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Ahmet Koç, Betül Küçük

• Alman Anayasası velilere, öğrencilere ve dinî cemaatlere eğitim alanında haklar ve yetkiler tanımaktadır. Buna göre veliler ve öğrenciler doğrudan hak sahibi iken dinî cemaatler bu hakkın devletle birlikte taşıyıcısı ve uygulayıcısıdır. Anayasa; devletin, din dersi verme sorumluluğunu dinî cemaatlerle paylaşması gerektiğini ve din derslerini, dinî cemaatlerle uyum, anlaşma ve iş birliği içerisinde vermek zorunda olduğunu hükme bağlamıştır. Bu bağlamda din derslerinin, Devlet’in şekline ve Anayasa’sına halel getirmeden kiliselerin veya dinî cemaatlerin tasavvuru çerçevesinde verilmesi ve organize edilmesi öngörülmüştür. Bu makalede Devlet tarafından teminat altına alınan bu hak ve özgürlüklerin Alman okullarında uygulanabilmesi için söz konusu mevzuatın incelenerek okula, aileye ve ilgili cemaatlere düşen görev ve sorumlulukların belirlenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Makalede anayasal çerçevesi ve hukuki statüsü incelenecek olan din dersleri meselesi, okullarda verilecek İslam din öğretimini yakından ilgilendirmektedir. Bu anlamda öncelikle Almanya’da din öğretiminin yasal dayanakları ile dinî cemaatlerin hukuki statüleri ortaya konulmuş, sonra da Almanya’da zorunlu temel öğretim kademelerinde okuyan Müslüman öğrencilere yönelik düzenlenen İslam din derslerine yer verilmiştir
• Abstract: German Fundamental Law gives parents, students and religious communities rights and powers in the field of education. Accordingly, while parents and students are directly the owners of the right, religious communities are carriers and practitioners of this right with the state together. The Fundamental Law has been adjudging that the state should share its responsibility of teaching religion with religious communities together and that it has to school religion lessons in harmony, agreement and cooperation with the religious communities together. In this context, it is envisaged that religion lessons should be given and organized within the framework of the realisation of the churches or the religious communities without prejudicing the form and fundamental law of the state. In this article, it is aimed to determine the duties and responsibilities of the school, family and related communities by examining the legislation in order to apply these rights and freedoms guaranteed by the state in German schools. The issue of religion lessons whose constitutional framework and legal status will be examined in the article is closely concerning the teaching of Islamic religion at schools. In this sense, firstly the legal basis of teaching religion in Germany and the legal status of religious communities have been revealed and then the Islamic religion lessons given to Muslim students, studying at the compulsary education stages in Germany are included. Extended Summary: Religion and state relations in Germany, which envisages a system where religion and state are separated but also cooperate, are regulated according to the common attitude stipulated by both the governance structure and the German Fundamental Law. Accordingly, the German state, which adopts the principles of impartiality, equality and tolerance in religious matters, has based itself on the German Fundamental Law so that churches and religious communities organize their affairs independently and autonomously and make arrangements based on religious needs. On the other hand, while the German Fundamental Law regulates religious and state relations, it is stipulated that the state is not an official religion and religious communities should perform their activities within the framework of the legislation in force. There is a division of fields here and the state has an equal attitude towards all religions. The German education policy, which is based on the principle of providing the most appropriate educational opportunity for each individual according to his/her talents and interests, does not separate religious education from the general purpose of the school and aims to prepare the students for the social life and the roles, duties and responsibilities they will take in the world they live in a coherence with other courses. In the German legal system, the regulation of education in general and religious education in particular by constitutional texts is first seen in the Weimar Constitution, which entered into force in 1919. These constitutional articles, which enable religious lessons to be taught in schools since its entry into force, are contained exactly in Article 7 of the Federal Constitution, enacted in 1949. Accordingly, religious lessons in primary and secondary education in Germany have equal rights with other lessons and the curriculum has its own compulsory course status which is applied by preparing with the cooperation of church/religious community-state. In the article, the legal framework of religious lessons taught in schools in Germany was highlighted and the details of different religious lesson practices in the states were not included. However, while examining the legal legislation between the Ministry of Education and religious communities, which is decisive in the practice of