucault) has a strong impact on the way the state and religious communities interact with each other. I argue that against the backdrop of a hegemonic Islamophobic discourse and a securitization of Islam, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution ( Verfassungsschutz) as the main actor in charge of domestic security issues within the Ministry of Interior, shapes the construction of the German ‘Muslim subject’ to discipline and govern Germany's Muslims. The Verfassungsschutz becomes a defining power in the attempt to locate Islam in the German religio-political landscape by influencing the politics of several state agencies. This is due to broadening the notion of security which affects the ‘integration policy’ of several state agencies and makes the integration issue a priority in other policy areas. A hegemonic Islamophobic discourse, in which Islam has become a security threat, seems to foster such a policy. I will elaborate the securitization of Islam through the Verfassungsschutz by tracing its role in the institutionalization of Islamic Studies at state universities.

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Dr. Farid Hafez

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Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): islastudj

Title: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 23258381

ISSN (Electronic): 2325839X

Publication date (Print): Fall 2014

Volume: 2

Issue: 2

Pages: 43-57

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Department of Political Science at the University of Salzburg

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Publisher ID: islastudj.2.2.0043

DOI: 10.13169/islastudj.2.2.0043

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Social & Behavioral Sciences

Keywords: discipline,securitization,Islamophobia,Germany,Islamic Studies,subject

References

Joel Fetzer & Christopher Soper, Muslims and the State in Britain, France and Germany , New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 105–8. Only in June 2013, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, which is regarded as a heterodox Muslim sect by a number of Sunni scholars, was recognized in Hessen. The rest of the Muslim associations, being majority Sunni and mainly from Turkey, have not been legally recognized yet.
Niels Valdemar Vinding, Muslim Positions in the Religio-Organisational Fields of Denmark, Germany and England , Publications from the Faculty of Theology no. 42, Submitted on 1 march 2013 for the degree of PhD, pp. 189–203.
Kai Hafez, Freiheit, Gleichheit und Intoleranz. Der Islam in der liberalen Gesellschaft Deutschlands und Europas , Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2013, pp.41–44.
Werner Schiffauer, ‘Zur Konstruktion von Sicherheitspartnerschaften’, in: Michael Bommes & Marianne Krüger-Potratz (Eds.). Migrationsreport 2008. Fakten — Analysen — Perspektiven , Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag, 2008b, pp. 205–37.
Schirin Amir-Moazami, ‘Pitfalls of consensus-orientated dialogue: the German Islam Conference’ (Deutsche Islam Konferenz), in: Approaching Religion , Vol 1, No 1 (2011), 2–15.
Patrick Bahners, Die Panikmacher. Die deutsche Angst vor dem Islam , C.H. Beck: München, 2011.
Christian Henkes & Sascha Kneip, ‘Die Plenardebatten um das Kopftuch in den deutschen Landesparlamenten’, in: Sabine Berhahn & Petra Rostock (eds.), Der Stoff, aus dem Konflikte sind. Debatten um das Kopftuch in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz Bielefeld: Transcript, 2009, pp.249–74.
Jana Kübel, ‘Neue alte Feinde — “Manchmal fühle ich mich wie ein Jude!’”, Jahrbuch für Islamophobieforschung 2012 , Wien: NAP, pp. 34–56.
It is not my aim here to discuss the debate on Islamic studies and Islamic theology and what constitutes them as academic and confessional disciplines, especially in a time when Islam is very politicized. For further reading see: Abbas Poya & Maurus Reinkowski (eds.), Das Unbehagen in der Islamwissenschaft: ein klassisches Fach im Schweinwerferlicht der Politik und der Medien, Reihe global local Islam, Bielefeldt: transcript, 2008.
Jonathan Laurence, The Emancipation Of Europe's Muslims. The State's Role in Minority Integration , Princeton/Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2012, pp.12–13.
Michel Foucault, ‘The Confession of the Flesh’ (1977), in: Michel Foucault, Power/Knowledge. Selected Interviews and Other Writings (ed. Colin Gordon), 1980, pp. 194–228.
Michel Foucault, Überwachen und Strafen , Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1992, 166.
Stuart Hall, (ed.), Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices , The Open University: Milton Keynes, 1997, p. 55–56.
Barry Buzan & Lene Hansen, The Evolution of International Security Studies, Cambridge: CUP, 2009.
