The largest national mosque association, Ditib, aims to significantly increase the number of imams it trains. However, the organization admits that it currently lacks the means to fund this expansion independently.
During a discussion with the “Tagesspiegel”, Ditib General Secretary Eyüp Kalyon announced that a new qualification path in Dormagen has greatly accelerated their efforts, as the previous system of training graduates from Germany would have been too slow. According to Kalyon, the aim with this new program is to dramatically boost the output of male imams, ideally training around 75 religious consultants annually. He noted, however, that no definite date has been set with the federal government regarding the replacement of imams currently trained by the Turkish authorities while working in Germany.
Addressing concerns about external influence, Kalyon dismissed the idea that the Turkish religious authority, Diyanet-which pays the imams’ salaries-controls the educational content. “Whoever pays does not determine the content” the general secretary stated. Despite this, Kalyon reported that in 2024, it was established that Ditib, not Diyanet, holds direct supervisory oversight of all religious consultants. Kalyon emphasized that Ditib is an autonomous association in Germany, stating, “We make our decisions here. We take the Diyanet as a theological reference”. He also added that both the local congregations and the national association operate democratically.
A major obstacle, however, remains financing the operations. Kaliyon explained that it is impossible for the existing structure to fund the approximately 1,000 religious consultants within Ditib mosques. He revealed that mosque funds rely solely on donations and membership fees. Consequently, providing an average salary between €4,000 and €6,000 per month is currently beyond the means of the local communities.