AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Muslims serving in the German armed forces, after years of waiting, will have access to Muslim military chaplains for the first time by the end of 2026; an action that Germany's Defense Ministry considers a step toward meeting the religious needs of approximately three thousand Muslim soldiers and adapting the army's structure to a more religiously diverse society. This decision comes as Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish soldiers have benefited from military chaplains for years.
Captain "Halil," 36, who rose to the rank of captain after a decade of service in the German army, is among the Muslim soldiers who have experienced the absence of a co-religionist chaplain during their service. He studied political science and now works as an operations officer in the "Cyber and Information Domain Service" of the army, and says he considers faith and service to the community as a form of worship. However, according to him, from his very first days in the army, the question has been raised as to why Muslim soldiers do not have access to the same religious services as their Christian and Jewish colleagues.
Germany's Defense Ministry now intends to fill this gap by appointing Muslim chaplains. Under the new plan, instead of a formal agreement between the state and a specific Islamic institution, Muslim clerics will be contracted directly by the Defense Ministry. This approach has been chosen given that Muslims in Germany are covered by dozens of different organizations, associations, and communities, and unlike the Catholic and Protestant churches or the Central Council of Jews in Germany, there is no single national body representing all Muslims.
The importance of these services is not limited to conducting religious ceremonies; military chaplains also stand by soldiers in situations such as personal crises, grief, before deployment to missions, and when facing ethical and theological questions. Colonel Torsten Weber, the head of military chaplains at Germany's Defense Ministry, says the majority of surveyed Muslim soldiers have expressed a desire for religious services in accordance with their beliefs. Halil also, while emphasizing that he has previously had no problem in dialogue with Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish chaplains, believes that on issues related to Islamic theology and practice, a Muslim chaplain can establish a different connection and trust.
However, the new decision has also faced criticism. Cemil Şahinöz, a German-Turkish researcher and Islamic scholar, has warned that the contractual hiring of Muslim chaplains may turn them into "second-class chaplains," because unlike their Christian and Jewish counterparts, they will not have the same institutional status and job security. He believes that true equality is achieved when Muslim chaplains are institutionally integrated into the structure of the German army, rather than merely operating as a contracted service.
Germany's Defense Ministry also acknowledges that the new model is an experiment, and its success and shortcomings must be determined in practice. The ministry hopes to contract at least one Muslim chaplain by the end of the year, and then begin necessary training. According to Weber, if this model proves successful, it could be extended to other religious communities, including Hindus and Buddhists.
This new action comes as the German army seeks to significantly expand its armed forces over the next decade, and defense officials believe that making the army more representative in terms of social composition could help attract new recruits. In this context, the Muslim population, which constitutes about 6.6 percent of Germany's population, has become one of the groups targeted for recruitment.
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