religion lessons in Germany, these different practices have been contacted as appropriate. The article will discuss the legal foundations of religious education in Germany respectively, the legal status and competencies of religious communities, religious course approaches to the subject and the issue of Islamic Religion Lesson. Descriptive analysis was preferred in the research and the necessary data were collected through literature review/document review and face-to-face interviews with the relevant persons. In these negotiations, negotiations were conducted with the official for the church, DITIB religious community officers and from the state parties with the Ministry of Education and religious lesson teachers. In pursuant to the Article 7 of the Federal Constitution, although the religious course approach in principle is defined as confessional, as a result of the attitude of the State Ministries of Education and Culture towards religions, denominations and earthly beliefs, different religious course practices arises in different states. Indeed, although the approach of the German state to religious teaching generally reveals a system based on religious declaration and offering appropriate facilities, it is seen that different religious lessons have been applied in some states especially for the last 15 years because the education issue falls within the jurisdiction of the states. Accordingly, besides the confessional religion lesson approach organized by the Catholic and Protestant churches, which are the two major pioneering churches of Germany, Inter-Confessional Religion Lesson, Protestant-Based Religion Lesson for All, Interreligious Religion Lesson and Confession Based Religion Lesson models are also taught. However, in order to meet the demands of Muslim students in Germany, Islamic religion lessons in schools have been included primarily as Islamic Knowledge Lesson within the scope of the Mother Language Lesson, then as Islamic Knowledge/Culture Lesson under the name of Council and Round Table Models, and recently as Confessional Islamic Religion Lesson in a narrow scope. It should be noted that all these models have gained significant experience in creating an efficient Islamic religion lesson in accordance with the Constitution and lay the groundwork for the implementation of the Confessional Islamic Religion Lesson model which has been applied for eight years with the mutual acceptance of the parties in Hessen province. Since it would be contrary to freedom of religion and conscience for the German state to retain solely the authority and responsibility for religion lesson which is a lesson of faith, religious education is carried out in collaboration with the state and the church or other religious communities. In order to teach the religion that a group believes in schools, that group must have obtained a license in accordance with the fundamental law. In this regard, just as the judgements of the Constitution on religious education are quoted from the Weimar Constitution, the judgements on religious communities are also quoted from the Weimar Constitution in both the German Fundamental Law and the State Constitutions. Accordingly, it is necessary to look at Article 140 of the German Fundamental Law, entitled "Religious and Religious Communities”, which regulates the rights and freedoms of churches and religious communities within the boundaries of the federal state and includes Articles 136, 137, 138, 139 and 141 of the Weimar Constitution. As a result, the religious community, which has a certain teaching, has a constitutionally based movement area within the borders of the German state, while fulfilling certain conditions. While the religious community is responsible for the education of teachers and determining the curriculum and material of the lesson, the state is responsible for providing the physical environment and financial resources required for the lessons. In conclusion, it should be said that constitutional judgements related to religious education in Germany which is a federal state, are decisive in State Laws and School Laws, but may vary according to states in interpretation and practice. As a matter of fact, Article 7 of the German Fundamental Law, which enables religious courses to take place in schools, and Article 140, which constitutes the legal basis of religious communities, have ensured that religious lessons taught in schools in Germany are regarded as equivalent to other lessons. Since religion lessons are based on faith, these lessons have always been seen as different from other lessons. On the other hand, the co-partner who will conduct Islamic religion lessons in cooperation with the state also vary according to the states. Considering all this, the Confessional Islamic religion lesson of Hessen Province, which developed a model in accordance with the Fundamental Law and the demands of the parties and is the first and only in Germany, has an important role to set an example for other states. This model should be emphasized that not only Islamic religion lessons in schools in Germany but also Catholic and Protestant religion lessons are of great importance in terms of maintaining legal security.