Michel Foucault, Schriften. Band 3. 1976–1979 , Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 2003, p.239.
Cesari does not solely rely on such a constructivist notion of security, but rather goes on to argue that the ‘securitization of Islam’ leads to a de facto transformation of conservative Muslims into fundamentalists and thus meets the dialectic aspect of discoursive theory.
Jocelyne Cesari, ‘Securitization of Islam in Europe’, in: Jocelyne Cesari (ed.), Muslims in the West after 9/11. Religion, Politics and Law , New York: Routledge, (9–27), 2010, p.9.
Ibid.
Farid Hafez, Islamophober Populismus. Moschee- und Minarettbauverbotsdebatten in österreichischen Parlamenten , Wiesbaden: VS, 2010, pp.35–77.
Kerem Öktem, Signale aus der Mehrheitsgesellschaft. Auswirkungen der Beschneidungsdebatte und staatlicher Überwachung islamischer Organisation auf Identitätsbildung und Integration in Deutschland , Zentrum für Europastudien, Universität Oxford, September 2013, http://tezhamburg.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/signale-aus-der-mehrheitsgesellschaft.pdf (accessed 24 October 2013), p.46. For a study that puts this issue in a context of the general evolution of migration and integration politics see: Klaus J. Bade (2013). Kritik und Gewalt. Sarrazin-Debatte, ‘Islamkritik’ und Terror in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft , Schwalbach: Wochenschau Verlag, 2013.
Michel Foucault, Schriften, Band IV, 1980–1988 , Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2005, p.759.
Levent Teczan, Das muslimische Subjekt. Verfangen im Dialog der Deutschen Islamkonferenz , Konstanz: Konstanz University Press, 2012. With 9/11, the ‘Muslim subject’ became a potential threat as an outcome of a security discourse, using terms such as the ‘sleeper’ to refer to a diffuse ever-present threat that had to be stemmed. Islamophobic crimes resulting in the loss of people's lives, such as those in the Netherlands with a Muslim teacher of Moroccan origin or in Germany with a pregnant doctor, were not covered in media and did not lead to far reaching consequences in the way that the murder of Theo van Gogh did.
Werner Schiffauer, ‘Suspect Subjects: Muslim Migrants and the Security Agencies in Germany’, in: Julia Eckert (Ed.), The Social Life of Anti-Terrorist Laws. The War on Terror and the Classification of the ‘Dangerous Other’ , Bielefeld: Transcript, 2008a, pp.55–78.
Werner Schiffauer, 2008b, 225–26.
Liz Fekete, ‘Anti-Muslim Racism and the European Security State’, in: Race & Class 46 (1), (3–29), 2004, p.5.
Ibid., p.6.
Ibid., p.7.
Liz Fekete, A Suitable Enemy: Racism, Migration and Islamophobia in Europe , London & New York: Pluto Press, 2009, pp. 135–73.
Diala Shamas & Nermeen Arastu: Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and its impact on American Muslims, http://www.law.cuny.edu/academics/clinics/immigration/clear/Mapping-Muslims.pdf (accessed 04 July 2014)
Jonathan Laurence, The Emancipation Of Europe's Muslims .
Werner Schiffauer, 2008b.
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison , New York: Random House, 1977, pp.170.
Janbernd Oebbecke, Bodo Pieroth & Emanuel Towfigh (eds.), Islam und Verfassungsschutz, Dokumentation der Tagung am 7. Dezember 2006 an der Universität Münster, Reihe: Islam und Recht, Band 6, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien: Peter Lang Verlag, 2007.
Werner Schiffauer, 2008a, p.55.
Ibid., p.56.
Ibid., p.56
Tania Puschnerat, ‘Islamismus und Verfassungsschutz. Begriffsdefinitionen, Kategorisierungen und Diagnosen’, in: Janbernd Oebbecke et al (eds.), Islam und Verfassungsschutz , (57–72), 2007, p. 60.
BVF (2008). Islamismus aus der Perspektive des Verfassungsschutzes , bfv-themenreihe, Köln: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz.
Ralf Poscher, ‘Konstitutionalisierung der Religion — Sakralisierung der Verfassung?’, in: Janbernd Oebbecke et al. (eds.). Islam und Verfassungsschutz , 2007, p. 13.
Dietrich Murswiek, ‘Der Verfassungsschutzbericht. Funktionen und rechtliche Anforderungen’, in: Janbernd Oebbecke et al (eds.), Islam und Verfassungsschutz , 2007, pp. 73–90.
Werner Schiffauer, 2008b.
Kerem Öktem, 2013, pp.45–53.
For a critical reflection in public debates as well as in academic writings see: Norbert Gestring, ‘Parallelgesellschaft, Ghettoisierung und Segregation — Muslime in deutschen Städten’, in: Hendrik Meyes & Klaus Schubert (eds), Politik und Islam , Wiesbaden: VS, 2011, 168–190.
Werner Schiffauer (2008a). For further reading on effects of combatting ‘legalist Islamism’: Kerem Öktem 2013, pp.45–80.
Schirin Amir-Moazami, ‘Fallstricke des konsensorientierten Dialogs unter liberal-säkularen Bedingungen: Entwicklungen in der Deutschen Islam Konferenz’, in: Marianne Krüger-Potratz & Werner Schiffauer, Migrationsreport 2010. Fakten - Analsen -Perspektiven , Frankfurt/Main & NY: Campus Verlag, 2010, 109–138.
