Federal Government further supports Department of Islamic-Religious Studies
The Department of Islamic-Religious Studies (DIRS) of FAU is one of five German center for Islamic theology. Due to the positive interim evaluation, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is now supporting the Erlangen facility for another five years. The aim and task of the DIRS is to locate the diversity of Islam in modern Europe scientifically. In addition, the DIRS as a confessional-oriented science would like to promote the interreligious dialogue by interlinking various disciplines. With its research activities such as the idea of man in Islam, Islamic philosophy and mysticism, the link between the media and Islam, the woman in Islam, the idea of God among young Muslims, and the theology of domestic diversity, the researchers present important scientific expertise around Islam and society, and they are partners for politics and the public much asked for. In addition, DIRS scientifically accompanies the establishment of the supplementary school program “Islamic Instruction” as a national pilot project.
Founded in autumn 2012, the DIRS currently comprises four professorships. Two of them are funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, two by the Free State of Bavaria. Three junior researcher groups were also established, one of which was located at the University of Bayreuth, which was also significantly involved in the application process. Prof. Dr. Maha El-Kaisy Friemuth and Prof. Dr. Reza Hajatpour, both at DIRS from the beginning, are each holding the chair for Islamic-Religious Studies with a practical focus and the chair for Islamic-Religious Studies with a systematic focus. Only recently Prof. Dr. Mohammed Nekroumi was appointed as a further high-caliber scientist to the chair for Islamic-Religious Studies with focus on textual science and theory of norms. Currently announced is the professorship IRS with a focus on religious education and religious doctrine. In the winter term 2015/2016, 101 students are enrolled at the FAU in the area of Islamic-Religious Studies, almost half of them in the supplementary course “Islamic Instruction”.
Further information on the Department of Islamic-Religious Studies at the FAU can be found on the website of the Department.