A theoretical foundation of children's theology in Islamic religious education

What is it about?

The article deals with a theoretical foundation of a children’s theology in Islamic Religious Education. From the presentation of a children’s theology in the Christian context, challenges facing Islamic Education are formulated, to which the empirical results of the study provide solutions. The question whether in Islamic Religious Education Muslim children are taken seriously as theological subjects and whether a children’s theology and, in particular, the theology made by children has a meaningful place in Islamic Religious Education. The results of the study reveal that Muslim children develop their individual religious views according to their personal life experiences and decisions. The narratives of God by different theological schools of thought, such as those of the Muʿtazila and Ašʿarīya, are reflected in the children’s narratives of God. What this study brings to the fore is that a children’s theology and especially a theology made by children, provides the opportunity for them to enter into a discussion with the Islamic tradition. In doing so, the ability of “thinking about religious thinking in a self-reflective way” can be encouraged, as Friedrich Schweitzer demands for a children’s theology.

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Why is it important?

The article is based on the results of an empirical study (Die Selbstrelationierung muslimischer Kinder zu Gott – “The Relationship of Muslim Children towards God”), but further develops these under the main objective of seeking to lay a theoretical foundation for a children’s theology in Islamic Religious Education.

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