BvF 2008, pp.8–9. All citations of the VS are the author's.
Engin Karahan, ‘Verfassungsschutzberichte und IGMG — Erfahrungen und Auswirkungen’, in: Janbernd Oebbecke et al (eds.), Islam und Verfassungsschutz , 2007, pp. 91–112, see also: Schiffauer 2008a.
Ibid. pp.95–7
Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg, Islamistischer Extremismus und Terrorismus , April 2006, http://www.verfassungsschutz-bw.de/site/lfv/get/documents/IV.Dachmandant/Datenquelle/stories/public_files/islamisten/islamismus-broschuere-2006.pdf (accessed 25 June 2014)
Thijl Sunier, Beyond the Domestication of Islam: A Reflection on Reasearch on Islam in European Societies , Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit, 2009, pp. 3–4.
Michael Kiefer, ‘Islamische Theologie, islamischer Religionsunterricht — Kritische Anmerkungen zur Funktion und Praxis’, in: Heiner Barz & Matthias Jung (eds.), Gehört der Islam zu Deutschland? Fakten und Analysen zu einem Meinungsstreit, Vortragsreihe der IIK-Abendakadmie , Band 2, Düsseldorf: Düsseldorf University Press (213–227), 2013, p.214. The WR is one of the most important policy advisory bodies in the field of sciences in Germany. Its 32 members are appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany based on a proposal by leading academic institutions of the Republic of Germany. Its main objective is to advise the Federal Government and the governments of the German Länder (Federal States). For this reason, it regularly publishes recommendations and prepares reports relevant to scientific institutions, especially universities. See “Function”: http://www.wissenschaftsrat.de/en/about/function.html (accessed 23 October 2013) and “Organisation and procedure”: http://www.wissenschaftsrat.de/en/about/organisation_structure_and_methods.html (accessed 23 October 2013)
Wissenschaftsrat, Recommendations on the Advancement of Theologies and Sciences concerned with Religions at German Universities , Drs. 9678-10, Berlin 29 01 2010, Köln: Sutorius Printmedien, pp. 153–155.
ibid. p.8. All citations of the WR's paper are originally in English.
Jürgen Habermas & Joseph Ratzinger, Dialektik der Säkularisierung Über Vernunft und Religion , Freiburg: Herder Verlag, 2005, and Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, Kirche und christlicher Glaube in den Herausforderungen der Zeit. Beiträge zur politisch-theologischen Verfassungsgeschichte 1957–2002 , 2., erweiterte Auflage, Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2007.
While Christian Theology is provided at Christian theological Faculties, Islamic Studies is only offered in Philosophy departments due to the non-existence of Islamic theological Faculties, which is seen as inappropriate by some critics. See: Michael Kiefer 2013, p.215.
Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p. 13.
A decision of the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht) in regard to Catholic theology states: “The establishment at a public university of a ‘Diplom’ degree program in Catholic theology whose goal is the training of a Catholic ‘Volltheologen’ — concluding with a Diplom in theology and a national exam — is a common affair of the State/University and the Church (Guiding principle 1, BVerwGE 101, 309 = ZevKR 41 (1996), p. 460, cited in: Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p. 17).
Ibid., p.72.
Ibid. p.19–20. Art. 140 in conjunction with art. 137 para. 3 WRV (cf. footnote 8) says: These rights of participation are realized especially through the religious communities influencing the composition of the faculty personnel. (BVerfG 1 BvR 462/06 of October 28, 2008, 63, http://www.bverfg.de (cited in Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p.71)
Ibid. p.71
Ibid. p.75
Ibid. p.76
The KRM is an umbrella organization of the four largest Muslim civic associations and umbrella organizations, the Islamrat der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the Zentralrat derMuslime, the Verband Islamischer Kulturzentren (VIKZ) and the DITIB (Türkisch-Islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion). It was founded in 2006, shortly before the DIK was established, due to the German state's longing for a Muslim counterpart. The KRM represents the four largest Muslim associations working on a grassroots-level via educational institutions and mosques.
Ibid., p.76–77. After five years, these institutions should be evaluated.
Michael Kiefer, 2013, 215–17.
Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p.74.
Farid Hafez, ‘Institutionalised Austrian Islam: One institution representing the many’, in: Samuel Behloul, Susanne Leuenberger & Andreas Tunger-Zanetti (eds.), Debating Islam. Negotiating Religion, Europe, and the Self , Bielefeldt: Transcript Verlag, 2013, pp. 217–232.
Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p. 72
Ibid. p.73
In late 2013, the Europäische Institut für Humanwissenschaften, a private institute, was founded, but not accredited by the state authorities.
Ibid. 72–73
In fact, looking at the personnel granted professorships at the different centers of Islamic Studies reveals that a majority possess Ph.D. degrees in non-theological disciplines and that the theological knowledge is — if at all — pursued by a degree from a course in distance learning. I.e. Prof. Mouhanad Khorchide (University of Münster) obtained his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Vienna and studied in Lebanon Islamic Studies via Distance Learning. Prof. Harry Harun Behr (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg) is a teacher by training with no Ph.D. in Islamic Studies/Theology.
Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p. 80
Sprachen, in: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät , 14 May 2012, http://www.ev.theologie.uni-mainz.de/429.php (accessed 10 December 2013)
Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p.8
Westfälische Universität Münster. Ordnung des konfessionellen Beirats für islamische Theologie der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster vom 21. Dezember 2011 , http://www.uni-muenster.de/imperia/md/content/wwu/ab_uni/ab2012/ausgabe03/beitrag_02.pdf (accessed 23 October 2013), pp-153-55.
Ministerin für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Islam-Beirat an der Uni Münster noch nicht komplett , URL: http://www.wissenschaft.nrw.de/presse/dpa-ticker/242/ (accessed 25 October 2013)
Letter from Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Research of North Rhine-Westphalia at the rector of the university of Münster, 2012/10/26, Aktenzeichen 225-1.08.03.03/101, entitled “Bestellungen der Mitglieder des konfessorischen Beirates am Zentrum für Islamische Theologie der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster”.
Friedrich Burschel, Uwe Schubert & Gerd Wiegel, «Der Sommer ist vorbei …». Vom «Aufstand der Anständigen» zur «Extremismusklausel»: Beiträge zu 13 Jahren «Bundesprogramme gegen Rechts», Münster: Edition Assemblage, 2013.
Herrmann Horstkotte, ‘Ein islamischer Schulbeirat unter Verdacht’, in: Die Zeit , 08 November 2012, http://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2012-11/islamischer-religionsunterricht-deutschland (accessed 27 October 2013)
Letter from Mouhanad Khorchide at Eren Güvercin, 18 March 2013 entitled “Konstituierende Sitzung des konfessorischen Beirats für Islamische Theologie der Westfälischen Wilhelms - Universität Münster”.
See: Studium, http://www.uni-muenster.de/ZIT/Studium/index.html (accessed 27 October 2013)
Arnfrid Schenk & Martin Spiewak, “So kleinlich kann Gott nicht sein”, Interview with Mouhanad Khorchide, in: Die Zeit , 02 October 2013, Nr. 41, URL: http://www.zeit.de/2013/41/religionsunterricht-paedagogik-islam-mouhanad-khorchide (accessed 23 October 2013)
Letter of Erol Pürlü, speaker of the KRM entitled “Antwort auf Ihr Schreiben vom 12.11.2012 im Bezug auf die Bestellung der Mitglieder des konfessionellen Beirats für Islamische Theologie der Westfäkschen Wilhelms-Universität”.
Hermann Horstkotte, Studium für Islam-Lehrer, 2012.
Zentrum für Islamische Theologie an der Universität Tübingen: Berufung und Konstituierung des Beirats, in: Newsletter Uni Tübingen aktuell , Nr. 3/2011: Forschung, 05 July 2011, http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/aktuelles/newsletter-uni-tuebingen-aktuell/2011/3/forschung/1.html (accessed 10 December 2013)
Letter of Jürgen Rottenecker, principal oft he university, entitled “Einladung zu einem weiteren Gespräch an der Universität Tübingen”, November 2 2010, GZ I-7713.47.
Wichtiger Schritt auf dem Weg zu “Islamisch-Religiösen Studien” an der FAU, in: uni | mediendienst | aktuell, Nr. 42/2012, 06 March 2012, http://www.uni-erlangen.de/infocenter/meldungen/nachrichten/2012/3/6/1526.shtml (accessed 28 November 2013)
Ibid.
Department Islamisch-Religiöse Studien in Erlangen eröffnet, 27 September 2012, http://blogs.fau.de/news/2012/09/27/department-islamisch-religiose-studien-in-erlangen-eroffnet/ (accessed 29 November 2013)
Ibid.
Ita Niehausw, Theologen im Porträt. Die Traditionen im Kopf, in: Deutschlandradio Kultur , 07 December 2013, http://www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/theologen-im-portraet-die-traditionen-imkopf.1278.de.html?dram:article_id=271316 (accessed 10 December 2013)
Ali Mete, Islamische Theologie stärkt “muslimische Mitte”. Interview mit Bülent Ucar, in: IslamiQ , 08 December 2013, http://www.islamiq.de/2013/12/08/buelent-ucar-im-gespraech/ (accessed 12 December 2013)

