German Muslims on the International Theology Programme in Turkey

This dissertation investigates the educational trajectories of young German Muslim students and alumni of the International Theology Programme (Uluslararası İlahiyat Programı) in Turkey. It unfolds the temporal, spatial, and contingent character of their educational stories and self-making by analysing their motivations for studying theology in Turkey, their experiences on the programme, and the ways in which their studies shaped their understanding of who they are. The analysis is based on 27 educational biographies produced through interviews with students and alumni of the International Theology Programme during fieldwork in Germany and Turkey between September 2019 and December 2021. These are supplemented by interviews with professors of Islamic theology at Turkish universities and representatives of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB) in Germany.

Established in 2006, the International Theology Programme is embedded in the distinct scientific field of Islamic theology at Turkish universities. Although it has become a central institution of transnational Islamic higher education, the programme remains understudied. Within research on Islamic higher education more generally, there are relatively few studies that capture the perspectives of European students. By focusing on the International Theology Programme and placing the experiences and lifeworlds of German students and alumni at the centre of its analytical focus, this study contributes to both the broader research field of Islamic higher education and research on Muslim self-making.

I argue that Islamic educational engagement is more than a project of pious self-formation for German students. For the individuals in this study, going abroad to study Islamic theology was a way to learn about both Islam and oneself. Both before and during their studies, they were exploring piety as a facet of their self-making, but also relating to other ‘grand schemes’, including scientism, national belonging, and cosmopolitanism, as well as specific understandings of youth and the particularities of their generation. I also demonstrate that the International Theology Programme is a space of contingency, rather than a space where uniform approaches and understandings are shaped. Students and alumni had different, sometimes changing ways of doing theology, which were shaped by their life experiences and expectations. These ways of doing theology were not only ways of making sense of Islam, but were entangled with how they related to themselves, others, and the world around them. Furthermore, the meanings and value that my interlocutors ascribed to their studies suggest that studying Islamic theology, as well as experiencing life in Turkey, provided them with an orientation for the future that extended beyond their relation to a ‘religious’ self.

Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan uddannelsesbanen for unge tyske muslimske studerendes og alumner fra den Internationale Teologi-uddannelse (Uluslararası İlahiyat Programı) i Tyrkiet udfolder sig. Den udfolder de temporale, spatiale og kontingente aspekter af sådanne baner og selv-skabelses-processer gennem en analyse af de unges motivationer for at studere teologi i Tyrkiet, deres oplevelser i løbet af uddannelsen, og hvordan uddannelsen former de studerendes ideer om, hvem de er. Analysen baserer sig på 27 uddannelsesbiografier formidlet via interviews med studerende og alumner fra den Internationale Teologi-uddannelse, og er indsamlet under feltarbejde i Tyskland og Tyrkiet i perioden sep. 2019 til dec. 2021. I øvrigt inkluderes interviews med professorer i islamisk teologi fra tyrkiske universiteter og repræsentanter for den Tyrkisk-islamiske forening for religion (DİTİB) i Tyskland.

Den Internationale Teologi-uddannelse blev etableret i 2006 som en del af den akademiske scene for islamisk teologi på tyrkiske universiteter. Selvom denne uddannelse er blevet en central institution i det transnationale felt af højere islamisk uddannelse, er den ikke blevet undersøgt nærmere i forskningen. Forskning i højere islamisk uddannelse byder også kun på ganske få studier, der fremhæver europæiske studerendes perspektiv. Ved at tage udgangspunkt i den Internationale Teologi-uddannelse i Tyrkiet og specifikt fokusere på de studerendes erfaringer og livsverdener bidrager denne afhandling både til det bredere felt af forskning i højere islamisk uddannelse og til forskning i muslimsk selv-skabelse.

Jeg viser, at islamiske uddannelses-engagement for de tyske studerende ikke kun handler om en from selv-skabelse. For disse studerende handler det at studere islamisk teologi i udlandet både om at lære islam og sig selv at kende. Både før og under deres studier var fromhed et betydningsfuldt aspekt af deres selv-skabelse. Men andre ’grand schemes’ såsom videnskabelighed, nationale tilhørsforhold og kosmopolitisme er også væsentlige, ligesom bestemte forståelser af ungdom og deres særlige generations-træk er det. Jeg viser også, at den Internationale Teologi-uddannelse er et kontingent rum, snarere end det er et sted for enstrengede ideer og forståelse. Den måde, de studerende gjorde teologi, havde ikke kun at gøre med at finde mening i islam, men også med den måde, de relaterede sig til sig selv, til andre, og til verden omkring dem på. Ydermere viser jeg, at betydningen af at studere islamisk teologi såvel som det at flytte til og leve i Tyrkiet havde indflydelse på de studerendes perspektiv på fremtiden bredt set og ikke kun i relation til deres ’religiøse’ selv.