Project "UWIT"

Project name: “Social causes and effects of radical Islam from the perspective of (prospective) Islamic theologians” (UWIT)

Project management and application: Prof. Dr. Margit Stein
Project staff: Caner Ayyildiz, Alexandra Schramm
Duration: November 2020 - January 2025

Funding: BMBF funding in the funding line: “Social causes and effects of radical Islam in Germany and Europe”
Funding amount: €319,840.00

Project description:

The systematic recording of attitudes and expertise of (prospective) Islamic theologians on the causes and effects of Islamism in Germany Research into the social causes and effects of Islamism is a scientific and socio-political requirement. To date, the views and expertise of (prospective) Islamic theologians with and without a teaching degree option, who will have a decisive influence on the political and religious attitudes of Muslims in the coming years as multipliers of the Islamic religion in contexts such as Islamic religious education, religious instruction in mosques, etc., have not yet been scientifically recorded. Recording their attitudes and expertise is therefore of great socio-political interest for shaping the upbringing, socialization, education and training of Muslims in family, school, extracurricular, university and religious contexts in order to immunize them against radical currents.The project aims to systematically record the attitudes and expertise of (prospective) Islamic theologians on the suspected causes and effects of Islamism in Germany. The development of further training courses on the topic of Islamic radicalization for (prospective) teachers, (school) social workers, counsellors and other interested groups is based on this as well as on a systematic literature analysis and a document analysis of the module manuals of the institutes and centers for Islamic theology. In addition, a roadmap will be created to show how radicalization takes place and how it can be identified and prevented.
The study is divided into two project phases: In project phase I, the guideline-based qualitative survey of the attitudes of (prospective) Islamic theologians (lecturers and students of Islamic theology with or without a teaching option) on the suspected causes and effects of Islamism in Germany as well as their approaches and suggestions for preventing radicalization is carried out.The results of the study from the first project phase will be evaluated and written down in a practical manner and implemented in project phase II in workshop and training formats for prospective Islamic theologians with and without a teaching degree option and for other interested groups of people from the field of education, training and socialization of young Muslim people, as well as in the form of a roadmap for the family, (non-)school, university and religious context. These formats will be tested, evaluated and possibly modified and made available online in open access.

Further information on the “UWIT” project.