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Joel Fetzer & Christopher Soper, Muslims and the State in Britain, France and Germany , New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 105–8. Only in June 2013, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, which is regarded as a heterodox Muslim sect by a number of Sunni scholars, was recognized in Hessen. The rest of the Muslim associations, being majority Sunni and mainly from Turkey, have not been legally recognized yet.

[2] Niels Valdemar Vinding, Muslim Positions in the Religio-Organisational Fields of Denmark, Germany and England , Publications from the Faculty of Theology no. 42, Submitted on 1 march 2013 for the degree of PhD, pp. 189–203.

[3] Kai Hafez, Freiheit, Gleichheit und Intoleranz. Der Islam in der liberalen Gesellschaft Deutschlands und Europas , Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2013, pp.41–44.

[4] Werner Schiffauer, ‘Zur Konstruktion von Sicherheitspartnerschaften’, in: Michael Bommes & Marianne Krüger-Potratz (Eds.). Migrationsreport 2008. Fakten — Analysen — Perspektiven , Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag, 2008b, pp. 205–37.

[5] Schirin Amir-Moazami, ‘Pitfalls of consensus-orientated dialogue: the German Islam Conference’ (Deutsche Islam Konferenz), in: Approaching Religion , Vol 1, No 1 (2011), 2–15.

[6] Patrick Bahners, Die Panikmacher. Die deutsche Angst vor dem Islam , C.H. Beck: München, 2011.

[7] Christian Henkes & Sascha Kneip, ‘Die Plenardebatten um das Kopftuch in den deutschen Landesparlamenten’, in: Sabine Berhahn & Petra Rostock (eds.), Der Stoff, aus dem Konflikte sind. Debatten um das Kopftuch in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz Bielefeld: Transcript, 2009, pp.249–74.

[8] Jana Kübel, ‘Neue alte Feinde — “Manchmal fühle ich mich wie ein Jude!’”, Jahrbuch für Islamophobieforschung 2012 , Wien: NAP, pp. 34–56.

[9] It is not my aim here to discuss the debate on Islamic studies and Islamic theology and what constitutes them as academic and confessional disciplines, especially in a time when Islam is very politicized. For further reading see: Abbas Poya & Maurus Reinkowski (eds.), Das Unbehagen in der Islamwissenschaft: ein klassisches Fach im Schweinwerferlicht der Politik und der Medien, Reihe global local Islam, Bielefeldt: transcript, 2008.

[10] Jonathan Laurence, The Emancipation Of Europe's Muslims. The State's Role in Minority Integration , Princeton/Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2012, pp.12–13.

[11] Michel Foucault, ‘The Confession of the Flesh’ (1977), in: Michel Foucault, Power/Knowledge. Selected Interviews and Other Writings (ed. Colin Gordon), 1980, pp. 194–228.

[12] Michel Foucault, Überwachen und Strafen , Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1992, 166.

[13] Stuart Hall, (ed.), Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices , The Open University: Milton Keynes, 1997, p. 55–56.

[14] Barry Buzan & Lene Hansen, The Evolution of International Security Studies, Cambridge: CUP, 2009.

[15] Michel Foucault, Schriften. Band 3. 1976–1979 , Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 2003, p.239.

[16] Cesari does not solely rely on such a constructivist notion of security, but rather goes on to argue that the ‘securitization of Islam’ leads to a de facto transformation of conservative Muslims into fundamentalists and thus meets the dialectic aspect of discoursive theory.

[17] Jocelyne Cesari, ‘Securitization of Islam in Europe’, in: Jocelyne Cesari (ed.), Muslims in the West after 9/11. Religion, Politics and Law , New York: Routledge, (9–27), 2010, p.9.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Farid Hafez, Islamophober Populismus. Moschee- und Minarettbauverbotsdebatten in österreichischen Parlamenten , Wiesbaden: VS, 2010, pp.35–77.

[20] Kerem Öktem, Signale aus der Mehrheitsgesellschaft. Auswirkungen der Beschneidungsdebatte und staatlicher Überwachung islamischer Organisation auf Identitätsbildung und Integration in Deutschland , Zentrum für Europastudien, Universität Oxford, September 2013, http://tezhamburg.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/signale-aus-der-mehrheitsgesellschaft.pdf (accessed 24 October 2013), p.46. For a study that puts this issue in a context of the general evolution of migration and integration politics see: Klaus J. Bade (2013). Kritik und Gewalt. Sarrazin-Debatte, ‘Islamkritik’ und Terror in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft , Schwalbach: Wochenschau Verlag, 2013.

