Germany's main
Muslim bodies cut their links Friday to Germany's only professor of Islamic
religion, charging that Muhammad Kalisch had questioned the existence of the
Prophet Mohammed and Muslim beliefs about the origin of the Koran.
Kalisch teaches at the University of Muenster in northern Germany.
The four main Muslim groups had been represented on a board of advisors to his
Centre for Islamic Religious Studies (CRS) since the chair was established, but
there has been friction over his academic publications.
In a joint statement in Cologne on Friday, the council of Muslim organizations
said it was concerned at the "discrepancy between fundamentals of Islamic
teaching and the published positions of the head of the CRS."
Ayyub Axel Koehler, a German Muslim who is president of one group, the Central
Council of Muslims, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa:
"Kalisch calls fundamental teachings into question in such a stark way
that it's not possible to go along with him."
He said Kalisch had questioned whether the Prophet really existed and what
Muslims believed about the Koran's origin.
"We support the freedom of scholarship and teaching and we have no wish to
gag him," said Koehler. "But we cannot advise people to learn from
him."
In a response published by the university, Kalisch said, "I regret the
decision of the Muslim organizations.
"A university is not there to teach the content of faith, nor to approve
the opinions of a professor as correct.
"Rather, the task of a university is to conduct independent, open- ended
research." He said a university should equip students "to reflect
critically and achieve intellectual independence."
An estimated 3.3 million people of Muslim background live in Germany, 1.8
million of them Turks. Several German universities have faculties of Christian
theology.