| 1949 | Born in Aachen. My special interest in religion might have been triggered by the fact that my family was Protestant on my mother's and Catholic on my father's side. Anyway, by the age of 13 I had found the most evident answers to my questions on unity and diversity in Islam. Already during my school days I taught myself Arabic and began studying from books and later on with visiting scholars from various schools of thought as well as by travelling both in Europe and in the Middle East, both on my own and with my husband as a most inspiring companion. |
| 1982 | Settled in Hamburg, studying at the university (Islamic Studies, Theology and Comparative Religion) and with Imam Razvi (Islamic Law, Theology and Philosophy) and getting involved with the latter's work building up a German-speaking Muslim community. |
| 1984-1988 | Part of a team producing a German translation of the Qur'an with commentary notes. Afterwards I translated some volumes of Hadith (traditions) and Islamic law as well. |
| 1985 | Founding member of the Inter-Religious Dialogue Circle at the Department of Theology at Hamburg University. Some time later I also joined Reinhard von Kirchbach's circle that involved Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim experts interested in deepening the dialogue beyond the intellectual encounter and in different cultural setups (incl. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka etc.). |
| 1993 | Founding member and lecturer of the Initiative for Islamic Studies. |
| 1996 | Succeeded Imam Razvi when he retired from active service in the German-speaking community. |
It was all much more exciting than it sounds from this simple list, but you see, there won't be time to write my biography before I'm retired.