The German state of Hamburg has agreed to implement and recognize religious-related holidays, including school holidays,
religious education and burial rituals after three years of negotiations with Muslim groups. Unlike Christians churches, Muslim mosques and associations are not recognized as corporations by public law. However, the State of Hamburg Germany
has stated it will guarantee three official holidays: Eid ad-Adha, Ramadan and Ashura. Muslim teachers will be allowed to teach religious education, once they have passed the state exam and given that the course is cross-confessional. It is not clear whether women wearing a headscarf will be allowed to teach.
The involved parties, other than the State of Hamburg, are: the Turkish-Islamic Union Institute for Religion (Ditib), the Council of Islamic communities (Schura), the association for Islamic Culture centers (VIKZ) and the Alawite community of Germany. The three associations represent approximately 130,000 Muslims in Hamburg
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