Whenever people from different cultural and religious backgrounds converge, it produces tension and ambivalence. This study delves into conflicts in interreligious educational processes in both theory and practice, presenting the results of empirical research conducted at schools and universities and formulating ground-breaking practical perspectives for interreligious collaboration in various religious-pedagogical settings.

Islamic theology had to wait a long time before being granted a place in the European universities. That happened above all in German-speaking areas, and this led to the development of new theological and religious pedagogical approaches. This volume presents one such approach and discusses it from various perspectives. It takes up different theological and religious pedagogical themes and reflects on them anew from the perspective of the contemporary context. The primary focus is on contemporary challenges and possible answers from the perspective of Islamic theology and religious pedagogy. It discusses general themes like the location of Islamic theology and religious pedagogy at secular European universities. The volume also explores concrete challenges, such as the extent to which Islamic religious pedagogy can be conceptualised anew, how it should deal with its own theological tradition in the contemporary context, and how a positive attitude towards worldview and religious plurality can be cultivated. At issue here are foundations of a new interpretation of Islam that takes into account both a reflective approach to the Islamic tradition and the contemporary context. In doing so, it gives Muslims the opportunity to take their own thinking further.

Religious and cultural diversity are increasingly visible today. At the same time, increased fear of the "other" has manifested, particularly of the Islamic religion. Islam today is considered a "problematic" religion. This attitude yields many challenges in universities and schools, particularly when it comes to religious education. The Institute for Islamic Theology and Religious Education and the Catholic Religious Education Department at the University of Innsbruck are addressing these challenges, having spearheaded a program of intensive cooperation in teacher education - including courses on pedagogy, religious didactics, internships, and evidence-based learning processes in schools and universities. This research and teaching collaboration lacked an appropriate framework. This book provides a solid basis for interreligious pedagogy and didactics. Authentic interreligious cooperation begins by promoting intra- and inter-religious self-confidence and self-understanding. This required countless discussions among the authors, which yielded distinct viewpoints as well as commonalities. In this way the anthropological starting point for this book emerged and is expanded through a theological perspective on religious education and didactics. Various approaches and attitudes are developed and examined, including contingency sensibility, to support the competent planning, management, and evaluation of educational processes in pluralistic and heterogeneous fields.

Der Islam gehört zu den wichtigsten gesellschaftspolitischen Themen in Europa. Durch den Einfluss weltpolitischer Ereignisse, aber auch religiös motivierter Gewalttaten ist ein autoritäres und teilweise pluralitätsfeindliches Islambild entstanden. Dabei wird die innerislamische Pluralität ausgeblendet, was die weitverbreitete Annahme verstärkt, der Islam sei von seinem Wesen heterogenitätsunfähig. Jedoch war und ist der Islam als universelle Religion, die sich an die gesamte Menschheit richtet, in vielen Kulturen beheimatet, sodass es unterschiedliche Verständnisse und Prägungen gibt. Der Sammelband thematisiert diesen für unseren aktuellen Kontext höchst relevanten Aspekt, indem Expertinnen und Experten die vielfältigen Zugänge zum Islam darstellen.