Muslims are an integral part of our society. Many Muslims do volunteer work, which contributes to our successful life together.
Furthermore, mosque communities and associations – in addition to the pastoral services they provide – are also important sites for volunteer work. However, this involvement is often not very visible from the outside.

Participating means communicating, joining in, organizing and sticking together.

The subproject “FIT - Förderung Islamischer Teilhabe” (“Promoting Islamic Participation”) from Otto Benecke Stiftung e.V. was professionalized as part of the “Mosques for Integration” funding approach. It provides support for mosque communities as actors for integration, through qualification and further education measures. It is a good way to win people over as active partners for societal cohesion at the municipal level.

And that is precisely the goal: raising awareness about mosques’ function as a bridge between the Islamic faith community, municipality, and civil society.

The FIT project, designed to run through mid-2022, offers training and qualification measures for multipliers at mosques in various locations throughout an expected five German states. The measures include the following topics:

/ Social and youth work
/ Public relations
/ Education
/ Volunteering
/ Project planning
/ Intercultural and interfaith exchanges and networking

Further information about the German Islam Conference and the “Mosques for Integration” funding approach can now be found at www.deutsche-islam-konferenz.de. More information about the FIT project will be available on a separate project website soon.

In addition to OBS, there are three other sponsors for the “Mosques for Integration – Openness, Networking, Cooperation” funding approach: the German Children and Youth Foundation, the Goethe Institut and the Paritätischer Gesamtverband.