The administrative court of Düsseldorf issued a sentence on Friday, 2 November, rejecting the request of the central Council of Moslems and the German Islamic Council to directly provide lessons in Islamic religion, as a subject of normal study. The judge motivated his sentence by arguing that, according to the fundamental law of the German Republic, the two organizations could not be considered religious communities. Subsequently, taking on board the court’s sentence, the Minister for Education in the Land Nordrhein-Westfalia, Behler, invited the organizations first to find an internal agreement between each other and then to agree on the introduction of lessons in Islamic religion under the direct control of the State, since only in this way was it possible to ensure that contents in conflict with the values contained in the Constitution were not transmitted. The president of the German Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, had already pronounced on the question in October: he expressed the hope that, instead of Koranic schools, lessons in Islamic religion could be given in state schools.
