Content Analysis of Islamic Religion Culture/Information Textbooks in German Language Under the Scope of “German Islam” and “Localizing Islam” Concepts

In Germany, significant progress has been made on the way of setting regular Islamic religious courses. In the course of this development, however, there are debates regarding the claim that in state-controlled course models, Islam will be interpreted in the Western context and consequently “German Islam” will be created. In order to handle this controversial issue, two different series of textbook publications (Sapphire and Ein Blick in den Islam) (5-8th grade) which are mostly used in Islamic knowledge/culture course model in Germany were examined with content analysis technique. At the end of the study, in terms of Islamic descriptions both books -but with a persistent emphasis at Saphir textbooks- emphasize that although Islam is often associated with violence, it is a religion of peace. In the context of the “Localizing Islam” concept it is observed that sensetive concepts of Islam such as “jihad” and “Retaliation” (Qisas) were avoided in both series of publications and at Saphir textbooks those concepts were often presented with modern juristic expressions