“Religion needs to be thought through,” Education Minister Annette Schavan, who is herself a graduate in Catholic theology, said.

Opening the theology department at Tuebingen University, Schavan said the department was a “milestone for integration” of Muslims who make up 5 percent of the population.

The course, to start at the University of Tubingen, will offer bachelor programs in Islamic studies.

Students will be offered advanced Western academic qualifications.

Though the teaching will be conducted in German, Arabic, the language of the Qur’an, will be a compulsory subject.

The three professors at the department had to satisfy an Islamic advisory council that they were devout Muslims.

Tubingen department is one of four new centers in Germany dedicated to the study of Islamic theology.

Tuebingen, a public university where tuition is free, is one of Europe’s leading centers of academic Christian theology.

The University started in 1477 with around 80 students. Now the student strength of the university is 24,000 which includes German and international students.

Being one of Germany's oldest universities, internationally noted in medicine, natural sciences and the humanities, the university is associated with some Nobel laureates, especially in the fields of medicine and chemistry