We should take a cue from Indonesia on how Islam is practiced and taught at various levels of education
London (ANTARA) - Indonesia is an inspiration and role model for development of Islam in Germany, in particular, and Europe, in general, since the world's largest Muslim country has successfully practiced moderate Islam, German Foreign Ministry’s official stated.

Ambassador and Chief of the Religious Affairs and Foreign Policy Section at the German Foreign Ministry Dr Volker Berresheim made the remarks at a webinar held in Frankfurt early this week, chief of the information, social, and cultural section of the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin, Hannan Hadi noted on Wednesday.

"We should take a cue from Indonesia on how Islam is practiced and taught at various levels of education," Berresheim was quoted as saying by Hadi at a webinar on training for imams organized by Akademie für Islam in Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft (AIWG).

The practice followed in Indonesia serves as a reference model to formulate the training curriculum for imams in Europe, including Germany, he stated.

Themed "Building Bridge between State and Muslim Community": Training for Imams in Europe and North America as Common Issue, the webinar featured academics from different universities in Europe, such as France, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

Prof. Dr Azyumardi Azra of Indonesia was the only non-European speaker at the training, in which the participants comprised representatives of Schura in Hamburg, Germany, and Al Ghazali Institute, France, Hadi stated.

The professor of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta spoke during the webinar at the invitation of the German Foreign Ministry to offer inputs on training programs for imams in Europe, Hadi remarked.

Azra spoke of his experience in formulating the Islamic study curriculum at Leuven University, a Catholic University in Belgium.

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Translator: Zeynita Gibbons/Suharto
Editor: Sri Haryati
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