[21] Michel Foucault, Schriften, Band IV, 1980–1988 , Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2005, p.759.

[22] Levent Teczan, Das muslimische Subjekt. Verfangen im Dialog der Deutschen Islamkonferenz , Konstanz: Konstanz University Press, 2012. With 9/11, the ‘Muslim subject’ became a potential threat as an outcome of a security discourse, using terms such as the ‘sleeper’ to refer to a diffuse ever-present threat that had to be stemmed. Islamophobic crimes resulting in the loss of people's lives, such as those in the Netherlands with a Muslim teacher of Moroccan origin or in Germany with a pregnant doctor, were not covered in media and did not lead to far reaching consequences in the way that the murder of Theo van Gogh did.

[23] Werner Schiffauer, ‘Suspect Subjects: Muslim Migrants and the Security Agencies in Germany’, in: Julia Eckert (Ed.), The Social Life of Anti-Terrorist Laws. The War on Terror and the Classification of the ‘Dangerous Other’ , Bielefeld: Transcript, 2008a, pp.55–78.

[24] Werner Schiffauer, 2008b, 225–26.

[25] Liz Fekete, ‘Anti-Muslim Racism and the European Security State’, in: Race & Class 46 (1), (3–29), 2004, p.5.

[26] Ibid., p.6.

[27] Ibid., p.7.

[28] Liz Fekete, A Suitable Enemy: Racism, Migration and Islamophobia in Europe , London & New York: Pluto Press, 2009, pp. 135–73.

[29] Diala Shamas & Nermeen Arastu: Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and its impact on American Muslims, http://www.law.cuny.edu/academics/clinics/immigration/clear/Mapping-Muslims.pdf (accessed 04 July 2014)

[30] Jonathan Laurence, The Emancipation Of Europe's Muslims .

[31] Werner Schiffauer, 2008b.

[32] Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison , New York: Random House, 1977, pp.170.

[33] Janbernd Oebbecke, Bodo Pieroth & Emanuel Towfigh (eds.), Islam und Verfassungsschutz, Dokumentation der Tagung am 7. Dezember 2006 an der Universität Münster, Reihe: Islam und Recht, Band 6, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien: Peter Lang Verlag, 2007.

[34] Werner Schiffauer, 2008a, p.55.

[35] Ibid., p.56.

[36] Ibid., p.56

[37] Tania Puschnerat, ‘Islamismus und Verfassungsschutz. Begriffsdefinitionen, Kategorisierungen und Diagnosen’, in: Janbernd Oebbecke et al (eds.), Islam und Verfassungsschutz , (57–72), 2007, p. 60.

[38] BVF (2008). Islamismus aus der Perspektive des Verfassungsschutzes , bfv-themenreihe, Köln: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz.

[39] Ralf Poscher, ‘Konstitutionalisierung der Religion — Sakralisierung der Verfassung?’, in: Janbernd Oebbecke et al. (eds.). Islam und Verfassungsschutz , 2007, p. 13.

[40] Dietrich Murswiek, ‘Der Verfassungsschutzbericht. Funktionen und rechtliche Anforderungen’, in: Janbernd Oebbecke et al (eds.), Islam und Verfassungsschutz , 2007, pp. 73–90.

[41] Werner Schiffauer, 2008b.

[42] Kerem Öktem, 2013, pp.45–53.

[43] For a critical reflection in public debates as well as in academic writings see: Norbert Gestring, ‘Parallelgesellschaft, Ghettoisierung und Segregation — Muslime in deutschen Städten’, in: Hendrik Meyes & Klaus Schubert (eds), Politik und Islam , Wiesbaden: VS, 2011, 168–190.

[44] Werner Schiffauer (2008a). For further reading on effects of combatting ‘legalist Islamism’: Kerem Öktem 2013, pp.45–80.

[45] Schirin Amir-Moazami, ‘Fallstricke des konsensorientierten Dialogs unter liberal-säkularen Bedingungen: Entwicklungen in der Deutschen Islam Konferenz’, in: Marianne Krüger-Potratz & Werner Schiffauer, Migrationsreport 2010. Fakten - Analsen -Perspektiven , Frankfurt/Main & NY: Campus Verlag, 2010, 109–138.

[46] BvF 2008, pp.8–9. All citations of the VS are the author's.

[47] Engin Karahan, ‘Verfassungsschutzberichte und IGMG — Erfahrungen und Auswirkungen’, in: Janbernd Oebbecke et al (eds.), Islam und Verfassungsschutz , 2007, pp. 91–112, see also: Schiffauer 2008a.

