In the coming weeks, a new instalment of Germany’s controversial Islam Conference (Deutsche Islam Konferenz, DIK) will take place under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The DIK functions as a discussion forum at which state-picked ‘Muslim representatives’ meet with high-level policy-makers in order to debate the place of Islam in German society. The DIK, created in 2006, has achieved some modest practical successes, such as the kick-starting of Islamic theology teaching at several German universities. Overall, however, the Conference has been derailed by its lack of clear remit, by the securitarian and populist agendas pursued by successive federal governments, as well as by infighting and intransigence among Muslim participants.
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