Muslim Life in Germany - Deutsche Islam Konferenz

184 Religiousness and religious practice
In an expertise commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Family
Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth it is emphasized
that it is crucial to take the reservations and concerns of Muslim
parents seriously in the interests of a successful dialogue on
the participation of their children in educational activities. At
the same time, the educational aims pertaining to the offered
classes and activities must be presented in a transparent and
comprehensible manner, so that parents will understand why
it is important for their child to participate. The aim of such
dialogue is to find compromises. When children’s potential for
development is impaired, however, educationalists should also
act against the will of the parents (Thiessen 2008: 23f.).
4.7 Wearing headscarf: Practice and reasons
The headscarf is the subject of highly controversial public
debate. The Muslim side of this debate frequently stresses that
wearing the headscarf is an expression of religious self-determination
and calls for it to be accepted. In German society as
a whole the headscarf is often regarded as a symbol of female
suppression, segregation or even religious fundamentalism
(Amirpur 2004: 361 ff; Oestreich 2004: 131ff.). There are few empirical
studies examining the significance of the headscarf to
female Muslims in Germany, however. A quantitative study on
the subject, which was published in 2006 examines the reasons
for wearing a headscarf among women of Turkish origin from
selected mosque communities and their views on Germany, politics
and society. The authors stress that the selection of women
is not representative of Muslim women in Germany. The study
concludes that the Muslim women who wear a headscarf are for
the most part self-confident, religious women who, although
they were born in Germany, have stronger emotional ties to