[48] Ibid. pp.95–7

[49] Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg, Islamistischer Extremismus und Terrorismus , April 2006, http://www.verfassungsschutz-bw.de/site/lfv/get/documents/IV.Dachmandant/Datenquelle/stories/public_files/islamisten/islamismus-broschuere-2006.pdf (accessed 25 June 2014)

[50] Thijl Sunier, Beyond the Domestication of Islam: A Reflection on Reasearch on Islam in European Societies , Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit, 2009, pp. 3–4.

[51] Michael Kiefer, ‘Islamische Theologie, islamischer Religionsunterricht — Kritische Anmerkungen zur Funktion und Praxis’, in: Heiner Barz & Matthias Jung (eds.), Gehört der Islam zu Deutschland? Fakten und Analysen zu einem Meinungsstreit, Vortragsreihe der IIK-Abendakadmie , Band 2, Düsseldorf: Düsseldorf University Press (213–227), 2013, p.214. The WR is one of the most important policy advisory bodies in the field of sciences in Germany. Its 32 members are appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany based on a proposal by leading academic institutions of the Republic of Germany. Its main objective is to advise the Federal Government and the governments of the German Länder (Federal States). For this reason, it regularly publishes recommendations and prepares reports relevant to scientific institutions, especially universities. See “Function”: http://www.wissenschaftsrat.de/en/about/function.html (accessed 23 October 2013) and “Organisation and procedure”: http://www.wissenschaftsrat.de/en/about/organisation_structure_and_methods.html (accessed 23 October 2013)

[52] Wissenschaftsrat, Recommendations on the Advancement of Theologies and Sciences concerned with Religions at German Universities , Drs. 9678-10, Berlin 29 01 2010, Köln: Sutorius Printmedien, pp. 153–155.

[53] ibid. p.8. All citations of the WR's paper are originally in English.

[54] Jürgen Habermas & Joseph Ratzinger, Dialektik der Säkularisierung Über Vernunft und Religion , Freiburg: Herder Verlag, 2005, and Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, Kirche und christlicher Glaube in den Herausforderungen der Zeit. Beiträge zur politisch-theologischen Verfassungsgeschichte 1957–2002 , 2., erweiterte Auflage, Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2007.

[55] While Christian Theology is provided at Christian theological Faculties, Islamic Studies is only offered in Philosophy departments due to the non-existence of Islamic theological Faculties, which is seen as inappropriate by some critics. See: Michael Kiefer 2013, p.215.

[56] Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p. 13.

[57] A decision of the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht) in regard to Catholic theology states: “The establishment at a public university of a ‘Diplom’ degree program in Catholic theology whose goal is the training of a Catholic ‘Volltheologen’ — concluding with a Diplom in theology and a national exam — is a common affair of the State/University and the Church (Guiding principle 1, BVerwGE 101, 309 = ZevKR 41 (1996), p. 460, cited in: Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p. 17).

[58] Ibid., p.72.

[59] Ibid. p.19–20. Art. 140 in conjunction with art. 137 para. 3 WRV (cf. footnote 8) says: These rights of participation are realized especially through the religious communities influencing the composition of the faculty personnel. (BVerfG 1 BvR 462/06 of October 28, 2008, 63, http://www.bverfg.de (cited in Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p.71)

[60] Ibid. p.71

[61] Ibid. p.75

[62] Ibid. p.76

[63] The KRM is an umbrella organization of the four largest Muslim civic associations and umbrella organizations, the Islamrat der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the Zentralrat derMuslime, the Verband Islamischer Kulturzentren (VIKZ) and the DITIB (Türkisch-Islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion). It was founded in 2006, shortly before the DIK was established, due to the German state's longing for a Muslim counterpart. The KRM represents the four largest Muslim associations working on a grassroots-level via educational institutions and mosques.

[64] Ibid., p.76–77. After five years, these institutions should be evaluated.

[65] Michael Kiefer, 2013, 215–17.

[66] Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p.74.

[67] Farid Hafez, ‘Institutionalised Austrian Islam: One institution representing the many’, in: Samuel Behloul, Susanne Leuenberger & Andreas Tunger-Zanetti (eds.), Debating Islam. Negotiating Religion, Europe, and the Self , Bielefeldt: Transcript Verlag, 2013, pp. 217–232.

[68] Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p. 72

[69] Ibid. p.73

[70] In late 2013, the Europäische Institut für Humanwissenschaften, a private institute, was founded, but not accredited by the state authorities.

