Imams Trained in Germany: Islam Conference Publishes Updated Graduate Figures

Official position

By its own description, the German Islam Conference (Deutsche Islam Konferenz, DIK) has since 2006 been the federal government’s central forum for dialogue with Muslims in Germany and their many representative bodies. It says it also enables exchange and understanding within the Muslim community and aims to contribute to a Muslim life in Germany that feels accepted and is more firmly at home in German society. The DIK is a core part of the Federal Ministry of the Interior’s work on social cohesion. In a foundation phase lasting until 2017 it drew up recommendations and joint statements on issues such as Islamic religious education, Islamic theology, pastoral care and welfare; since 2018 it has worked on concrete projects based on them. In its current, sixth phase it is reorganising its topics and structure. Participants include Islamic umbrella organisations, young initiatives outside the traditional mosque structures, individual Muslims and representatives of politics, administration and academia. [1]

Official position

The DIK describes the training of imams as one of its current priorities; the aim is for more imams who grew up and were trained in Germany, in German, to serve in mosque communities. According to new figures shared by the DIK on 21 October 2026 and published in September 2026 by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), hundreds of religious personnel have so far graduated from Muslim organisations’ own training programmes. Two new programmes appear for the first time: DITIB’s training centre in Dormagen and the certificate course “Islam in Social Work” in Münster. [2][3]

Official position

According to a 2023 study by the Centre for Turkish Studies and Integration Research (ZfTI), funded by the DIK, there were about 2,600 Muslim communities in Germany in 2022, including Alevi cem houses. The number of mosques is estimated at almost 2,500 and that of cem houses at over 100. About 2,200 imams and some 100 Alevi dedes serve in them, and more than half of the communities also have women among their religious personnel. [4][2]

Official position

The study finds that religious personnel often work in insecure and fixed-term jobs, and that many imams are still raised and trained abroad and sent to Germany for a limited period, with little German and a great need for further training. The communities depend overwhelmingly on donations, voluntary work and membership fees; only about one in ten receives public funding from a municipality, a state or the federal government. The study recommends broad support for the communities and training programmes that smaller communities can also use. [4]

Official position

The DIK stresses that, for constitutional reasons, training religious personnel is first and foremost a matter for the religious communities themselves. Participants agree that the DIK should not seek a uniform, central training model, which would contradict the communities’ right to self-determination and fail to reflect their diversity. In summer 2023 the DIK set up a project group on the recognition of the professions and training programmes; its results were published as a handbook in November 2024. [2]