ABSTRACT
Religious education in Austrian schools, currently provided by 15 of the 16 churches and religious communities, can be understood as confessional education with the aim of nurturing pupils in their religion. Islamic religious education (IRE) organised by the Islamic Religious Community of Austria (IRCA) is confronted with several factors that have a massive impact on its own future as well as on the society. These factors include demographic change, foreign ideological influence on and antagonism towards Muslim minorities, IRCA's representation of all Muslims in Austria, and Turkish influence on IRCA as counterpoint to the promotion of a so-called ‘Austrian-Muslim identity’. However, IRE in Austria has enormous potential for identity formation and for the social integration of future Muslim pupils into the European context. For these reasons, intensive cooperation between the state and IRCA would be desirable.