[71] Ibid. 72–73

[72] In fact, looking at the personnel granted professorships at the different centers of Islamic Studies reveals that a majority possess Ph.D. degrees in non-theological disciplines and that the theological knowledge is — if at all — pursued by a degree from a course in distance learning. I.e. Prof. Mouhanad Khorchide (University of Münster) obtained his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Vienna and studied in Lebanon Islamic Studies via Distance Learning. Prof. Harry Harun Behr (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg) is a teacher by training with no Ph.D. in Islamic Studies/Theology.

[73] Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p. 80

[74] Sprachen, in: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät , 14 May 2012, http://www.ev.theologie.uni-mainz.de/429.php (accessed 10 December 2013)

[75] Wissenschaftsrat, 2010, p.8

[76] Westfälische Universität Münster. Ordnung des konfessionellen Beirats für islamische Theologie der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster vom 21. Dezember 2011 , http://www.uni-muenster.de/imperia/md/content/wwu/ab_uni/ab2012/ausgabe03/beitrag_02.pdf (accessed 23 October 2013), pp-153-55.

[77] Ministerin für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Islam-Beirat an der Uni Münster noch nicht komplett , URL: http://www.wissenschaft.nrw.de/presse/dpa-ticker/242/ (accessed 25 October 2013)

[78] Letter from Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Research of North Rhine-Westphalia at the rector of the university of Münster, 2012/10/26, Aktenzeichen 225-1.08.03.03/101, entitled “Bestellungen der Mitglieder des konfessorischen Beirates am Zentrum für Islamische Theologie der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster”.

[79] Friedrich Burschel, Uwe Schubert & Gerd Wiegel, «Der Sommer ist vorbei …». Vom «Aufstand der Anständigen» zur «Extremismusklausel»: Beiträge zu 13 Jahren «Bundesprogramme gegen Rechts», Münster: Edition Assemblage, 2013.

[80] Herrmann Horstkotte, ‘Ein islamischer Schulbeirat unter Verdacht’, in: Die Zeit , 08 November 2012, http://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2012-11/islamischer-religionsunterricht-deutschland (accessed 27 October 2013)

[81] Letter from Mouhanad Khorchide at Eren Güvercin, 18 March 2013 entitled “Konstituierende Sitzung des konfessorischen Beirats für Islamische Theologie der Westfälischen Wilhelms - Universität Münster”.

[82] See: Studium, http://www.uni-muenster.de/ZIT/Studium/index.html (accessed 27 October 2013)

[83] Arnfrid Schenk & Martin Spiewak, “So kleinlich kann Gott nicht sein”, Interview with Mouhanad Khorchide, in: Die Zeit , 02 October 2013, Nr. 41, URL: http://www.zeit.de/2013/41/religionsunterricht-paedagogik-islam-mouhanad-khorchide (accessed 23 October 2013)

[84] Letter of Erol Pürlü, speaker of the KRM entitled “Antwort auf Ihr Schreiben vom 12.11.2012 im Bezug auf die Bestellung der Mitglieder des konfessionellen Beirats für Islamische Theologie der Westfäkschen Wilhelms-Universität”.

[85] Hermann Horstkotte, Studium für Islam-Lehrer, 2012.

[86] Zentrum für Islamische Theologie an der Universität Tübingen: Berufung und Konstituierung des Beirats, in: Newsletter Uni Tübingen aktuell , Nr. 3/2011: Forschung, 05 July 2011, http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/aktuelles/newsletter-uni-tuebingen-aktuell/2011/3/forschung/1.html (accessed 10 December 2013)

[87] Letter of Jürgen Rottenecker, principal oft he university, entitled “Einladung zu einem weiteren Gespräch an der Universität Tübingen”, November 2 2010, GZ I-7713.47.

[88] Wichtiger Schritt auf dem Weg zu “Islamisch-Religiösen Studien” an der FAU, in: uni | mediendienst | aktuell, Nr. 42/2012, 06 March 2012, http://www.uni-erlangen.de/infocenter/meldungen/nachrichten/2012/3/6/1526.shtml (accessed 28 November 2013)

[89] Ibid.

[90] Department Islamisch-Religiöse Studien in Erlangen eröffnet, 27 September 2012, http://blogs.fau.de/news/2012/09/27/department-islamisch-religiose-studien-in-erlangen-eroffnet/ (accessed 29 November 2013)

[91] Ibid.

[92] Ita Niehausw, Theologen im Porträt. Die Traditionen im Kopf, in: Deutschlandradio Kultur , 07 December 2013, http://www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/theologen-im-portraet-die-traditionen-imkopf.1278.de.html?dram:article_id=271316 (accessed 10 December 2013)

[93] Ali Mete, Islamische Theologie stärkt “muslimische Mitte”. Interview mit Bülent Ucar, in: IslamiQ , 08 December 2013, http://www.islamiq.de/2013/12/08/buelent-ucar-im-gespraech/ (accessed 12 December 2013)